| Fossati's Great Ride
The 25th edition of the Giro di Lombardia was held on Saturday, October 26, 1929. The race started from Avenue Monza in Milan at 6:41 am.
SPECIAL NOTE: the race started three days before “Black Tuesday” marking the “Wall Street crash of 1929”. The World would be plunged into the Great Depression.
Italian Pietro Fossati (Maino-Clément) finished 3rd in the 1928 Giro di Lombardia and came to Milan with excellent fitness.
The peloton rode passively approaching the Ghisallo.
Race Status:
As soon as the Ghisallo climb began (75 km / 238 km), Remo Bertoni (Legnano) sprinted repeatedly and attracted Emilio Zanzi (Isolati), Raffaele Di Paco (Isolati), Francesco Camusso (Gloria), and Felice Gremo (Ideor) followed the aggressive action. Bertoni sprinted across the summit first, but the breakaway’s gap remained limited.
Riders climbing the northern Lombardia hills.
On the descent twenty additional riders joined the leaders.
In the first passage of Varese (130 km / 238 km), the leading group expanded to thirty riders.
On the climb in Marchirolo (150 km / 238 km), Camusso passed the summit first followed closely by Gremo and Bertoni.
The race reignited on the Brinzio climb (165 km / 238 km), when Gremo, Di Paco, Domenico Piemontesi (Bianchi), and Bertoni escaped in the lead.
On the descent, while everyone rested and coasting easily down the hill, Di Paco sprinted away solo. His breakaway companions tried to join the effort until Bertoni approaches a corner at high speed and fell heavily. He abandoned the race.
Di Paco’s Maino teammate Learco Guerra, a superior descender, executed a brilliant downhill. He rejoined his teammate at the front.
The two arrive in the second passage of Varese (176 km / 238 km), a minute ahead of the first chase group, with Gremo, Giuseppe Pancera (Touring), Adriano Zanaga (Touring), Fossati, Mario Bianchi (Legnano), Ambrogio Morelli (Gloria), Giuseppe Graglia (Isolati), and Luigi Barral (Isolati) working well together.
In Tradate (201 km / 238 km), Di Paco and Guerra find themselves at a closed level crossing. They were forced to stop and lost thirty seconds. A determined Guerra did not give up and instituted, dragging the exhausted teammate with him, but behind them Zanaga, Gremo, Fossati, Barral and Bianchi took full advantage at the gates manage to reach the two leaders.
The seven rode into Milan and prepared for the sprint. Rain put a complication into the velodrome finish because a wet track became slippery and dangerous. The first two laps of the track were ridden cautiously. At the sound of the bell for the final lap, Fossati attacked and gained an immediate 10 meters. No one managed to challenge him, Fossati kept his lead and crossed the finish line first.
Pietro Fossati (Maino-Clément) completed his unfinished Lombardia business with a sterling effort to gain the victory in the “Race of the Falling Leaves.”
SPECIAL NOTE: * Mario Bianchi finished in second place behind Fossati but was relegated to seventh place for irregularities during the finial sprint.
GdL October 26, 1929 |
238 Km, Milan-Milan |
1.
Pietro FOSSATI (Ita) 8h13'10" |
Mario Bianchi (Ita) Relegated from 2nd to 7th * |
2.
Adriano Zanaga (Ita) |
3.
Raffaele Di Paco (Ita) |
Starters: 72 / Finishers: 45 Average Speed: 28.955 km/h |
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Lomb 1928
Lomb 1930
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