Vladimiro Panizza, the little great champion who challenged Bernard Hinault

In these days of prolonged celebrations for the 80th birthday of Eddy Merckx , the strongest ever, waiting for Tadej Pogacar to dethrone him sooner or later (but it will be tough...), we like to remember a small great protagonist of cycling in the Seventies and Eighties, a very effervescent period for this sport which, in terms of popular following, was still holding its own against football, the big brother that in a few years would have devoured the general attention.

Those were the years of Merckx and Gimondi , of Hinault and Battaglin, of Basso and Bitossi, of Baronchelli and Contini, of Moser and Saronni. A long list that could be extended endlessly. Because in that cycling, not only the most popular champions stood out, but also less successful but equally important figures who made that season unforgettable and unrepeatable.

Some were gregarious, and they repeated it with pride, not ashamed of that definition that now sounds almost offensive. Others, however, were riders with very respectable palmarès who, every now and then, took pleasure in leaving behind, when they were distracted, the colonels of the group.

Perhaps, these courageous non-commissioned officers did not win the Giro or the Tour, but they managed to achieve a few stages and a few good placings in the rankings, exciting their fans, especially if, like our Vladimiro Panizza , they came from small villages that, despite being part of the toponymy of cycling, had never managed to cross the border of great fame.

Well, Vladimiro Panizza, born on June 5, 1945 in Fagnano Olona in the province of Varese and died on June 21, 2002 in Cassano Magnano, best embodies that prototype of the runner mentioned above. A generous runner, full of heart and courage, well told by Paolo Costa (“Miro Panizza Champion among champions”, Macchione Editore, 20 euros).

A beautiful book, with many splendid photographs, where in addition to his competitive exploits, the context of the time also emerges and how Panizza's career matured in a historical period already launched towards modernity but with that peasant naivety of the post-war period still alive. Of that Italy that when it says "Good morning, it really means good morning", as one of the protagonists of "Miracle in Milan", the famous film by Vittorio de Sica, released a few years after the end of the conflict, specifies.

And Vladimiro Panizza, known as Miro to avoid references to that other Vladimir (Lenin) who changed Russian history, was truly a child of the post-war period, having been born in June 1945 when, by now, clearing away the rubble, they were struggling to get a humiliated and devastated country back on its feet.

The youngest of four children, with his father Angelo, a communist partisan who died in 1948, little Panizza was a muddy child who ran between the chicken coop and the vegetable garden to escape the scolding of his mother Maria. Miro was fast but light, especially when he always ended up on the ground playing football at the oratory. He distinguished himself when he was hired as a delivery boy by a goldsmith in Oggiona, another small town in the Varese area, a fertile land of champions such as Luigi Ganna, Alfredo Binda, Claudio Chiappucci, Ivan Basso and Stefano Garzelli.

From a delivery boy, Miro became a “driver ante litteram” when Italians were still pedaling and delivering packages. Panizza, maneuvering between farmyards and farmhouses, on a bicycle heavier than him, realized that pedaling was his destiny, a destiny that came true at 21 when he was hired by a professional team, Vittadello, a company active in the textile sector. An ambitious team, with captains like Michele Dancelli and Aldo Moser, leading figures in that 1967 in which even more acclaimed champions like Gimondi, Adorni, Motta and Zilioli excelled.

Although Panizza was small in stature (1.60 m and 50 kg), his competitive career was long, ending at the age of 40 in 1985 at Ariostea with Silvano Contini as captain.

Agile and tenacious climber, nicknamed “Roccia” for his resistance, Panizza often managed to go faster than his captains, making them nervous because, when his legs were spinning, he no longer listened to reason. But then, since he was a pure soul, they ended up forgiving him for his exuberance which nevertheless led him to win a Milan-Turin, 2 stages at the Giro d'Italia and one at the Tour de France.

Panizza has traveled many teams. His magic moment was in 1980 at Beppe Saronni's Gis, pink jersey in 1979. Miro, who is already 35 years old, receives the order from his captain to mark Bernard Hinault who is an unbridled fury in the mountains. Panizza sticks to him and does not let go, responding shot after shot. An extraordinary tenacity that struck Hinault, admired by the courage of the little Panizza who, in Roccaraso, manages to also conquer the pink jersey, keeping it until the Dolomites, after dedicating it to his wife Mariarosa and son Massimiliano.

Spurred on by the cheering of all Italy, Panizza for a week is the protagonist of a beautiful fairy tale whose outcome, however, everyone knows. Too strong, too powerful Hinault, to be beaten by the Lombard who, in the end, after the Stelvio, has to give in, arriving second more than five minutes behind the Frenchman. The dream evaporated, Miro's feat will remain in the collective memory.

We like that little, frank guy with the sun-baked face, who even on television, in front of the microphone of the unforgettable Adriano De Zan, doesn't mince his words. Especially when there is an injustice or something that goes against the interests of the runners. A gruff, benevolent guy, protective of the younger ones, who in 1984 organized the protest of the Marconia di Pisticci stage, when through a poorly lit tunnel they all fell like skittles.

Torriani, the great patron of the Giro, does not listen to the reasons of the riders and the good Miro goes into a rage, siding against "the masters of the steam", a colorful expression used by Gino Sala, an unforgettable correspondent for "l'Unità" in those years.

But beyond the vanished dreams, and some inevitable regrets, such as not having beaten Merckx in the Tre Cime di Lavaredo stage (1967), Panizza will be remembered for his 18 participations in the Giro d'Italia, finishing in the top ten nine times.

A record that Miro would still be proud of today. In 25 years in the saddle he rode over 700 thousand kilometers. Almost like from the Earth to the Moon. Panizza died early, too early: at only 52 years old, betrayed by that heart too big that, in the mountains, had dared to challenge even the legendary Bernard Hinault.

Paul Coast

“MIRO PANIZZA. Champion among champions”

Macchione Editore, 20 euros

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