CASTELLANIA COPPI. On January 2 of last year there was a full lockdown, with movements prohibited even from one municipality to another. Thus, at the commemoration for Fausto Coppi, in Castellania, there were only 18 people in the church for the mass in suffrage and we looked to the same date of 2022 for a return to normality.
Unfortunately, the wish will not be fulfilled today: despite the fewer restrictions compared to twelve months ago, no particular events will be organized in the Campionissimo’s birthplace, with the exception of the private religious function (therefore open only to Fausto’s relatives) and the presentation of the book “One more life – The imagined years of the Campionissimo”, by Gino Cervi and Gianni Rossi, scheduled for 12.30 outdoors, near the Locanda Il Grande Airone.
The decision to limit the initiatives was made by the mayor Sergio Vallenzona: «The church is small, like the other indoor spaces in the town – he explains -. It would not be pleasant to force those who come to us, even from a distance to pay homage to Coppi, to spend too much time outdoors in a decidedly unfavorable season. We believe it is better to postpone the collateral initiatives to March as well, first of all the “Welcome Castellania” award and the inauguration of the new exhibition spaces in Fausto’s birthplace ».
A provision of exclusive civic sense, which Massimo Merlano, president of “Casa Coppi” agrees: “Better to wait for a better season, both from the climatic point of view and from a decrease in infections – he comments -, also because this edition of the award it will be a superlative moment. In fact, Sylvan Adams, a benefactor of Canadian origin who has created projects related to cycling in Rwanda and has played a fundamental role in the initiative to bring out of Afghanistan some athletes of different sports who would have found themselves in difficulties with the return of the Taliban ».