The Virtual Musette: A Road Cycling Blog

It’s trivia time.

Today’s mystery rider caught my attention while I was exploring the excellent Cycling Hall of Fame website, which is a treasure trove of pro cycling history and rider biographies.

Your first clue to this rider’s identity is the above photo taken from the start line of the Italian gran fondo* which bears his name. The race starts and finishes in the town of Bergamo which is very near his birthplace of Sedrina. The 2007 event attracted nearly five thousand cyclists (yes 5K, not a typo), and is now in its eleventh year.

This rider was the first, and only, Italian to win all three of the grand tours – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a Espana. He remains one of only four cyclists to have achieved this feat, the others being Jacques Anquetil, Eddie Merckx, and Bernard Hinault, all five-time winners of the Tour de France.

This rider holds the record with the most podium finishes in the Giro d’Italia (9).

Along with only Eddie Merckx and Bernard Hinault, this rider has the distinction winning all the following:  all three grand tours; the rainbow jersey as World Road Race Champion; and the most prestigious of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix.

Okay, here are your choices (in parentheses are the dates of their first pro win through their last):

a) Costante Girardengo (1913-1928)

b) Alfredo Binda (1925-1933)

c) Gino Bartali (1935-1953)

d) Fausto Coppi (1940-1957)

e) Fiorenzo Magni (1942-1956)

f) Felice Gimondi (1965-1976)

g) Francesco Moser (1973-1986)

When you’ve made your choice click here, and you’ll be taken to a biography and pictures of our mystery man, compliments of Cycling Hall of Fame.

* Gran Fondos, are similar to century rides in the U.S., but they are actually races, and some can be quite a bit longer with considerably more climbing involved.  Throughout the rest of Europe these types of races are known as cyclosportives, and will often take in some of the famous climbs of the grand tours. The most well-known of these events is the l‘Etape du Tour, which is actually a real stage of the Tour de France. I have several feature stories planned on these ultimate one-day tests of endurance, and the companies that cater to their participants.

The photo comes from the official gran fondo website. The next race will take place on March 11, 2008.