MEALTIME. ARDELIO TRAPÈ, THE OLD MASTER - 2

HISTORY | 22/02/2025 | 08:11
di Marcco Pastonesi

Ardelio's second life was a constellation of victories: in 1952 he collected 17 wins, in 1954 with 22 victories he set the record for an Italian amateur (matched by Meo Venturelli in 1959 and surpassed by Livio himself in 1960 with 23), in 1955 he won the Umbria Tour, four stages in three days, and from 1956 he dedicated himself, still pedaling, to his nineteen-year-old brother. "Until that day he had forbidden me to race," Livio recalls, "because I was tall and thin, fragile. Ardelio maintained that my physique was not yet prepared to endure the brutal efforts of a rider". The apprenticeship was quick. Livio: "The first race was in Borgale, the rock church of Santa Maria, on the Verentana road, 5 km from Montefiascone. Flag dropped, attacks and counterattacks, I was chasing everyone. Ardelio yelled at me: 'God Almighty, are you going to stop chasing even the flies?' The truth is I didn't know how to behave. So I just stayed by his side. 5 km from the finish, I was hit by a hunger crisis. And suddenly I felt empty. Ardelio still had energy, he always did, but he sacrificed himself and brought me to the finish line. He was thirteenth, I was fourteenth. I never thought one could experience so much suffering and effort to be a rider".


The 18 months and one month difference were evident: Ardelio was "the old man", Livio "the young one". And some thought they were father and son.


By the third race, things improved. Livio again: "We were racing the San Flaviano Grand Prix, right in Montefiascone, on April 26th, Ardelio's birthday and the day after the Liberation Grand Prix, with many international riders who had raced in Rome. Attacks and counterattacks, only the two of us remained at the front. On the final climb of Sant'Antonio, Ardelio asked me to slow down. I did, and thus won the race".

Ardelio could have written cycling history. That time at the Puglia and Lucania Tour in 1954, seven stages, Ardelio won the first stage and took the lead, managed the race, but on the last stage, perhaps the easiest, when everything was ready for the final triumph, the police made him and the first 14 in the standings take the wrong road, they arrived at the finish line, Alessandro Fantini was there, but in the opposite direction and were not classified, the sixteenth rider won.

That time at the Achille Lauro Grand Prix in 1957 in Rome, starting from Piazza del Popolo, the climb to Rocca di Papa from the Frascati side. Livio: "About fifteen riders in the breakaway, Ardelio ordered me to take his wheel, and on the Sant'Antonio climb we were four: Ardelio, Salvatore Morucci, Alberto Emiliozzi, who would become a professional, winning rider in the Faema team, and me. Ardelio dropped back, having a bit of stomach ache, I dropped the others, the race regrouped downhill, except for Amico Ippoliti, who would also become a professional, but not a winning rider, in the Philco team. In the finale, Ardelio told me to try attacking, and I attacked, only Vittorio Colabattista stayed with me, who begged me to let him finish second, as he still needed to sign a contract with Lazio for the following year".

That time at the Allumiere Grand Prix when Uncle Peppe proposed Ardelio ride back home with him, but Uncle Peppe was on a motorcycle, so Ardelio settled behind with his bike on his shoulder, only worried there was enough petrol. Uncle Peppe reassured him. But in Vetralla the motorcycle began to sputter, then sneeze, and finally stopped. The petrol was finished. And it was night. They got off the motorcycle and pushed it, Uncle Peppe with two hands and two arms, while Ardelio held the bike with one hand and pushed the motorcycle with the other.

That time, perhaps in 1956, when Fausto Coppi wanted to meet Ardelio because he had heard so much good about him, it happened at a race in Liguria, and the Champion congratulated him, then asked why he continued racing at his age, and Ardelio retorted by asking why he was still racing - they were born in the same year - Coppi replied "but I'm a professional, and I race for money", Ardelio was a lifelong amateur, and raced for passion.

That time in 1957, at 38 and a half, when Ardelio decided the Morolo City Cup, near Frosinone, would be his last race as a lifelong amateur, organized by journalist Lillo Pietropaoli, won perhaps by Silvestro La Cioppa, the following year Livio succeeded.

That time on August 30, 1960, at the Rome Olympics, amateur road race, Ardelio positioned himself on the Grottarossa circuit, at the start of the climb, bringing his son Giancarlo with him, and with three laps to go he moved forward and yelled to Livio: "God Almighty, it's time", Livio attacked and rejoined the lone leader, the Russian Viktor Kapitonov.

That time in 2013 when Riccardo Magrini was invited to Montefiascone, where 30 years earlier he had won a Giro d'Italia stage, and asked Giancarlo (nicknamed Pajetta because he was as combative as the partisan and communist) about his father Ardelio, who was there, on a bench. Giancarlo: "Dad, this is Magrini, the one who won here in Montefiascone at the Giro". Ardelio: "God Almighty, he became a professional with that belly?!"

Ardelio Trapè died on November 7, 2017. He was 98 years and seven months old. Until a short time before, he was still driving a car.

(end of the second and final episode)


Copyright © TBW
COMMENTI
Hai dimenticato i tuoi dati, clicca qui.
Se non sei registrato clicca qui.
TBRADIO

00:00
00:00
Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain. E da domenica, salvo clamorosi imprevisti, Tadej Pogačar. Lo sloveno della UAE Team Emirates - XRG ha sempre fatto spallucce quando si parlava di record da eguagliare e superare, un modo per...


Mentre la Grande Boucle attira l'attenzione del mondo su strade di Francia, in Turchia il ciclismo si ritrova al centro di una polemica abbastanza insolita. Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli è stato destituito il 18 luglio perché indossava pantaloncini da ciclista durante...


Tre giorni sulle Alpi, tre giorni per dare al Tour de France tutte le risposte che ancora cerca. Si comincia con la tappa numero 18, la Voiron - Orcières-Merlette di 185, 2 km, con 5 gpm, 3.900 metri di dislivello...


Nel 2026 il marchio Nalini ha alzato di molto l’asticella investendo in ricerca e sviluppo, un percorso che ha generato diverse novità tra cui il primo sistema di airbag integrato nel pantaloncino e l’evoluto cycling Kit RAY. Quest’ultimo nasce in collaborazione con CeRiSM (Centro di...


Non è stato certo il debutto al Tour de France che Antonio Tiberi sognava di fare. Il corridore della Bahrain Victorious ha lottato e sofferto fin dal primo giorno, senza però trovare mai quella gamba e quelle sensazioni che sperava....


Numeri, curiosità e statistiche aiutano a rileggere e ad approfondire quel che abbiamo vissuto nella tappa di ieri. Seguiteci: 11: UN NUOVO BOUQUETVincitore allo sprint dopo aver completato l'ultimo chilometro per le strade di Voiron a una velocità media di...


Ci sono montagne che non sono semplici salite. Sono luoghi della memoria, pagine di storia che il Tour de France continua a sfogliare anno dopo anno. Orcières-Merlette è una di queste. Oggi la Grande Boucle tornerà nella località alpina con...


Ai Gran Premi Internazionali di Fiorenzuola – 6 Giorni delle Rose bianche, la terza giornata è stata quella degli omnium, maschile e femminile, entrambi di altissimo livello, con diversi campioni olimpici e mondiali in gara. Partecipazione talmente folta che per...


L’ultima settimana del Tour de France, con vista su Parigi, e il dominio di Tadej Pogačar saranno al centro del ventesimo appuntamento con Velò, la rubrica di Rete8 interamente dedicata al mondo del ciclismo, in onda questa sera alle 21:00...


Gemellato con Pinerolo (ricordate la tappa del 2011 vinta da Boasson Hagen?), Gap - capoluogo delle Hautes Alpes - non manca neanche quest’anno sulla mappa del Tour de France. L’edizione 2026 assegna al territorio targato “05”, dopo l’arrivo a Orcieres-...


TBRADIO

-

00:00
00:00





DIGITAL EDITION
Prima Pagina Edizioni s.r.l. - Via Inama 7 - 20133 Milano - P.I. 11980460155




Editoriale Rapporti & Relazioni Gatti & Misfatti I Dubbi Scripta Manent Fisco così per Sport L'Ora del Pasto Le Storie del Figio ZEROSBATTI Capitani Coraggiosi Piede a Terra