Sports Poets Society

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07XP5GBYG Simone Basso IN FUGA DAGLI SCERIFFI Oltre Moser e Saronni: il ciclismo negli anni Ottanta Prefazione di Herbie Sykes Rainbow Sports Books, 176 pagine (...) Bignami doveroso dedicato a Franco Chioccioli da Pian di Scò, atleta eternamente fuori del suo tempo. Sfortunato a capitare in un’èra autarchica e conservatrice: di quel ciclismo fu uno degli agnelli sacrificati alla rappresentazione scenica.  (...) Figlio di una famiglia contadina, ultimo di otto fratelli, dovette convivere con le storie dolorose di tutti i giorni.  Talento annunciato fin dalle categorie giovanili, con un Giro della Lunigiana nella fedina, fu scoperto da Franco Montanelli, nessuna relazione diretta con l’Indro, e valorizzato nei pro’ da Luciano Pezzi.  (...) Il Giro 1983 lo rivelò, se non al grande pubblico, almeno agli addetti ai lavori: quella corsa rosa, altimetricamente banale, fu il gran ballo di una nuova generazione....

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2020/1980-hinault-brought-to-his-knees-8-10/1283574 At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1980, when persistent knee problems forced Bernard Hinault to make a discreet exit on the eve of the first big Pyrenean stage while still in the lead. Journalists in France left no stone unturned in their efforts to track down the Badger in Pau that evening. Bernard Hinault was crushing the opposition in 1980. The hero who had braved a raging snowstorm to win Liège–Bastogne–Liège in the spring and claimed his first Giro d'Italia a few weeks before was the odds-on favourite to take a third Tour de France win in a row. The Renault–Gitane leader seemed to be right on target as he dominated the prologue and made a show of strength in the two stages hel...

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2020/1970-leblanc-a-team-rider-with-huge-potential-7-10/1283568 At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1970, in the slipstream of Jean-Marie Leblanc, a rider competing in his second Tour de France after some minor successes in other races. A career in journalism beckons for the man from northern France, who has no idea yet that he will one day become the director of the Tour. Yet the seeds of the attributes needed to helm the race have already taken root in this humble team rider. Those who still have vivid memories of cycling in the late 1960s would no doubt argue that Jean-Marie Leblanc was a good rider despite his modest results —no offence meant to the Grand Prix d'Aix-en-Provence or the Circuit d'Armorique. He was also what jour...

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2020/1960-when-president-de-gaulle-greeted-the-tour-6-10/1283559 At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1960, specifically on the penultimate stage, when the peloton was paid a visit for the first time by a President of the Republic when the Tour passed through Colombey-les-Deux-Églises where General de Gaulle was staying. A form of mutual reverence between the statesman and the champions marked this unprecedented moment. On the 1960 Tour de France, the battle on the road was severely hampered by a cascade of no-shows and retirements that limited the competition. Anquetil opted out, exhausted after his victory on the Giro, while defending champion Federico Bahamontes withdrew after not even completing stage two. And to add injury to insult...

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2020/1950-divorce-italian-style-5-10/1283551 At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1950, marked by the collective departure of the Italian riders after incidents that resulted in Gino Bartali being threatened and assaulted by French spectators in the Pyrenees. Between the resurgence of the old internal squabbles within the "Squadra" and the diplomatic consequences of the Col d’Aspin affair, the 1950 Tour extended well beyond the roads of France. A quarrel between neighbouring countries on the Tour de France is both simple and, at the same time, much more complex than an anecdotal overzealousness and wine in the ranks of the supporters of both sides. In 1950, traces of World War II remained and the memory of the Mussolini regime...

https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2020/1940-the-tour-that-wasnt-4-10/1283547 At the turn of each decade, the Tour de France has gone through organisational changes and backstage struggles that have variously turned out to be decisive or utterly inconsequential. The journey back in time proposed by letour.fr continues in 1940: when the country entered the war, Henri Desgrange tried to keep the 34th edition of the Tour alive until spring, but had to resign himself to its cancellation. Before July France was already under German occupation, and Desgrange left the Tour orphaned in August. According to the tautological principle that you can't suppress something that doesn't exist, the 1940 edition of the Tour de France is the only one in history to have been cancelled. Although its detailed route was never published and its dates were not officially announced, its organisation was well thought out, envisaged and programmed in the offices of the organising newspaper, in a...

25 AGOSTO 2020 La coppia che non ti aspetti Se ci avessero detto che dopo 5 giornate ci sarebbero state in testa una squadra con la maglietta biancoverde e una con quella blu, avremmo pensato a un nulla di nuovo. E invece, detto che comunque i Rangers non sono una sorpresa anche se i Light Blues non vincono un titolo da 9 stagioni, sapere che al posto del Celtic in testa c’è l’Hibernian, fa un po’ effetto. “Hibernian 'til I die” Gli Hibs scatenati dopo il gol vittoria di Mallan a Perth (foto Alan Rennie) Jack Ross è stato licenziato dal Sunderland dopo aver perso al 94′ una finale play-off per tornare in Championship e dopo aver lasciato, nella seconda stagione, la squadra al sesto posto , posizione che sarebbe stata utile per ripetere i play-off a differenza dell’ottavo posto finale conquistato dal suo successore.  Senza perdersi d’animo, ha accettato di tornare nella sua Scozia per rivitalizzare un Hibernian depresso e a solo un punto dall’ultimo ...