2014 Giro d'Italia stage 18

LOCAL HERO
Everyone knows that the mountains of Trentino Alto-Adige have been defining the Giro for 70 years. That's because, for the most part at least, the snows have cleared by the time the race comes around. However in the 1930s, when asphalted roads were but a dream this far north, one man was tough enough (and foolhardy enough) to imagine he might make it as a bike rider.

His name was Riccardo Menapace and he came from Termeno. He won the 1936 Milan-Munich stage race, and two years later got a start at the Giro. Mussolini forbade big stars like Gino Bartali from riding that year, instead delegating them to ride the Tour de France. It meant more places for the much-maligned independents, and Menapace seized his chance. He finished the race third amongst the independents, but after the war took Austrian nationality. He was good enough to win the Tour of Austria in 1949 and 1950, the latter aged 35. Tough as old boots.

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