[CR]Coppi vs. Merckx

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:05:53 -0400
From: "Julian Shapiro" <julians@optonline.net>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, "Silver, Mordecai" <MSilver@iso.com>
Subject: [CR]Coppi vs. Merckx

"For instance, when Coppi made a breakaway of 100 km or more - as in the Giro of 1949 - a writer as Dino Buzzatti could give it epic, homeric proportions. But that's impossible when everybody has seen the race on television. When Merckx rode two hours alone in front, perhaps viewers thought it was admirable, but they certainly found it very dull."

I think this is the crux of the matter. Coppi and Merckx were both head and shoulders above their peers. But everything is better in Italian. The worst 0-0 draw in Seria A (that's the top Italian soccer league for you non-fans) becomes timeless opera when you read about it in La Gazzetto dello Sport.

Julian Shapiro
Sag Harbor, NY (alas not Roma, IT)