Alfredo Binda

Alfredo Binda

Personal information
Born	(1902-08-11)11 August 1902 Cittiglio, Italy
Died	19 July 1986(1986-07-19) (aged 83) Cittiglio, Italy
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber, classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1922	Nice Sport
1923–1924	La Française
1925–1927	Legnano
1928	Legnano/Mifa
1929–1936	Legnano
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 2 individual stages (1930) Giro d'Italia General Classification (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933) Mountains Classification (1933) 41 individual stages (1925-1933) One-day races and Classics World Road Race Championship (1927, 1930, 1932) National Road Race Championship (1926, 1927, 1928, 1929) Milan – San Remo (1929, 1931) Giro di Lombardia (1925, 1926, 1927, 1931) Giro del Piemonte (1926, 1927)
Medal record Competitor for  Italy Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1927 Nürburgring Elite Men's Road Race Gold 1930 Liège Elite Men's Road Race Gold 1932 Rome Elite Men's Road Race Bronze 1929 Zürich Elite Men's Road Race

Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986)^[1][2] was an Italian cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s, later trainer of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. Along with Giovanni Brunero and Carlo Galetti, Binda was among the first multiple Giro d'Italia champions, securing five victories between 1925 and 1933 that redefined the way stage races were ridden.^[3] Handsome, rugged and talented, Alfredo Binda was undoubtedly the first superstar of the Giro d'Italia. A popular rider, Binda essentially became the archetypal modern stage racer way before his time. The legacy he left cycling with was his ability to combine the strength of a one-day Classics rider with an incredible climbing prowess.^[3]

Three road world championship titles, five Giro wins, two Milan – San Remo crowns and four Giro di Lombardia victories all indicate the immense capabilities Binda possessed. His record of overall Giro titles wasn't equalled until another legendary Italian rider, Fausto Coppi, took his fifth title in 1953, and it has never been surpassed.

Early life

Binda was born in Cittiglio near Varese but grew up in Nice, in southern France. Learning to become a plasterer, Binda could often be found at the cycling track. A real cycling talent, strong both in the mountains and in the individual time trialing, he was an all-arounder.

Cycling career

Binda became a professional in 1922, and although he scored several victories, his breakthrough came in 1925. First, he won the Giro d'Italia stage race (beating Costante Girardengo, the dominant cyclist at that time), and then the Giro di Lombardia classic. In both races, he would dominate in the years to come. He won the Giro a record five times in 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1933 (1933 was also the first year the Giro held a "King of the Mountains" competition, which Binda won too); he also won the Giro di Lombardia in 1925, 1926, 1927 and 1931. His dominance in the Giro was overwhelming: besides the five overall victories, he won 41 stages (a record only broken in 2003 by Mario Cipollini). In 1927, he won 12 out of 15 stages, and in 1929 he won 8 consecutive stages. Because of this domination, he was offered money not to compete in the Giro of 1930. Instead, he took part in that year's Tour de France, winning two stages.

In the World Championships, Binda was also very successful. He won the title three times in 1927, 1930 and 1932 (a record later equalled by Belgians Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Óscar Freire). In addition, he placed third in 1929. Other victories of Binda include the Italian Championships (four times), and Milan – San Remo (twice).

Società Ciclistica Alfredo Binda is named in his honor.^[4]

Alfredo Binda, Nurburd, UCI Road World Championship, 1927

Binda's incredible climbing talents helped give rise to a record 41 Giro stage wins, a record eclipsed only in 2003.

Les Clarke wrote of Binda:

He was back to his finest in the 1933 race, taking his fifth and final Giro title. The benchmark has only been equalled by two other riders - Eddy Merckx and Fausto Coppi ... In 1927, Binda was utterly dominant. He made it to the finish in Milan with an advantage of 27:24 after 3,758km of racing. After taking out the opening 288km stage from Milan to Turin, Binda led the race from start to finish in a display that was unprecedented. His feat that year has never been repeated since. It's unlikely that it ever will.

Palmarès

Source:^[5]

References

External links

• Complete Palmarès
• Alfredo Binda: The Giro's first superstar
• Alfredo Binda Cycling Team
• Alfredo Binda profile at Cycling Archives

UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race 1927 Binda 1928 Ronsse 1929 Ronsse 1930 Binda 1931 Guerra 1932 Binda 1933 Speicher 1934 Kaers 1935 Aerts 1936 Magne 1937 Meulenberg 1938 Kint 1946 Knecht 1947 Middelkamp 1948 Schotte 1949 Van Steenbergen 1950 Schotte 1951 Kübler 1952 Müller 1953 Coppi 1954 Bobet 1955 Ockers 1956 Van Steenbergen 1957 Van Steenbergen 1958 Baldini 1959 Darrigade 1960 Van Looy 1961 Van Looy 1962 Stablinski 1963 Beheyt 1964 Janssen 1965 Simpson 1966 Altig 1967 E. Merckx 1968 Adorni 1969 Ottenbros 1970 Monseré 1971 E. Merckx 1972 M. Basso 1973 Gimondi 1974 E. Merckx 1975 Kuiper 1976 Maertens 1977 F. Moser 1978 Knetemann 1979 Raas 1980 B. Hinault 1981 Maertens 1982 Saronni 1983 LeMond 1984 Criquielion 1985 Zoetemelk 1986 Argentin 1987 S. Roche 1988 Fondriest 1989 LeMond 1990 Dhaenens 1991 Bugno 1992 Bugno 1993 Armstrong 1994 Leblanc 1995 Olano 1996 Museeuw 1997 Brochard 1998 Camenzind 1999 Freire 2000 Vainšteins 2001 Freire 2002 Cipollini 2003 Astarloa 2004 Freire 2005 Boonen 2006 Bettini 2007 Bettini 2008 Ballan 2009 Evans 2010 Hushovd 2011 Cavendish 2012 Gilbert 2013 Costa 2014 Kwiatkowski