cuneo-pinerolo

Fausto Coppi's place in cycling history was cemented over a career that comprised of many great victories, but his solo win on stage 17 of the '49 Giro perhaps remains the deepest foundation on which his legend was built. Starting his attack on the Colle della Maddalena he rode alone through the mountains for 190km, with only the changing scenery for company. The Col du Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the Col de Montegenevre and the final climb to Sestriere were the perfect monuments for such a performance. Legends themselves and in the thin mountain air that they occupy, in their steep, unrelenting gradients, they provide suffering no doubt but offer too a chance to be heroic. The passing of time is often the friendliest of allies for any legendary status but the fact that Coppi won the stage by 11 minutes and 52 seconds from Gino Bartali in second and by 20 minutes 40 seconds from Alfredo Martini in third will always overshadow any hyperbole. Today, sixty years on, the riders will tackle the same glorious route from Cuneo to Pinerolo, with an opportunity to do something special too.