Ilario Tancon
RIESE PIO X (TREVISO)
In the spring of forty-five years ago, it was June 8, 1976, the Giro d’Italia stopped in Longarone. It was the hamlet number 18, the Verona – Longarone, and the winner was Simone Fraccaro, from Treviso in Riese Pio X.
Very strong runner, both on the road and on the track, an athlete who in his career has not collected all that his potential promised but who in any case had a decent career, always running in important teams. That of Longarone was the first of his two victories in the Giro and today, that the Gazzetta race arrives on the roads of Belluno, Fraccaro tells us about it.
«It was a stage with a simple elevation profile and I had aimed for it», says the entrepreneur from Treviso. «To the friends who would come to see me, the day before I had told that I would be the first or last to cross the finish line in Longarone. In that Giro, things weren’t going too well for me. In fact, I had a kind of rebellion towards cycling, also because of how the previous season had gone. In 1975, in fact, I was at Bianchi di Gimondi and Rik van Linden and I had not found myself very well. In the Longarone stage, Gimondi, in the pink jersey, and van Linden fell. Mindful of what I experienced the previous year, I decided not to wait for them: it was a sort of “revenge”. Attack, I go on the run with my partner Fausto Bertoglio but the sporting director tells me to get up. I say no, but then they take us back anyway. In the final, shots and counter shots, on the Castellavazzo tear, less than two kilometers from the finish line, I shoot holding the chain on 53, I climb over the head, at ten meters I have the Spaniard Miguel Maria Lasa, I raise and win with arms raised. A few seconds later comes Lasa, then Marino Basso and Roger De Vlaeminck: The latter wanted to win the stage. Instead I won it and dedicated it to my teammate Dorino Vanzo who had crashed into a flagship the day before, hurting himself a lot. The next day, we ran the Longarone – Torri del Vajolet: I felt good but I went out of the way. On the final climb I went into crisis, luckily my villagers were pushing me otherwise I would have arrived the next day ».
In 1977 he won another stage, always with a “blow” at the end.
«I was a finisseur and also in the 1977 Giro I won starting with a view to the finish line. We left Foggia and arrived in Isernia, on a very hot day. I started on a stretch two kilometers from the finish ».
In that Giro, which proposed the stage of Cortina – Col Druscié, he also went very well in the general, finishing eleventh.
“Yes, but I could have finished second or third. I was always with the best but in a stage in Romagna the sporting director told me to wait for Bertoglio, which I did. Too bad that Fausto was in a coma that day and we lost eight minutes. If I had stayed with Moser and Maertnes – the latter won the stage – I could have exploited their rivalry that day to take home the fraction and, when I arrived in Milan, be higher in the standings. That Giro was won by Pollentier who snatched the pink jersey from Moser in the Cortina stage. On the day of Col Drusciè I passed with the first ones on the Rolle, then on the Pordoi I broke my bike, they passed me that of the Norwegian Knut Knudsen, which however was enormous to me, and I lost ground. On the Falzarego I went down slowly, I didn’t feel like taking the risk ».
Among the many Dolomite climbs he has faced in his career, there are also the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
«The climb to the Auronzo refuge I have faced twice. The first time was in 1974, the year of the victory of the Spanish Fuentes and of Baronchelli’s attack on Merckx. I remember I used the 41×23. The second in 1981, when the Swiss Breu won and Battaglin won the pink jersey. That second time I mounted the 39×23, more agile than the 41×23 but undoubtedly much harder than today’s ratios ».
Speaking of Battaglin, what is your opinion of the rider from Vicenza?
«I think Battaglia was the best racehorse we have had in Veneto. He was a thoroughbred, strong uphill and with a deadly shot. He won a Giro and a Vuelta but if he had been managed better he could have won a lot more ».
In addition to Battaglin, he had many other important captains. Tell them what it tells us. Let’s start with Gimondi.
“One who never gave up. A tough guy, as an athlete but not only. We never got in tune ».
And a fan idol like Francesco Moser?
«Convinced of his own means, a great character. It was not easy to race with him because, knowing he was not a pure sprinter, he wanted the wingmen to make the race hard to tire the fast wheels. Thus, it was necessary to stay in the wind all day to demolish the opponents ».
And after Moser, your great rival, Beppe Saronni?
«Shrewd, he knew he was very fast and therefore with him it was enough to manage the race to the finish to pull him in the sprint».
Finally, the very elegant Roberto Visentini?
«An easy pedaling athlete with immense class. Suffice it to say that, despite not knowing how to race on the track, he was able to win an Italian title in the pursuit ».
Of the riders of this Giro 2021, who do you like best?
«Bernal is confirming what he had done in 2019. Evenepoel is a great champion. But I would like to underline the great Giro that Moscon is doing: Gianni is certainly up to these two. It is a pity that he has to run in the service of others, he has great numbers and in my opinion he could also become a ranking man ».