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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alfredo Binda | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Gioconda Trombettiere di Cittiglio (The Trumpeter of Cittiglio) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1902-08-11)11 August 1902 Cittiglio,Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 July 1986(1986-07-19) (aged 83) Cittiglio, Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Climber, classics specialist | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1922 | Nice Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1923–1924 | La Française | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1925–1927 | Legnano | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1928 | Legnano/Mifa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1929–1936 | Legnano | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986)[1][2] was an Italianroad cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of theGiro d'Italia, and a three-timeworld champion. In addition he wonMilan–San Remo twice, and theTour of Lombardy four times.
Later he would manage the Italian National team. Under him,Fausto Coppi,Gino Bartali andGastone Nencini all triumphed at theTour de France.
Binda was born inCittiglio nearVarese but moved toNice, in southernFrance as a teenager. He found work with his uncle as anapprenticeplasterer, but he and brother Primo spent their free time cycling. He began racing in September 1921, aged 19. He won his first race (though he was subsequently disqualified) and it was clear from the outset that he was immensely gifted as both time trialist and climber.
Binda was a trainedtrumpet player, and was nicknamed "Trombettiere di Cittiglio" ("The Trumpeter of Cittiglio").[3]
Enticed by a 500 lire King of the Mountains prize on the Ghisallo climb, Binda rode from Nice to Milan in order to compete in the 1924 Tour of Lombardy. He won the prize, finished fourth in the race, and was immediately offered a contract with the Legnano professional team.
The1925 Giro d'Italia was to be the last of the legendarycampionissimoCostante Girardengo. All of Italy hoped he would prevail, and his defeat at the hands of Binda, a 23-year-old Giro debutant, was deeply unpopular. In the event Girardengo resolved to continue racing, and the two of them developed a caustic, deeply personal rivalry. As Girardengo's powers waned, Italians looked toDomenico Piemontesi to usurp Binda but, much like everyone else, he was hopelessly out of his depth against thefuoriclasse.
In 1929 Girardengo "discovered" a prodigiously strong track rider fromVeneto,Learco Guerra. He famously anointed him as his heir apparent, a new "anti-Binda". Guerra closely resembled Girardengo as a cyclist, and was hugely popular. He enjoyed the support of theItalian Fascist Party, and by extension the press and wider sporting public. Binda, on the other hand, famously declared that he'd no interest in producingspettacolo. Rather he was simply in the business of winning bike races, and each time he defeated Guerra the Italian public's antipathy grew. Whilst Guerra was homespun, expansive and open, Binda was perceived as cold and detached, pompous even.
So dominant was he that theGazzetta dello Sport offered him 22,500 lire to miss theGiro of 1930. Instead, he took part in that year'sTour de France, winning two stages. Not until 1932, when he won a thirdCycling World Championship in Rome, did the public start to warm to him. By then he had redefined both training and racing methodology, and was arguably the greatest cyclist ever to have lived.
All told he won the Giro a record five times in1925,1927,1928,1929 and1933 (1933 was also the first year the Giro held a "King of the Mountains" competition, which Binda won too). Besides the overall victories he won 41 stages (a record only broken in 2003 byMario Cipollini). In 1927, he won 12 out of 15 stages, and in 1929 he won 8 consecutive stages.
In theWorld Championships, Binda was also very successful. He won the title three times in 1927, 1930 and 1932 (a record later equalled byRik Van Steenbergen,Eddy Merckx,Óscar Freire andPeter Sagan). In addition, he placed third in 1929. By the time he retired he had won over 120 races, including theItalian Championships four times.
Società Ciclistica Alfredo Binda and the professional women's raceTrofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio are named in his honor.[4][5]
Source:[6]
OverallTour du Sud-Est
OverallGiro d'Italia
Road race, National Road Championships
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsRoad race, National Road Championships OverallGiro d'ItaliaRoad race, National Road Championships OverallGiro d'ItaliaRoad race, National Road Championships OverallGiro d'Italia
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsRoad race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsRoad race,UCI Road World Championships OverallGiro d'Italia
