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
«Lasciatemi andare sulla hot seat, che ho l’impressione non mi capiterà più» ha detto ridendo Mattia Cattaneo dopo aver risposto alle domande dei giornalisti, prima in italiano e poi in inglese, in quel di Thonon-les-Bains. Per circa un’oretta il corridore...


È deluso ma consapevole Juan Ayuso dopo la cronometro di Thonon-Les-Bains del Tour de France 2026. L’atleta spagnolo è stato probabilmente il corridore più deludente di giornata, visto che ha chiuso a 2’22” dal vincitore Remco Evenepoel ma anche decisamente...


Remco EVENEPOEL. 10 e lode. Uno sparo nel cielo. Un razzo dai colori dell’arcobaleno che fa valere ancora la sua legge. Quarta vittoria al Tour, la seconda di fila, la terza contro il tempo. Se le crono dicono la verità,...


A seguito della notizia del commissariamento da parte della Federciclismo, che riteniamo privo di ogni fondamento, tuteleremo i propri diritti e la propria reputazione, attivandoci nelle competenti sedi della giustizia sportiva, sia federali che del Coni, affinché vengano attivati i...


Uno-due di Remco Evenepoel, che dopo la vittoria sul Plateau de Solaison di domenica si aggiudica la crono individuale del Tour de France rifilando circa mezzo minuto a Tadej Pogacar. Completa il podio Mattias Skjelmose che rifila oltre un minuto al...


Terzo un anno fa al Tour, oggi Florian Lipowitz è costretto a dire addio alla Grande Boucle. Il tedesco ha infatti sbagliato nettamente una curva affrontata a tutta velocità, gli è partita la ruota anteriore e il corridore è andato...


Ieri il CPA ha emesso il suo comunicato in seguito ai controlli antidoping notturni avvenuti al Tour de France, che hanno coinvolto Tadej Pogacar e Jonas Vingegaard, e in gruppo continua ad essere palese il malcontento. Nel giorno di riposo,...


Il Consiglio Federale, nella riunione del 20.7.2026, ha disposto il commissariamento della Lega del Ciclismo Professionistico in ragione delle ripetute e gravi violazioni delle norme federali e della convenzione sottoscritta in data 13.8.2024, nominando Commissario il Generale dell’Arma dei Carabinieri...


Saranno quasi certamente Como e il suo caloroso pubblico ad ospitare il finale del Lombardia 2026 in programma il prossimo 10 ottobre. A dare una conferma importante di come i lavori per riportare la conclusione della “Classica delle foglie morte”...


Dopo aver difeso pubblicamente Tadej Pogačar e Jonas Vingegaard all'indomani dei controlli antidoping subiti nel cuore della notte, Remco Evenepoel si è trovato a vivere sulla propria pelle la stessa situazione al Tour de France 2026. Alla vigilia della cronometro...


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