Alfredo Binda was an Italian road cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of the Giro d'Italia, and a three-time world champion. In addition he won Milan–San Remo twice, and the Tour of Lombardy four times.
Milan–San Remo, also called "The Spring classic" or "La Classicissima", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km it is the longest professional one-day race in modern cycling. It is the first major classic race of the season, usually held on the third Saturday of March. The first edition was held in 1907.
The Giro di Lombardia, officially Il Lombardia, is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycling, and one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. Nicknamed the Classica delle foglie morte, it is the most important Autumn Classic in cycling. The race's most famous climb is the Madonna del Ghisallo in the race finale.
Madonna del Ghisallo is a hill in Magreglio, close to Lake Como in Italy. It is named after an alleged Marian apparition.
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most revered races are often described as the cycling monuments.
Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. He is one of seven cyclists who has won all three of cycling's Grand Tours in their career – having won the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2013 Giro d'Italia, the 2014 Tour de France and the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
Robert Förster is a German former professional road racing cyclist. He specialized in bunch sprints.
The chapel of Notre-Dame des Cyclistes is situated in the commune of Labastide-d'Armagnac in Les Landes département in Aquitaine, France.
The Monuments are five classic cycle races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest, longest and most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling, with distances between 240 and 300 km.
The 1999 Giro d'Italia was the 82nd edition of the Giro. It began on May 15 with a mass-start stage that stretched from Agrigento to Modica. The race came to a close on June 6 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Eighteen teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Ivan Gotti of the Team Polti team. Second and third were the Italians riders Paolo Savoldelli and Gilberto Simoni. Marco Pantani is credited with four high mountain stage victories.
The Valassina or Vallassina is the valley of the upper tract of the river Lambro, situated in the Larian Triangle in the Province of Como, northern Italy. The most important settlement in the area is the town of Asso, from which the valley takes its name. Here the border between Valassina and Brianza is marked by the waterfall known as the Cascata della Vallategna.
The 2009 Giro d'Italia was the 92nd running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 9 to 31 May 2009, and marked the 100th year since the first edition of the race. Starting in Venice and finishing in Rome, 22 teams competed over 21 stages. Four of the top ten finishers in this edition later had their results voided.
The 2009 Giro di Lombardia was the 103rd edition of this single day road bicycle racing monument race, colloquially known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves". The event was run on 17 October 2009. It was the final event of the 2009 UCI World Ranking and the final major event of the 2009 road racing season. For the third consecutive year, the race was 242 kilometres long and depart from Varese to its finish in Como.
The Muro di Sormano is a hill located in Sormano, Italy. This climb is one of the most severe to have been used in road cycling, with an average gradient of 17% and a maximum of 27%. The road up the climb, fell into disuse from 1963 to 2006. After pressure from local cyclists it was restored, and now features split-times and quotes from the riders of the climb in the 1960s era stencilled on the road. The current record time for the climb is 7 minutes 36 seconds, achieved by local rider Matteo Cappè.
The 2012 Giro di Lombardia or 2012 Il Lombardia was the 106th edition of the Giro di Lombardia single-day cycling race, often known as the Race of the Falling Leaves. It was held on 29 September 2012, over a distance of 251 km (156.0 mi), starting in Bergamo and ending in Lecco. It was the penultimate event of the season in the 2012 UCI World Tour. The very steep climb Muro di Sormano returned to the route during the 2012 edition after an absence of fifty years and was situated before the Madonna del Ghisallo climb. Joaquim Rodríguez won the race after a solo breakaway initiated on the final climb of the day. He became the first Spaniard to win this Classic.
The 2014 Giro d'Italia Femminile, or 2014 Giro Rosa, was the 25th running of the Giro d'Italia Femminile, the only remaining women's Grand Tour and the most prestigious stage race on the 2014 women's road cycling calendar. It was held over ten stages from 4 July to 13 July 2014, starting in Caserta and finishing in Madonna del Ghisallo.
The 2015 Giro d'Italia was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in May 2015. It was the 98th running of the Giro d'Italia and took place principally in Italy, although some stages visited France and Switzerland. The 3,481.8-kilometre (2,163.5 mi) race included 21 stages, beginning in San Lorenzo al Mare on 9 May and concluding in Milan on 31 May. It was the fifteenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The Giro was won by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff–Saxo), with Fabio Aru (Astana) second and Aru's teammate Mikel Landa third.
The 2015 Il Lombardia was a one-day cycling classic that took place around Lake Como in Lombardy in northern Italy on 4 October 2015. It was the 109th edition of the Il Lombardia one-day cycling race and was the final cycling monument of the 2015 season, as well as being the final race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race was organised by RCS Sport, who also organise the Giro d'Italia.
Nicole D'Agostin is an Italian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team Eneicat–RBH Global–Martín Villa.
