The first day of the Giro took away a cycling legend. At 87 he died Himerius Massignana name that marked the entire Sixties of the bicycle, with that name impossible to forget and a nickname, Gambasecca, that told and evoked.
The lord of Gavia
He was born in Altavilla Vicentina but for many years had resided in Silvano d’Orba, in the province of Alessandria. Ancient climber, he was the first man to pass first on the Gavia, at the 1960 Giro. The year before he had made his debut in the Corsa Rosa: 5th behind Gaul, Anquetil, Ronchini and Van Looy. His success in the Gavia stage in ’60 was denied by four punctures in the horrendous descent of the Valtellina pass, which was then still on dirt. “I savored the feat” he would say years later in an interview, “then my sporting drama began. Before Santa Caterina Valfurva I got a puncture. I didn’t have wheels, just tubulars. I did everything alone, because the flagship wasn’t following me. She had blown her engine on the uphill ramps. After a few hundred meters I got a puncture again and lost more than a minute on the side of the road. At that point Gaul passed me. I didn’t leave with the same impetus. After what had happened, I couldn’t draw curves naturally. Despite everything, I picked it up again in Bormio, two km from the finish line and, in anger, I detached it. The general classification was now gone, but I wanted at least partial success. Unfortunately, a few hundred meters from the finish, a third puncture forced me to give up the victory to the Luxembourger, who also knocked me off the final podium. I was in disbelief, in tears.”
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His victories were fewer than his exploits. He won a stage of the 1961 Tour, in the Pyrenees, in Superbagnères, under the snow, and in the same year he was among the very few not to set foot on the terrible Sormano Wall, during the Giro di Lombardia. “The three hardest climbs I have faced in my life were the Gavia, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the Muro di Sormano”. Gambasecca was second in the 1962 Giro d’Italia, just under 4 minutes behind the winner Franco Balmamion, and then seventh in the 1963 Giro d’Italia. In 1963 he was struck by severe symptoms of nephritis. In 1965, he remained one of the best climbers, capable of being competitive especially in short stage races. He managed to win a stage at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and was ninth at the Giro d’Italia. Twice he won the climbers’ ranking of the Tour de France, his most loved race.
