2014 Giro d'Italia stage 9

LOCAL HERO
We're close by Pavullo here so who else but the late but not terribly great Romeo Venturelli, Fausto Coppi's wayward apprentice?  'Meo was massively gifted, but he had three fundamental problems as a cyclist. The first was that he liked women more than riding a bike, the second that they liked him still more. The third was that he was as mad as a box of frogs, and nigh-on unmanageable. Fausto and Gino Bartali gave him a pro' contract with their San Pellegrino team all the same, and tried to instil at least a modicum of discipline.

The degree to which they were successful is debatable, but by the time Coppi died in January 1960, 'Meo was being tipped as a world-beater. Four months later he pitched at his first Giro, an up-and-down opening stage time trial at Sorrento. There he annihilated the great Jacques Anquetil and pulled on the pink jersey, but seemingly overdid the celebrations that evening. The following day he collapsed, and on stage three climbed off altogether. The rest of his “career” was a comedy of errors but he remains arguably the greatest unfulfilled talent in the history of cycling.

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