MEALTIME. LUIGI CASTELLETTI, A DOMESTIQUE'S TALES AND THOSE TWO SMALL DESIRES

HISTORY | 10/12/2024 | 09:00
di Marco Pastonesi
He bid farewell to the amateurs by triumphing at the Piccolo Giro di Lombardia. It was October 5, 1969. One hundred and thirty days later, he made his professional debut at the Trofeo Laigueglia. It was February 15, 1970. "Climbing the Testico, two teammates pulled up beside me. On one side Marino Basso, on the other Michele Dancelli. They grabbed onto my shorts. And stopped pedaling. At that precise moment, I understood what it meant to be a domestique".
Luigi Castelletti at the 80th birthday party of Renato Laghi. Which was also a celebration of domestiques. Specialists in fountains and bars, water and drink carriers, interpreters of the verbs to pull and push, to chase and protect, mountain sherpas, plain guards, sprint wagons, graduates in generosity and sacrifice at the university of the road.
Seventy-six years old (born on July 6, 1948, a rest day in the second Tour de France won by Gino Bartali, on the eve of the Aubisque Pyrenean stage), from Verona (born in the city, childhood in the province of Rivalta), fourth of five children ("Four boys and, the last, a girl"), first study ("Middle school"), then work ("Shop assistant in a clothing store"), then cycling ("One started at 16, and I did it to imitate my brother Giovanni, professional in 1963 with San Pellegrino, fourth in a Vuelta stage, and to think he was first a km from the finish then they made him take the wrong road, half of 1964 with Firte, the other half independent, then he was left without a team. And as he stopped, I began"). The first bike ("A Zamperioli"), the first jersey (yellow from Ciclistica San Zeno), the first race ("In Schio, where Lanerossi was: third"), the first victory ("At the second race, in Merano, at the Forst facility: alone"), the first discovery ("Sprinting would never be my strength").
On the Testico, in 1970, and from then on, Luigi Castelletti was a domestique, one of the best: "The first two years with Molteni serving not only Basso and Dancelli, but also Vandenbossche and Van Springel and especially Merckx, from 1972 with Salvarani and Bianchi for Gimondi, Zilioli and again Basso". Domestique by example, by definition, by excellence.
Domestique of excellences. Merckx? "Exuberant, beyond limits. I remember a flat stage: after about 50 km there was an intermediate sprint, he already at the start put his team full throttle, as if that sprint was the world championship". Gimondi? "Tough, tenacious, stubborn, so typically Bergamo, never giving up". And Zilioli? "He didn't have Merckx's physique nor Gimondi's character. However, he was the most simple, humble, good, noble, human captain". They called him "Castello": "That's what was written on the bike tube, but only because Castelletti was too long and didn't fit". He was a man of effort: "Six Giros and three Tours". He was strong in the heat: "I didn't go well in the cold, if I couldn't go even in the heat, I might as well not race". Great all-rounder ("Head down and pedal"), modest climber ("In long climbs I stayed in the group and saved myself, in short ones I would struggle"). Some bonks: "At the start of stage races, it was normal, almost inevitable, but then I would find my rhythm and courage". Little science: "In winter - we would stop with the Lombardy and restart at the beginning of the year - in those two months I once gained 14 kg and they nicknamed me Panettone".
No victories, but a second place: "At the 1972 Tour, sixth stage, from Bordeaux to Bayonne, a breakaway of five, sprint, three behind me, but one in front, the Dutchman Leo Duyndam, who also did six-day races". And another second: "At the 1974 Giro del Friuli, a breakaway of 22, sprint, 20 behind me, but one in front, Luciano Borgognoni, who also did six-day races". Damn six-day races. "But I had a lot of fun. The bike was my escape and my school. I traveled the world and met journalists, my first interview - I was still an amateur with Iag Gazoldo - was done by a young trainee at 'Gazzetta dello Sport', it was Gianni Mura".
Castelletti became Romagnolo for love: "During thermal treatments in Castrocaro I met the woman who would become my wife". He also became one for work: "At Credito Romagnolo, then Unicredit". And even though more years have passed in Romagna than in Verona, he didn't pick up the accent: "I understand Romagnolo, but I don't speak it". And now, the bike? "Some little rides". And now, cycling? "On TV and along the road". The fire of passion, inside the heart of the domestique of excellences, has never gone out.

PS Castelletti has a wish, indeed, two: to recover two photographs. The first, published in "Topolino", portrays him before a Giro d'Italia, with other domestiques, in a fountain. The second, published in "Gazzetta dello Sport", dates back to the 1977 Giro, with him in the foreground on his bike with patron Vincenzo Torriani in the team car, among the rubble after the earthquake. Can someone help him?

COMMENTI

Bellissimi

10 dicembre 2024 11:53 noel

questi racconti, grazie 😍👍

Per poter commentare i post devi esser registrato.
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.

TBRADIO

00:00

DILETTANTI

COPPA CIUFFENNA. ASSOLO DEL BRITANNICO HEREWARD: GIALLI E ROSSI CHIUDONO IL PODIO

Parla ancora straniero la Coppa Ciuffenna edizione n.85, denominata anche 98^ Coppa Antica. Dopo il successo del russo Savekin nel 2025 questa volta a presentarsi da solo sul traguardo della località aretina nel Valdarno Superiore è stato il ventunenne britannico...

STORIA

L'ORA DEL PASTO. 20 ANNI FA L'ADDIO A ORIANA FALLACI, L'EMILIA IN BICICLETTA

Emilia. Oriana Fallaci aveva 14 anni quando, introdotta nella Resistenza dal padre, in bicicletta e con il nome di battaglia Emilia, faceva da staffettista per il nucleo cittadino di Giustizia e Libertà, legato al Partito d’Azione: attraversava l’Arno nel punti...

PROFESSIONISTI

TRE VALLI VARESINE. BUSTO ARSIZIO PRONTA A RIABBRACCIARE LE SUE CORSE

Possiamo dire che il conto alla rovescia verso la Tre Valli Varesine e la Tre Valli Varesine Women’s Race | e-work è ormai cominciato. Dopo la presentazione del Trittico Regione Lombardia avvenuta la scorsa settimana a Milano, nella mattinata odierna...

PROFESSIONISTI

IL GIRO D'ABRUZZO. LA PRIMA TAPPA È DI FANCELLU: BATTUTI RONDEL E ULISSI

Alessandro Fancellu è il vincitore della prima tappa del Giro d'Abruzzo ed andrà a vestire la maglia di leader della corsa. Il comasco del team MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort ha conquistato il secondo successo stagionale al termine dei 155...

VUELTA

LE STATISTICHE DELLA VUELTA. MAS RIDA' FORZA ALLA SPAGNA IN UNA CORSA TUTTA... EUROPEA

Enric Mas ha vinto per la prima volta la Vuelta di Spagna, conquistando il massimo risultato dopo i secondi posti ottenuti nel 2018, nel 2021 e nel 2022 e il terzo del 2024. Il trentunenne iberico è il 64° corridore...

MERCATO

LA GROUPAMA FDJ UNITED INGAGGIA IL VELOCISTA FRANCESE JEANNIERE

Ruota veloce in arrivo in casa Groupama FDJ United: a 27 anni, Emilien Jeannière vanta già un curriculum importane che mette in luce il suo potenziale per competere ai massimi livelli. Uno sprinter con istinto vincente: grazie alla sua velocità esplosiva...

MERCATO

LIDL TREK. ARRIVANO DUE GRANDI AMICI, GALL E MUHLBERGER

Due austriaci ma soprattutto due amici rafforzeranno il gruppo di scalatori e specialisti delle corse a tappe della Lidl-Trek nei prossimi anni: Felix Gall – già secondo al Giro d’Italia e sul podio alla Vuelta a España – e il...

ABBIGLIAMENTO

SANTINI RINNOVA IL SITO WEB, SVELA LA COLLEZIONE FW 26/27 E LANCIA LA "CHASING AUTUMN CHALLENGE" SU STRAVA

Siamo alle porte dell’autunno e in casa Santini arrivano preziose novità. Si parte con una nuova esperienza di navigazione digitale grazie ad un nuovo portale completamente rinnovato nel suo aspetto grafico e nella sua fruizione, ma contemporaneamente arriva la nuova collezione...

PROFESSIONISTI

TAIHU LAKE, MALUCELLI NON SI FERMA: A QIDONG LO SPRINTER AZZURRO INFILA LA TRIPLETTA DAVANTI A GIDDINGS E RAJOVIC

Quarto giorno di gara al Tour of Taihu Lake 2026 e terza vittoria (peraltro consecutiva) di Matteo Malucelli. Dopo ieri e l'altro ieri, lo sprinter dell'XDS Astana ha infatti dettato legge anche quest'oggi a Qidong dove, sul traguardo della breve...

PROFESSIONISTI

FURTO IN ALLENAMENTO: AGGREDITO E DERUBATO OSCAR SEVILLA

Non c’è mai pace per i ciclisti in allenamento… Ieri mattina l’eterno Oscar Sevilla ha vissuto una brutta avventura: «Sono uscito ad allenarmi a Bogotà e sull'autostrada con Calle 170 sono stato intercettato da una moto di grossa cilindrata. Mi...