Costante
Girardengo
(Novi Ligure,
1893 - Cassano
Spinola 1978)
The
first Champion fo Champions in the cycling history. When he
was 20 (in 1913) he began to win so much to enter into the
legend. The most important victories are: 8 Italian
Championship on the road, 6 Milan-Sanremo, 2 Giro d'Italia, 5
Milan-Turin, 5 Giro Emilia, 4 Giro Veneto, 3 Giro Lombardia, 3
Giro Piemonte, 1 Gran Prix Wolber (in 1924), a kind of World
Championship, that was set up afterwards in 1927.
When
they spoke about the "Milan-Sanremo" ...
He
was asked a question when he was interviewed: "How much
do you earn winning a Sanremo?"
He
answered that: "the prize was three-four thousand Lire.
My Company gave me 20 Lire/Km., that is a total amount of ten
thousand Lire. Once you could buy a flat but today ... two
tubular tyres I can tell you that in 1923 I was Champion of
Italy and the "Maino" gave me 80 Lire/month: people
said that I earned like a minister ...".
