Fausto
Coppi
was
an
Italian
cyclist
and
one
of
Italy’s
most
popular
post‐war
sports
heroes.

He
was
born
on
September
15,
1919
in
Castellania,
in
Piedmont,
to
a
family
of
humble
origins.

He
began
racing
at
18.
Coppi
debuted
as
a
professional
when
he
was
20,
winning
the
Giro
d’Italia.
Two
 years
later
 he
set
a
 new
 hour
 record.
 But
World
War
Two
interrupted
 his
 career.
 
He
was

sent
to
the
front
and
made
a
prisoner
of
war
by
the
British
in
Tunisia.
At
the
time
he
was
24
years

old.
The
war
ended
in
1945
and
Coppi
returned
to
Italy,
where
he
resumed
training.
Coppi
 is
 considered
 the
 first
 modern
 cyclist.
 He
 took
 a
 new
 approach
 to
 athletic
 preparation,

engaging
a
personal
physician
 to
keep
him
in
shape
and
adopting
a
specific
diet
 to
enhance
his

performance.

He
achieved
his
greatest
successes
after
the
war.


He
won
the
Tour
de
France
twice,
the
Milan‐San
Remo
three
times,
and
was
the
first
to
win
the

Giro
 di
 Lombardia
 five
 times.
 He
 also
 increased
 his
 victories
 at
 the
 Giro
 d’Italia
 to
 five,
 tying

Alfredo
Binda.
In
Italy
he
was
hailed
as
a
national
hero.
The
press
called
him
 the
Campionissimo,
champion
of

champions,
or
Airone,
the
Heron,
for
his
slim
build.
Coppi
 developed
 a
 strong
 rivalry
 with
 another
 great
 cyclist,
Gino
 Bartali.
 Their
 back
 and
 forth

challenges
divided
Italian
fans.


In
 a
 period
 in
 which
 cycling
 was
 the
 most
 popular
 sport
 in
 the
 country,
 they
 represented
 two

different
sides
of
post‐war
Italy.
Bartali,
a
 hardcore
 Catholic
with
 ties
 to
 the
 Christian
Democratic
 Party,
 represented
 traditional

Italy.
He
had
started
his
career
back
in
the
1930s,
and
embodied
continuity
with
the
past.

oppi
was
younger,
and
had
achieved
his
greatest
successes
after
the
war.
His
victories
seemed

to
drive
Italy
into
the
future.
He
became
a
symbol
of
the
new,
more
secular
and
modern
Italy.

The
 two
athletes
 had
enormous
 respect
 for
 one
another.
A
 photograph
 taken
 during
 the
 1952

Tour
de
France
shows
 them
sharing
a
water
bottle
while
struggling
uphill.
Fans
of
 the
sport
are

quick
to
point
out
that
it
doesn’t
matter
who
is
passing
the
bottle
to
whom.


The
1950s
were
difficult
years
in
Coppi’s
personal
life.

Like
Bartali,
Coppi
lost
his
brother.
In
1951
Serse
Coppi,
also
a
cyclist,
died
in
an
accident
during
a

race.
In
1953,
in
Switzerland,
Coppi
won
 the
World
Championship.
He
was
met
at
 the
 finish
line
by
a

young
woman
named
was
Giulia
Occhini.
She
would
become
better
known
as
Dama
Bianca,
the

White
Lady


Coppi
was
already
a
husband
and
a
father.
The
White
Lady
was
married
to
a
doctor
and
had
two

children
of
her
own.
They
had
an
affair,
and
Occhini
subsequently
gave
birth
to
Coppi’s
child.
It

was
a
national
scandal.
In
1955,
the
couple
was
tried
for
adultery
and
desertion.

Coppi
was
deeply
scarred
by
the
ordeal.
He
kept
racing,
but
only
won
a
few
minor
events.
In
December
1959,
during
a
race
held
in
Africa,
Coppi
contracted
malaria.
He
died
on
January
2,

1960
in
Tortona.
He
was
40.

He
will
always
be
remembered
as
the
man
who
kept
Italy
dreaming
for
almost
20
years.