EVENTS | 02/05/2024 | 08:12
by Marco Pastonesi
He could have told us how to carry water bottles and, at the same time, win the pink jersey. He could have taught us how to say no-thanks with a more generous salary and prefer a more affectionate environment. She could have enchanted us with stories of ups and downs, of steps and retaliations, of crazy hearts and hard legs. She could have explained to us the difference between daily bread and bread for our teeth.
An exhibition on Ugo Colombo. Organized by the Ugo Colombo association – hombre vertical (the definition has the copyright of Gianni Mura). In his San Giorgio su Legnano, in the halls of the Municipality, which also gave patronage to the initiative, free entry. From yesterday until May 18th, during the opening hours of the Municipality. With the runner’s memorabilia and the works of 250 students from the Gianni Rodari primary school and students from the Giuseppe Ungaretti lower secondary school. The title – “Ugo Colombo: for fair, clean and sustainable sport” – says it all about the educational value of sport, cycling in particular, of Ugo Colombo in local privilege and pride. And the credit goes first and foremost to Renzo Zannardi, who first with a book (“A champion like Ugo Colombo”, Velar Marna, 448 pages, 32 euros, preface by Germano Cavalli and afterword by Walter Cecchin), and now with this exhibition, it renews the memory and a little also the nostalgia. Friday 10th, at 8.45pm. in the council room, a meeting is also scheduled to talk about Ugo Colombo and illustrate the school activity with 1200 children, teenagers and parents from the area.
Eleven years as a professional (from 1964, when he made his debut in Springoil, the other 10 years in Filotex) and 11 real victories (including three stages at the Giro d’Italia, one at the Tour of Switzerland and one at the Tour of Romandie, plus two Placci Cups), Ugo Colombo (name and surname, one and the same) was a witness to history. And he did it in episodes. Taccone? “During the Tour of Switzerland, I think in 1965, I was sitting on a bench on the shore of Lake Murten together with a small group of other riders, a little bird fell from the nest and Vito said: do you want to see that I’ll bite off its head with one bite? ? Guido Carlesi replied: if you are capable of doing something similar I will pay you a Coca Cola! He took the bird between his fingers and bit off its head.” High? “Rudi, when he was at Molteni, he ate mountains of pasta and meat and drank beer. Then he had the bathtub filled with ice cubes and immersed himself in them, remaining relaxed until the ice had completely melted.” De Pra? “One day Tommaso De Prà, another Altig teammate, said: I want to try to do like Rudi. We did everything we could to dissuade him, we told him that he wasn’t a German… but he ate pasta and meat and drank a lot of wine, then got into the bathtub filled with ice. After a few minutes we heard the sirens of the ambulance which came to pick him up suffering from congestion.” Ovens? “Some evenings Giacomo went around the hotel dressed in a black tracksuit as if he were Diabolik and knocked on the rooms of the residents, making them jump.”
The same atmosphere, real and familiar, can be felt at the exhibition. The contemporaneity with the Giro d’Italia is a tribute to everyone.
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