MEALTIME. GIANCARLO "NARIO" TOSCHI, THE MAN OF IMPOSSIBLE RECORDS

HISTORY | 22/12/2024 | 08:14
di Marco Pastonesi
His records are not found in cycling yearbooks nor in the Guinness Book of Records. Yet – first record – few have been called by another name their entire life. Yet – second record – few, perhaps no one during the war, were in the arms of Germans by day and partisans by night. Yet – third record – no one has been not only a domestique to two captains like Taccone and Ritter, but also a prison guard to two Nazi officers like Kappler and Reder.
Giancarlo Toschi, or rather, Mario: "During her pregnancy, my mom had nephritis, a kidney inflammation that threatened not only my birth, but also her survival. At the height of her suffering, she made a vow to the Madonna: if she made it, she would baptize the new creature Maria or Mario. And she made it. My father, unaware of my mother's promise, was inspired by grandpa Carlo and, just to differentiate me a little to avoid confusion, gave me the name Giancarlo. When he came home, he received my mother's reproach. Officially, the name could no longer be changed. But from then on, for everyone, I am Mario."
Farmer dad, jack-of-all-trades mom, three siblings before him. In Civitella di Romagna, a couple of kilometers before Galeata, about thirty kilometers inland towards Florence. Toschi: "Cows, horse, chickens. Cherry trees, apple trees. The vegetable garden. Those who had land, even during the war, had something to eat. Milk, in two 15-liter cans, brought to the village and sold house by house, door to door. Fruit grown tall and protected from theft with a barbed wire fence".
German soldiers camped right in the Toschi farmhouse: "It was large, outside the village, in a position deemed strategic. I was born on May 3, 1944. During the day I was in the arms of Nazis, but at night, when they came down from the mountains, hungry, I was in the arms of partisans".
Then life resumed: "School. Elementary, then middle school in the seminary college in Bertinoro".
Here the vocation, not for priesthood, but for cycling: "Amateur World Championships in Waregem, Belgium. Arnaldo Pambianco, from Bertinoro, in a solo breakaway. Behind, Ezio Pizzoglio, instead of staying on the wheel and breaking the changes, pulled, chased, helped the regrouping. Result: first the Belgian Proost, second Pambianco, tenth Pizzoglio. But in the seminary, we celebrated anyway". More school: "Fourth grade, then accounting, up to the diploma".
Meanwhile, the bike: "The first was a broken women's bike. The day I overtook my brother on a moped with that bike, it was established that I could race. And my brother's father-in-law gave me a used 1960 Legnano racing bike". First training ("Thirty kilometers going to Forlì and thirty coming back home"), first races ("More falls than placements"), first team ("The Scat from Forlì, including three years as a junior"), first victory ("An Easter Monday, we did the Rocca delle Caminate twice, the finish at the top, the same day - April 14, 1963 - Ercole Baldini won the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria"), first challenges ("Visani, Marri, Cavalcanti, Laghi, Malaguti... but the strongest of all was Battista Monti, crazy champion"), first transfer ("To Pedale Ravennate"), second ("To Compagnia Atleti in Orvieto, but we were many, I could count on the recommendation of Christian Democrat MP Giulio Andreotti, yet it was not enough").
Toschi found himself first in the military prison in Gaeta, then in Forte Boccea: "It was in Gaeta that I was a prison guard to Herbert Kappler and Walter Reder, the first sentenced to life for the Fosse Ardeatine massacre in Rome, the other for the Marzabotto massacre and the Vinca massacre".
In 1966, Toschi started racing again and flying: "Second at the Ceramics Grand Prix, a classic for amateurs. Stage and jersey at the Tour of Serbia with the Italian national team. And that victory near Bologna, all in the rain, in a breakaway, two against one, Cavalcanti and Malaguti from Rinascita, me from Pedale Ravennate, and I won".
Professional in 1969: "Romano Cenni, the Germanvox patron, offered me a spot on the team. I made a pact with my wife: two years, if I don't break through, I'll go to work. I did well in the Tirreno-Adriatico, I was strong in the Milan-Sanremo. Breakaways, counter-breakaways, compact group on the Poggio. Merckx pulled away, Gimondi lost the wheel, I was behind Gimondi, and I almost got angry with him. And I didn't finish far: when Merckx crossed the finish line, I was at the fountain, thirty-first, but on the official order of arrival, I was mistaken for Laghi".
And it was at Laghi's 80th birthday party that I met Toschi. "I was also strong in the Giro d'Italia. I had to help Taccone and Ritter. First one would attack, then the other. Moments of freedom were used to catch a breath. Zero victories, zero placements, but two first places in the MiniGiro, an intermediate finish".
A special memory: "The stage that started from Celle Ligure: we started at a walking pace, after five kilometers we passed under the hotel hosting Merckx, positive at the previous day's anti-doping control, the Savona stage. Everyone stopped. Vincenzo Torriani, the Giro patron, was crying: 'Don't ruin me', he begged, 'I'll be on your side', he swore. The captains, from Gimondi to Adorni with the world champion jersey, from Zilioli to Bitossi, entered the hotel and went up to Merckx's room. I sneaked in. Merckx lying on the bed, bent on his right shoulder, with the tank top revealing a cyclist's tan. Next to him Sergio Zavoli and other journalists. I was behind the camera. A month later Merckx, who had not only the right legs but also the right head, went to the Tour and triumphed. That day we left the hotel and got back on our bikes, then in Pavia Ritter won. The next day Ritter had a crisis: Mazzacurati, our team manager, told me to wait for him, I stopped, sat on a milestone, stayed there for a quarter of an hour, finally Ole arrived, I escorted him to the finish line, within the time limit. But he didn't restart".
Another memory: "The stage from Rocca Pietore to Cavalese. Five climbs: Campolongo, Gardena, Sella, Costalunga and unpaved Lavazzè, ready-go-climb, a bestial cold, a fiery battle, after Costalunga 35 riders were so late they were stopped, I was the thirty-sixth, alone, the broom wagon approached three times to pick me up, three times I got off the bike and three times I got back on, if you manage to get to the end - I told myself - you'll have something to tell your children and they'll be proud of you. I was without gloves, had holed shoes, downhill I'd put on a sweater and cap, uphill I'd take them off, I reached the finish line still alone, within the time limit, last, a last place that was valiant and priceless. Of the 10 riders at the Giro's start, four remained: Taccone, Franchini, Milioli and I, seventy-ninth - third from last - almost four hours behind Gimondi. During the honor lap at the Vigorelli, each captain was given a bouquet of flowers. Taccone told me that, for what I had done, I would have deserved to hold it". Toschi had found his rhythm: "I came out of the Giro well, so much so that at the Italian championship, a unique test at the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria, I helped Taccone up to Sant'Elia, about thirty kilometers from the finish. Two-man sprint, Adorni beat Taccone, I was thirty-seventh, four and a half minutes back, between Zandegù and Poggiali".
But 1970 was not so happy: "I went to the Vuelta, which was run in April, to help Guido Reybrouck, who would then win three stages. On the thirteenth of the 19 stages I fell, tore a muscle, finished the stage, but the next day I didn't restart, skipped the Giro, and when I started again I was no longer the same. At the end of the year I kept my promise to my wife". Better this way: "We had two children, and when I came home, they didn't recognize me, they didn't even know who I was. Yes, better this way".