Fausto Coppi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Fausto Coppi

Coppi at the 1952 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name	Angelo Fausto Coppi
Nickname	The Heron Il Campionissimo (Champion of Champions)
Born	(1919-09-15)15 September 1919 Castellania, Italy
Died	2 January 1960(1960-01-02) (aged 40) Tortona, Italy
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10 st 10 lb)
Team information
Discipline	Road and track
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1949, 1952) Mountain classification (1949, 1952) 9 individual stages (1949-1952) Giro d'Italia General classification (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953) Mountain classification (1948, 1949, 1954) 22 individual stages (1940–1955) One-day races and Classics Milan–San Remo (1946, 1948, 1949) Paris–Roubaix (1950) Giro di Lombardia (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954) La Flèche Wallonne (1950) Grand Prix des Nations (1946, 1947) National Road Race Championships (1942, 1945, 1949, 1955) Giro dell'Emilia (1941, 1947, 1948) Giro della Romagna (1946, 1947, 1949) Giro del Veneto (1941, 1947, 1949) Tre Valli Varesine (1941, 1948, 1955) Other Hour record (1942)

Angelo Fausto Coppi (born September 15, 1919 – died January 2, 1960) was an Italian cyclist. He was the most important international cyclist right after World War II. People called him Il Campionissimo, which means "Champion of Champions".

Fausto Coppi was great at all kinds of cycling races. He was excellent at climbing hills and also very fast in time trials. He was also a strong sprinter. He won the Giro d'Italia five times and the Tour de France twice. In 1953, he became the World Champion. He also won many other big races like Giro di Lombardia five times and Milan–San Remo three times. In 1942, he even set a new hour record for cycling.

Fausto Coppi's Early Life and First Races

Fausto Coppi was born in Castellania, Italy. He was one of five children. As a child, Fausto was often sick and did not like school much.

When he was eight, he skipped school to ride a rusty old family bike. He later wrote, "I ought to be at school, not riding my bicycle." At 13, he left school to work for a butcher named Domenico Merlani.

Riding his bike to and from the shop made him interested in racing. His uncle and father helped him buy his first racing bike.

Fausto Coppi rode his first race at age 15. He won the top prize: 20 lire and a salami sandwich! In 1938, he got his racing license. He won his first official race at Castelleto d'Orba, earning an alarm clock. A former boxer named Giuseppe Cavanna, who was now a masseur, helped Coppi. Cavanna suggested Coppi become a "semi-professional" rider in 1939. This meant he could race against both amateur and professional cyclists.

Coppi's Amazing Professional Career

Fausto Coppi's first big win was in 1940. He won the Giro d'Italia when he was just 20 years old. On November 7, 1942, he set a new world hour record in Milan. He rode 45.798 kilometers in one hour! This record stood for 14 years.

His cycling career was stopped by World War II. But in 1946, he started racing again. He achieved incredible success. One famous cycling writer, Pierre Chany, said that from 1946 to 1954, once Coppi broke away from other riders, no one could ever catch him.

Winning Two Grand Tours in One Year

Coppi made history twice by winning both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. He did this in 1949 and again in 1952. He was the first cyclist ever to achieve this amazing feat. He won the Giro five times in total, which is a record shared with only two other riders.

In the 1949 Giro, he left his rival Gino Bartali far behind on a mountain stage. He won the 1949 Tour de France by a huge amount of time. He caught up to the leader, Jacques Marinelli, by gaining 55 minutes in the mountain stages.

Other Major Victories

Coppi also won the Giro di Lombardia a record five times. He won Milan–San Remo three times. In the 1946 Milan–San Remo, he attacked early in the race and won by 14 minutes! He also won Paris–Roubaix and La Flèche Wallonne in 1950. In 1953, he became the world road champion.

His Last Tour de France Wins

Coppi couldn't ride the Tour de France in his early career because of World War II. He finally entered in 1949 and won! He also won the mountains classification.

In 1952, Coppi won the Tour de France again. He was amazing on the Alpe d'Huez climb, which was new to the Tour that year. He attacked six kilometers from the top. Another rider, Raphaël Géminiani, said Coppi rode like "a Martian on a bicycle." Coppi won the Tour by a huge 28 minutes and 27 seconds. This was his last Tour, and he had won two out of the three he rode.

After 1955, Coppi's career started to slow down. He couldn't win as often as he used to.

The Famous Rivalry with Gino Bartali

Fausto Coppi's racing years are known as the "golden years" of cycling. A big reason for this was his rivalry with another great Italian cyclist, Gino Bartali. Italian fans were divided into two groups: coppiani (Coppi fans) and bartaliani (Bartali fans).

Bartali was seen as traditional and religious. His fans were often from the rural south of Italy. Coppi was more modern and focused on new training methods. His fans were often from the industrial north.

Their rivalry began in 1940 when Coppi joined Bartali's team. Coppi was supposed to help Bartali, but then Coppi won the Giro! Their competition became very intense. In the 1948 world championship, both riders quit the race instead of helping each other. The Italian cycling group was very upset and suspended them for three months.

Their rivalry was so famous that it led to many exciting races. Even though they were rivals, they sometimes showed respect for each other.

Fausto Coppi During World War II

When Italy joined World War II, Fausto Coppi joined the Italian Army. Even during the war, he continued to cycle and win races. In 1941, he won several important races. In 1942, he became the national road champion and broke his collarbone. But he still managed to win the national pursuit title later that year. Soon after, he set his famous hour record.

In 1943, Coppi was sent to North Africa to fight. He was captured by British forces and became a prisoner of war. He was held in a camp where he met other cyclists. In 1944, he got sick with malaria, but he was treated quickly.

In 1945, Coppi returned to Italy. He worked as a truck driver for the British Royal Air Force. He even gave haircuts to soldiers! He was released in 1945. On July 8, 1945, he won a race in Milan, showing he was back in top form. The next year, he won the famous Milan–San Remo race.

Coppi's Personal Life

Fausto Coppi was married to Bruna Ciampolini. Later, he met Giulia Occhini, who was married to an army captain. They fell in love and moved in together. This caused a big scandal in Italy at the time. Divorce was not allowed, and the Pope even asked Coppi to go back to his wife. Coppi refused. He and Giulia had a son named Faustino.

Coppi's Sad Death

In December 1959, Fausto Coppi was invited to a cycling event and hunting trip in Burkina Faso, Africa. Several famous cyclists went, including Coppi and Raphaël Géminiani.

Both Coppi and Géminiani caught malaria there. When they returned home, they became very ill. Géminiani recovered, but Coppi's doctors thought he had a lung problem and did not realize it was malaria. Fausto Coppi sadly died on January 2, 1960.

Fausto Coppi's Lasting Legacy

Fausto Coppi is still remembered as one of the greatest cyclists ever. The Giro d'Italia honors him with the Cima Coppi. This is a special prize given to the first rider who reaches the highest mountain peak in the race.

In 1999, Coppi was voted the second greatest Italian athlete of the 20th century. His life story was even made into a TV movie in 1995.

A common saying about Coppi is that when he was asked how to be a champion, he would reply: "Just ride. Just ride. Just ride." There is an Italian restaurant in Belfast named Coppi, and an asteroid, 214820 Faustocoppi, was named after him. In 2019, his hometown, Castellania, was renamed Castellania Coppi to honor him on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Career Achievements

Major Results

Grand Tour Results Timeline

Monuments Results Timeline

Images for kids

• 

  Coppi (right) riding the 1953 Giro d'Italia

• 

  Coppi and Giulia Occhini in July 1954

• 

  The memorial to Coppi at the Pordoi Pass in the Dolomites, the Alps

See also

In Spanish: Fausto Coppi para niños