ITALIAN HEROES

Italian cycling may be going through comparatively lean times as we enter the 2020s, but some of its biggest champions have been among the very greatest riders in the sport’s history

GINO BARTALI

Career: 1935-1954 Won the Giro three times and the Tour twice, despite losing his best years to World War Two. Bartali’s career was a long one - his first monument win came in the 1936 Lombardia; his final 14 years later in San Remo 1950.

FRANCESCO MOSER

Career: 1973-1987 Italy’s greatest and most assertive ever rouleur had broad enough talents that he could win a Giro d’Italia, as well as Milan- San Remo, Paris- Roubaix ( three times in a row) and Lombardia. He also revolutionised the Hour Record in 1984.

FAUSTO COPPI

Career: 1940-1959 Bartali’s great rival was also his opposite in many ways, and he had the edge in terms of head- to- head results. Won the Giro and Lombardia five times each, plus two Tours. Also lost years of his career to the Second World War.

MARCO PANTANI

Career: 1993-2003 A mercurial and troubled rider whose greatest exploits came in the mountains of the Giro and Tour. He won both in 1998, but his career petered out after he was ejected from the 1999 Giro and he died tragically young in 2004.

FELICE GIMONDI

Career: 1965-1978 A Tour winner at the age of 22, Gimondi was the second rider after Anquetil to win all three grand tours. His best came at home, however - he won the Giro three times, and finished in the top 10 12 years running between 1965 and 1976.

VINCENZO NIBALI

Career: 2005- present Despite coming up against the science, stifling tactics and organisation of Team Sky, Nibali carved out a career as a grand tour great in the 2010s, winning all three, as well as taking victories in San Remo and Lombardia.