Dan asked:
> I hope this is on topic. The Portraits of the Tour de France calendar
> for June shows Coppi and Bartali alone on a mountain with two very
> different bikes. Coppi's got a derailleur equipped bike that may be the
> original Campy Grand Sport and Bartali's got the Marguerita? (forgot the
> name) shifting system. I know from Aldo's postings of the 1949 Giro di
> Talia, that Bartali won the Giro that year. Can someone tell me the
> outcome of the Tour for that year? If this is off topic, please e-mail
> me off list.
>
> Relating to riding style from the past, neither seems to have much seat
> post showing, but Coppi is much more stretched out on his machine than
> Bartali, who's kind of scrunched up by today's standards.
1948 saw Bartali win by over 26 minutes in front of second place Brik Schotte. In 1949, it was Coppi's turn to overcome a 40 minute deficit to win by over 10 minutes in front of Bartali. In 1949, Coppi rode Simplex equipped Bianchi and Bartali a Cervino equipped Legnano.
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Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ