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
Per le statistiche ufficiali, quella conseguita da Davide Ballerini sul traguardo di Antalya nella settima tappa del Giro di Turchia 2026 sarebbe la decima affermazione in carriera da professionista, un numero tondo e di per sé alquanto significativo che...


Per il terzo anno consecutivo Marta Lach si impone nella prova inaugurale del  Festival Elsy Jacobs. Sul circuito (112 chilometri di gara) disegnato dagli organizzatori nei dintorni di Garnich, in Lussemburgo, la polacca della SD Worx Protime ha battuto in uno...


Ancora un lampo iridato sul Tour de Romandie: Tadej Pogacar vince la quarta tappa della corsa elvetica e si conferma leader della classifica generale. Nella Broc-Charmey di 149 chilometri, il campione del mondo ha messo a segno il suo affondo...


Bella prova di squadra della General Store Essegibi F.lli Curia in Olanda. La formazione diretta da Paolo Rosola ha partecipato alla Ronde van Overijssel di classe 1.2 e sul podio è salito Kevin Pezzo Rosola, figlio di Paolo e Paola...


Seconda vittoria italiana al Giro di Turchia 2026. Con uno sprint magistralmente preparato da tutta l'XDS Astana, Davide Ballerini ha infatti conquistato la settima tappa con partenza e arrivo ad Antalya superando in volata Marceli Boguslawski (ATT Investmensts)...


È scomparso nella giornata di ieri Alex Zanardi, l’uomo che ha trasformato la percezione della disabilità in Italia e uno degli sportivi più forti e vincenti degli ultimi decenni. Il presidente della Federazione Ciclistica Italiana Cordiano Dagnoni, appresa...


Sono state le pendenze a doppia cifra della salita di Casalincontrada a decidere il vincitore e il nuovo leader della classifica generale del Giro d'Abruzzo Juniores 2026. Il cambio al vertice ha avuto come protagonista principale Brandon Davide Fedrizzi (Borgo...


Eddy Merckx sta combattendo da vero guerriero la lunga battaglia legata all’intervento di anca. Ma ora sembra che la parte peggiore sia passata e, dopo operazioni chirurgiche, infezioni e riabilitazione, il Cannibale è finalmente tornato a casa. Negli ultimi anni,...


Aveva 59 anni e tante volte abbiamo raccontato le sue imprese su queste pagine perché Alex Zanardi era un campione straordinario, di quelli che non hanno mai smesso di affrontare di petto le sfide della vita. Pilota di Formula 1...


Brillante prestazione della Ciclistica Rostese nella 57^ edizione della Coppa, Penna, tradizionale appuntamento sulle strade del Valdarno in provincia di Arezzo. Al termine di una gara condotta a quasi 43 di media, si è affermato per distacco con un pregevole...


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 La Vuelta 2024