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
Roma incorona Jonathan Milan. L'ultima tappa del Giro d'Italia 2026 si chiude con la vittoria del velocista della Lidl-Trek, che taglia il traguardo davanti a tutti in quella che lui stesso ha definito "una volata alla Milan" — potente e...


Fine del Giro, purtroppo. Fine di una corsa che è molto più di un viaggio per l’Italia, nel Paese più bello del… che meriterebbe la corsa più bella del… ma che sarà per la prossima volta, magari nel... Voto 6,...


E alla fine, Jonathan Milan! Parla italiano la tappa conclusiva del Giro d'Italia grazie al gigante friulano della Lidl Trek che centra il successo all'ultima occasione. Potenza allo stato puro, quella di Milan, che regola Giovanni Lonardi della Polti VisitMalta...


È Mattia Arnoldi il primo leader del 24° Giro Ciclistico del Friuli Venezia Giulia per la categoria Juniores. Il portacolori del Team Ecotek Zero24 si è imposto oggi pomeriggio nella frazione inaugurale, un circuito pianeggiante di 90, 4 chilometri con...


Un fine settimana trionfale in Toscana per la Beltrami TSA Tre Colli guidata dal direttore sportivo Matteo Provini. La formazione emiliana dopo aver vinto con il vicentino Andrea Guerra il Giro del Montalbano a Bacchereto in provincia di Prato, ha...


In definitiva, dopo questo Giro potremo parlare di ciclismo Pogacaard. E' una formula: fuoriclasse fuori categoria, fuori portata, e là dietro il resto del mondo. Così due anni fa con Teddy, così stavolta con Vinge. Marginali le differenze: sei tappe...


Olav Kooij sta ritrovando finalmentela condizione migliore e ha concesso il bis conquistando anche l’ultima tappa della Boucles de la Mayenne. L’olandese della Decathlon CMA CGM si è imposto sul traguardo di Laval precedendo il danese Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) e...


Altri segnali di confusione fra il Giro maschile e quello femminile: alcuni corridori a Roma si sono trovati nel sacchetto del rifornimento cipria e rossetto «Per scalare la Maiella serve il nostro olio» (Alessandro ‘Spillo’ Altobelli, ex calciatore dell’Inter e...


Elisa BALSAMO. 10. Le sue compagne in maglia Lidl Trek lavorano bene per tutta la tappa, controllano e mettono Elisa in condizione di potersi esprimere al meglio. Lei inizialmente controlla Gillespie e Consonni rischiando anche di rimanere “imbottigliata” nel traffico...


La squalifica di Lorena Wiebes ha fatto clamore ed è destinata a far parlare ancora a lungo anche perché i vertici della SD Worx Protime hanno annunciato l'intenzione di adire alle vie legali. Il team manager Erwin Janssen è stato chiaro...


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