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?
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