Why Coppi's star quality will never wither on the vine

Richard Abraham on the essence of stardom and why it's not as ubiquitous as the tomatoes in his garden

Fausto Coppi’s star quality. Inkjet on A4 paper. Photographer unknown.

by Richard Abraham

One day during this Giro d’Italia, I returned home to discover that a photo and a packet of tomato seeds had appeared on my desk.

This being May, me being a bit of a gardener, and me being ‘into cycling’ – which is often people’s easiest interpretation of what I do for a living – such things occasionally happen, though any more tomatoes in my garden and the cosa nostra will take an interest and force me to open a cannery.

The photo – printed on A4 and placed inside a plastic sheet – comes from the image archives of Bologna city. These are currently on display in the Bologna Fotografata exhibition in the Sottopasso di Piazza Re Enzo, a pedestrian underpass turned art space in the city (it’s on until August 4 so if you’re there for stage two of the Tour de France this July, why not have a look).

It had made its way to me from the Bologna underpass via my partner’s mother’s friend and then my partner’s mother’s inkjet printer, a nice form of social (print) media. There was no other information than the handwritten words ‘Fausto Coppi Bologna Fotografata’ on the back and the lack of details piqued my curiosity.

In the picture, Fausto Coppi is strolling down a hallway. The location of the current exhibition presumably places this hallway in Bologna, the vaulted ceiling and high porthole windows suggest perhaps a church nave, although the bare white walls suggest perhaps not. Coppi is framed centre in his loose shirt and high-waisted shorts. The lean, leathery legs and gaunt face could put him in the middle of one Giro or another – assuming it’s in Bologna, that could be any one of four Giri between 1946 and 1952. Coppi raises his right arm mysteriously, perhaps pointing, while those large sad eyes (so perfectly captured in the main character of the animated film Belleville Rendezvous) stare off.

It’s Coppi’s entourage that engages me next. At least a dozen ‘normal’ people, mostly men, are serendipitously choreographed to lead the eye towards the figure of Coppi like Leonardo’s Last Supper. Besides one man glancing at Coppi himself and another looking over to wherever Coppi is looking – maybe a soigneur, given the way he ushers Coppi along with one arm and carries a bundle of things in the other – all these followers are staring at the camera. What a study of all the different ways to look star-struck. Faces are giddy, dumbfounded, proud, conceited, hypnotised… except for the soigneur and the man to Coppi’s immediate right, who has the thousand-yard stare of many a tired cyclist.

Here is a human that other humans are excited to be around, not only by Coppi’s presence but by the attention of the camera, and they all want to be captured in the moment, in Coppi’s presence, for future posterity. The 11.01 Cappuccino is hardly Rai Uno or the cover of La Gazzetta dello Sport, but you know, 70-something years later, it’s something I suppose. [Editor’s note: What do you mean, hardly?]

Fast forward to 2024 and think of the moments that stage winners or the pink jersey wearer have crossed the line in this Giro. They are immediately set upon, so much so that the Giro employs bouncers – that stern-looking fella in the ‘Lauretana, the lightest water in Europe’ T-shirt – to keep them away.

The pack is composed of photographers, journalists, soigneurs, chaperones, press officers – everyone with a job to do – but it’s also full of members of the public and fans, if they can get there. There is an undeniable Italian flavour to this but it’s also a basic human trait of wanting to be be close to a character, an energy. It draws people in like bees to nectar (PS. Tadej the pink rose from last week’s edition of The 11.01 Cappuccino was DNS stage 15).

I’m pretty sure Daniel and Brian talked about star quality in one podcast episode this Giro but I didn’t pester them for the precise stage because it’s week three and it has rained a lot lately so you’ll just have to listen back and find it for yourselves. But it landed about the same time as Coppi and the tomatoes and it got me thinking about it.

I interviewed Fabian Cancellara before the start of the 2016 Giro and it felt like an old duke was holding court in Apeldoorn before squeezing out a couple more time trial efforts before the Olympics. He came fourth in the stage nine time trial in Chianti – incidentally the stage was won by Primož Roglič, his first World Tour stage win in what was his first Grand Tour – before Cancellara abandoned with ‘stomach flu’, whatever that is, and then went on to win in Rio.

Cancellara definitely had a certain star presence – it was not without reason that Richard, Lionel and Daniel used to call him ‘chief commissaire’ – and a peculiar way of speaking English where syllables and participles would sometimes materialise in unexpected ways. Two lines that remain with me from that interview are as follows:

“You shock your body, I don’t know how I did it, but I shocked it howsome [sic], I went out, bang boom and I won it.”

“Everyone would like to having [sic] a soft towel. You would not like to having [sic] a soft towel?”

Fabian Cancellara insisted that the towels on the Trek-Segafredo team bus were soft, not scratchy. Team staff verified it. However the reason I can recite those lines verbatim is because a talented colleague of mine, the late Nigel Wynn, picked up the audio clips and turned them into a two-minute trance anthem titled ‘Bang Boom’ which resides on my phone. I think Cancellara has been retired long enough for me to reveal that. In the interests of balance, Tom Boonen also had star quality. His English was better though.

Track: Bang Boom (Soft Towel mix)
Artist: Nigel Wynn ft. Fabian Cancellara

[Another interjection from Lionel: Nigel was deputy editor of Cycling Weekly and he was one of those effortlessly talented people who had layer upon layer of hidden skills. He once made me a CD of his music – perfect for turbo sessions – and I gave each track a cycling-related name that matched the music. Anquetil and Izoard were a couple of the standout tracks.]

This star thing can manifest itself in different, strange ways, or sometimes not at all. Pro cyclists are often a shy bunch. I’m not sure all of the current ‘Super Six’ have it, but we’ll get on to that shortly.

Physical presence is important but not everything. Stars have strong characters, whether they be impeccable (Chris Hoy) or volatile (Bradley Wiggins). Talking of Wiggins, a year before my Cancellara soft towel exclusive I wasn’t at the Giro but in Yorkshire, where Wiggins was trying to break the record for 10 miles in British time trialling. It felt like he wanted to avoid other people at all costs but it’s hard with a world champion’s skinsuit and a gold aero helmet. Britain was still spellbound with Wiggomania and Wiggins exerted a gravitational pull strong enough to get notable crowds out to a dual carriageway in Hull on a Saturday afternoon.

It was similar with Bernard Hinault, not a big man in size but bump into him on the Tour de France when he was an ambassador for ASO and you would always find a throng of middle-aged executives from the local council or a sponsoring company who had just come face to face with the Badger and couldn’t quite believe it that a distant, two-dimensional character from their childhood had come to life in front of them.

And so we get on to Giulio Pellizzari meeting Tadej Pogačar at this year’s Giro. It must have been a complex set of emotions going through Pellizzari’s mind when he turned back inside the final kilometre of stage 16 to see Pogačar in the pink jersey hunting him down.

After the stage, Pogačar’s fifth win, it emerged that at the start of this Giro, Pellizzari had sent Pogačar’s agent a picture of him, aged 16, standing next to the neo-pro Slovenian at Strade Bianche in 2019.

After the finish, Pogačar gave Pellizzari his pink glasses, which Pellizari’s brother had asked him to get. Then Giulio got a hug, and then a race-worn pink jersey hot off its wearer’s shoulder, which one assumes his brother will not be getting. It wasn’t worth as much as a stage win would have been to a 20-year-old making his Giro debut for Bardiani. But it would have come close.

Presence, deeds, charisma and class: I reckon we can say Pogačar has this star thing too, and it’s growing every day. Maybe somebody will see a picture of that moment with Pellizzari in 72 years from now and feel compelled to print it off and drop it on someone’s desk. I do hope they don’t forget the tomato seeds.

Il Barone’s photo gallery

Brian Nygaard's impressions of the Giro.

The Girovagando case from DVine Cellars

The 2024 Girovagando case of six wines, curated by our friends at DVine Cellars, is available to buy now.

The Cycling Podcast Féminin returns

In the May episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin, Rose Manley, Denny Gray and Rebecca Charlton look back over the recent Spanish stage racing from the comfort of their own cabaña.

Questions may have hung over Demi Vollering’s form after a consistent if lacklustre run in the Spring Classics, but the SD Worx rider answered in no uncertain manner with three dominant performances across the Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women and Vuelta a Burgos races. Some unexpected rivals emerged though, most notably Evita Muzic who is priming herself to be France’s great hope at this year’s Tour de France Femmes. The team also discussed a huge comeback win for Lotta Henttala at the Vuelta a Burgos, her first victory in over five years after struggles with both her physical and mental health.

This month’s feature visits the topic of latecomers to the sport. These are riders who make the jump from regular jobs to elite racing careers in their late 20s and 30s. We heard from Jayco-Alula’s Mavi Garcia, Movistar’s Mareille Meijering and Coop-Repsol’s Monica Greenwood about their journeys into cycling and the peculiar life lessons they’ve learned along the way.

An interview with Lizzy Banks

For the past 10 months, Lizzy Banks has been fighting to clear her name after an adverse analytical finding for two substances detected in an anti-doping test last May. Seventy-nine days after the sample had been taken she was informed of the results and that she faced a two-year suspension.

Adamant that she had not taken anything she should not have, Lizzy investigated the case and the results of that investigation led the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) to drop a scheduled tribunal hearing and return a verdict of no fault, no negligence and no sanction. Nevertheless, the rules state she has four anti-doping rule violations against her name, her career as a pro cyclist is over, she’s spent her savings on her defence, and her reputation is harmed.

Regular listeners will know Lizzy has been part of our coverage for a number of years – first as a co-host of Service Course, then The Cycling Podcast Féminin, our daily Women’s Tour coverage in 2021 and at last year’s Tour de France. As we count her as a colleague and friend, we felt it would not be in the best interests of you, our listeners, for us to interview her. In the interests of transparency, we asked Tom Cary, senior sports correspondent of The Telegraph, to conduct an independent interview. The episode is on our regular feed now. We should warn you that the podcast does contain references to suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Stage 19 of our Girovagando coverage will be on air tonight. Join Daniel and Brian in Italy as the Giro approaches the final weekend. Enjoy the remainder of our Giro coverage – The 11.01 Cappuccino will be back next week.

A big thank you to MAAP for supporting The Cycling Podcast. Check out the full range of clothing to make you look the part on, and off, the bike at maap.cc