Despite the sudden and tragic ending of his life and career, the name Alessandro Fantini appears more than once in the pages of the Giro d’Italia. It is always nice to remember this young man, who died prematurely in 1961. A fast rider who spent much of his career working for his captains, Fantini still managed to win no less than seven stages in the Corsa Rosa, the first of which in Acqui Terme, in the 1955 edition.
In that case, the Abruzzese rider defeated Rino Benedetti and Michele Gismondi in a three-man sprint, in the edition that saw a clash between the over-35-year-old giants Fiorenzo Magni and Fausto Coppi, with the former winning the general classification and denying Coppi his sixth Giro by just 13 seconds.
Fantini, who until then had been considered nothing more than an honourable domestique, found a way to achieve some well-deserved personal glory, namely with the aforementioned seven stages at the Giro, the Maglia Rosa worn in 1956, as well as two stages at the Tour de France. And he might even have won a few more, had fate not taken his life at the age of just 29.
“Sandrino”, as he was amicably nicknamed by everyone, died in 1961 after a crash in the last metres of the Trier stage in the Tour of Germany, which caused him to fracture his skull and remain in a coma for two days before passing away, leaving his wife and daughter in despair, as well as a distinguished career unfinished. The Giro remembered him in 2023 when it started from his hometown of Fossacesia and it will do so again this year, recalling his first success in Acqui Terme.
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