Cycling Songs: Ciao Mama - Quartetto Cetra

Italian song about a rider in the '50s.

Here is the translation:

Ciao mom,

I’m going, winning, and coming back;

you can already put the lamb in the oven.

I’ve put on the woollen undershirt you gave me, (ciao ciao)

ciao mom, (ciao ciao) ciao mom, (ciao ciao)

the team manager is calling me, (ciao ciao)

ciao mom, I’ll win, you’ll see.

 

ciao mom,

the doctor says

that if I take on this climb

my appendix will get inflamed,

but at the top of the climb there’s fame, (ciao ciao)

ciao mom, (ciao ciao) ciao mom, (ciao ciao)

someone is calling me from the car, (ciao ciao)

ciao mom, I’ll win, you’ll see.

 

I say goodbye to the supporters from the sports bar,

to Ninetta, to my friends, to boys and babies,

but, over anyone else,

a kiss and a greeting will fly to you.

 

(ciao ciao)

 

(ciao ciao)

 

ciao mom,

did you see what a final sprint?,

I’m coming back home in a short while:

prepare an omelette.

We’ll have a bit of glory and a bit of dough, (ciao ciao)

it’s so good, (ciao ciao) ciao mom, (ciao ciao)

for now, I just feel very hungry, (ciao ciao)

ciao mom, dish out Maccheroni

The Worst Race in the World

It is hard to understand the decision of the organizers to exclude Froom from le Tour de France.
I know that Froome was born in Africa and French people don't want immigrants but this it too much.
I don't even want to believe that this is due to his Salbutamol case.
It is important to clarify that Froome did not use doping, He was just found an excess of a permitted medicine in his blood and everything has still to be proved.
Froome made history at the Giro d'Italia and he was never found doped during the race, what are we talking about?
Loads of French riders have taken part to the Tour the France with worse doping cases pending on them.
The truth is that French organizers are scared of Froome. Nevertheless, for the love of cycling I've found a solution that will satisfy everybody!
The Tour de France should become the new French National Championship.
In this way, there will be just French riders with 21 French stage winners and the final classification will be won by a French too. The end of the Tour de France will be the new French national day and everybody will be happy.
Who cares about the rest of the world? We are French after all!

A Poet In Sanremo

Giovanni Pascoli (1855 - 1912), an Italian poet, talked about the Poetica del fanciullino (Poetics of the child) which he described as the unceasing capability to get stunned by the world, typical of childhood.
Pascoli opposed both the renunciation of self-analysis and the abandonment of the self-centered point of view, in favor of a semi-irrational comfort which the poet gives himself through poetry.
What Nibali did yesterday on the Poggio was exactly the same, he applied the Poetics of the child to cycling.
In these days, dominated by Watts, computers, data analysis and science, Nibali abandoned both a strict data analysis and a self-centered point of view, attacking with an irrational comfort, just based on his own sensation powered by the magic climb on which he was, the Poggio.
The moment Nibali crossed the finish line, every single witness of this incredible feat started crying, the child inside us had been woken up by this incredible champion that showed the world that, sometimes, a poet can still beat science.
Chapeau Nibali and thank you for waking up our inner fanciullino.

Great Climbs Around The World: Furcia

Passo Furcia or Furkelpass (in German) is a pretty hard climb in the heart of the Dolomites.
It leads to the famous climb of Plan de Corones, the theater of  the recent ITTs of the Giro d'Italia,  won in 2008 by Pellizzoti and in 2010 by Garzelli.
Due to bad weather conditions, that didn't allow to climb Plan de Corones, even the top of Passo Furcia itself has been the arrival of a Giro stage, won by Leonardo Piepoli in 2006.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the Furcia climb must be remembered above all for what Cunego did in 2004.
He attacked in the hardest part of the climb, taking the pink jersey while writing one of the best pages of modern cycling.
Climbing the Furcia, you can still feel the emotions of that day and it is impossible not to try to accelerate a bit during the climb, even just to pay a tribute to Cunego's feat.
Click here for a technical analysis of the climb.

The Eagle Of Filottrano

This is a very sad article to write.
You have no words when this kind of tragedies happen.
Nevertheless, I decided to write this article to pay a tribute to one of the most representative riders of the cycling world, Michele Scarponi.
I am very sad also because yesterday, answering to the last Tweet of Michele, I told him to bring to his children two pink jerseys too and He liked my comment.
This made me feel even closer to him, because this was Michele, a rider incredibly close to people and fans.
He has never been arrogant or conceited, he was always ready to joke with someone and this made him the rider of the people.
The career of Michele is out of the question, he has been one of the best riders of the last 20 years, but what makes the difference is that he will be remembered for his fantastic personality and this is the hardest trophy to conquer.
Remembering Michele, I just want to imagine that the Eagle of Filottrano will fly over the Peloton protecting the riders.

The Smell of the Cobbles

Saturday Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will open the season of the Cobbles 2017.
Most people identify the essence of cycling with climbs and Grand Tours.
I understand this but we can't forget the magic of the Classics and in particular the Cobbles Classics.
It is how ask a baby if he prefers mom or dad, It is just a stupid question without answer.
Cobbles Classics are races that allow us to feel part of history and closer to our ancestor.
The cobbles roads are always the same, the Ancient Romans built and trod them with their bigas.
Riders tread them with their bikes, Boonen, Coppi and Merckx have won on the same stones, those trod by the Ancient Romans too and by so many historical figures. Winning or riding a Cobbles Classic means being part of history.
This is the reason why Cobbles Classics are so magical, because history is linked by a sector of Cobblestones.

Great Climbs Around The World: Ghisallino

Ghisallino is a nice climb that leads you to one of the most iconic places of the Cyling World.
If you are a cycling fan and lover you can't miss this little trip to the Madonna del Ghisallo Sanctuary.
The climb starts in Asso, Lombardy, Italy and after 9 Km with an average slope of 4% you reach the top of the hill of Ghisallo and you can breathe pure cycling.
On the top of the hill there is a little church where all the bikes and signed jerseys that the cycling champions have donated to the church are collected.
You can start having a look at the bike of Coppi, then the bike of Merckx, the bike of Pantani (just to mention three legends) and so on.
On the top of the hill there is also a cycling museum but the living museum and the iconic place is the little church mentioned above.
The hill is climbed every year during Il Lombardia but It is climbed on the other side, the harder one, the proper Ghisallo, that will be analyzed in a different topic.
Click here for a techinical analysis of the climb and here to join the club on Strava of this blog and compare your performances with the other readers.
Have a nice ride!