Vittorio Adorni, who passed away today in Parma at the age of 85, was a champion of incomparable elegance, such that for those who didn’t know him on a bicycle, it would seem impossible that he was a professional racer. Born in San Lazzaro Parmense in 1937, on November 14 as Bernard Hinault and Vincenzo Nibali, Adorni turned professional relatively late in 1961. From the following year, he began his long courtship with the pink jersey. After fifth place in the 1962 Giro d’Italia, in the following edition he seemed to have success in hand when he conquered the symbol of primacy three days from the end in the stage that ended on Nevegal, the mountain overlooking Belluno. The day after, however, he went into crisis in the Dolomite ride that led to Moena, definitively handing over the pink jersey to Franco Balmamion, a decidedly less brilliant rider who, however, made his religion his regularity. In 1964, the year of Jacques Anquetil’s pink-yellow double, he was fourth in the Tour and tenth on French soil in the only Tour that he managed to complete. Two months later, again in Gallic soil, in Sallanches, Adorni came close to winning the rainbow jersey defeated in the sprint by the bespectacled Dutchman Jan Janssen at the end of a three-man breakaway in which Raymond Poulidor was also present.
After so many placements, the consecration finally arrived in 1965, not before two other scorching places of honor at the Milan-San Remo and at the Liège-Bastogne-Liege, in which he was beaten in the sprint respectively by the Dutch Arie den Hartog and by the Italian-Belgian Carmine Preziosi. The Giro d’Italia was peremptorily dominated. After initially wearing the pink jersey, conquered in Potenza, for two stages, Adorni temporarily handed it over to the Tuscan Bruno Mealli to then repossess it definitively in the time trial that led from Catania to Taormina. It was a triumphal march for the Parma area, consecrated by the victory in the tough village of Madesimo. The gaps inflicted on the opponents were abysmal: Italo Zilioli finished second at 11’26” while third place went to a rookie teammate of the winner, Felice Gimondi from Bergamo, at 12’57”. Since then, no one has ever managed to carve a similar groove in the charts.
Corroborated by this success and by the announced defection of Jacques Anquetil in the imminent Tour de France, Adorni presented himself at the Grande Boucle intending to emulate the feat accomplished twelve months earlier by the blond Norman, to whom he resembled a lot in terms of elegance and style. The forfeit, at the last minute of Battista Babini, his faithful follower, led to Gimondi being included in training in Salvarani, originally not intended to take part in the French race. From the start, Adorni confirmed his lack of feeling with the Tour by definitively collapsing in the Pyrenees and returning home while the Bergamo native wore his unexpected yellow jersey all the way to Paris.
With two roosters in the henhouse, 1966 was a difficult year for Salvarani. At the Giro, however, things seemed to have gone well for Adorni. A mechanical accident excluded Gimondi from the fight for the supremacy already in the second stage. When in the thirteenth stage, the same as the previous year in Taormina, Adorni was a prophet in his homeland, winning the time trial on his home streets in front of Anquetil, and conquering the symbol of primacy, an encore seemed to be in the air. However, when he restarted after the rest day, he first ran into trouble on Mottarone, managing, however, to save the pink jersey from a wild Gianni Motta, who was then forced to give it up the following day on Maddalena, the hill overlooking Brescia. He finished seventh in that Giro and at the end of the season he left Salvarani.
The following year, racing at the Salamini-Luxor, he was able to win the Tour of Romandie, finishing fourth in the first of Gimondi’s three pink triumphs. In 1968 he married the ambitious project of Vincenzo Giacotto, the Turin manager, who wanted him as director of his new team, Faema, built around the new world champion Eddy Merckx. Incredible to say, despite having to act as a mentor to the Cannibal, with whom he shared a room during the triumphant Giro d’Italia, finished in the place of honor just five minutes behind the Brabant, Adorni lived an unexpected second youth which culminated in the unforgettable day of 1 September.
The Tre Monti circuit was packed with the public that day along the 15 kilometers of its ring which the riders had to repeat 18 times. On the fourth lap, a spurt by the expert Flemish champion Rik Van Looy took away a breakaway also including the Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho and two blues, Adorni and Lino Carletto. Thanks to the excellent work of the Italian squad, and to an initial culpable lack of interest from the platoon, the escape acquired a colossal advantage. With less than 90 from the finish, with what could have seemed like a suicidal action, Adorni flew towards glory. Merckx, perhaps not too displeased that his teammate was the winner, attempted an unconvincing attack but then gave up. With the group now raised again, the Parma rewrote history by winning the world title with 9’50” on the Belgian Herman Van Springel and 10’18” on Michele Dancelli, who conquered the bronze at the end of a sprint between six blues. For Italy it was a triumph comparable to the first world championship, when in 1927 at the Nurburing four Italians finished in the first four places. For Adorni it was an unprecedented feat that will never be equaled in the future.
The world title came at a time when Vittorio was already projected towards the future. For a few weeks, in fact, flanked by Liana Orfei, he had hosted Ciao Mamma, a television quiz show, whose ratings skyrocketed after the Imola feat. Passed in 1969 to the new Scic formation from Parma, Adorni honored the iris by winning the Folgarida stage, the Switzerland Tour and the Italian Championship that year, which coincided with the Reggio Calabria Province Tour, in which he preceded in Vito Taccone sprint. At the end of the 1970 season, at the relatively young age of 33, he gave up playing. After a brief experience as Sporting Director of Felice Gimondi, first at Salvarani and then at Bianchi, Adorni joined Adriano De Zan becoming the first former cyclist to play the role of television technical commentator, a post he held until the mid-1990s.
In conclusion, I cannot avoid making a personal note. If I’m here today to write about cycling, it’s due to Vittorio Adorni. My father, Antonio Gambino, was a fan of him. I began to follow racing at the age of seven, starting right from the 1965 Giro d’Italia, the one he dominated. This was a curiosity that aroused Adorni not a little when we met, leading us to immediately enter into confidence. Goodbye Vittorio, we will miss you.
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