{"id":33252,"title":"Wladimiro Panizza","description":"Italian professional cyclist Wladimiro Panizza too part in 18 Giro d'Italia. He was a teammate of Giuseppe Saronni, Gianni Motta and Felice Gimondi.\nHe's best known for his duel with Bernard Hinault at the 1980 Giro d'Italia but he also had a stage win at the Tour De France and came close to victory at Liege Bastogne Liege and Milano Sanremo.","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: RETRO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

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Wladimiro \u201cMiro\u201d Panizza, named after a Communist dictator, held the record for the number of participations in the Giro d\u2019Italia and came close to overall victory in the 1980 edition.<\/p>

Read how the pocket climber punched above his height during a long professional career before retiring at the age of 40.<\/p>

\"WladimiroIn the colours of the Italian national team. Image: Mick Searle.<\/em><\/p>

Wladimiro Panizza could hardly have been described as a giant of the peloton. At 1.65 metres (5 feet 5 inches) tall, he didn\u2019t tower over his competitors. Even the diminutive but combative Bernard Hinault was taller at 1.74 metres.<\/p>

His racing results, whilst more than impressive, wouldn\u2019t naturally include him in the greats of cycle racing. But three facts about him are enough to merit his inclusion in our retro cycling<\/strong><\/a> series.<\/p>

His name, his longevity as a rider and the epic duel with the aforementioned Hinault at the 1980 Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>

Why Wladimiro?<\/h3>

\u201cthe birthplace of the Italian Socialist Party\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Wladimiro, or as he was often called, Miro, Panizza was born on Tuesday, 5 June 1945 in Lombardy. Only a month since VE Day, when the Germans unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces.<\/p>

Much of Europe had been laid to waste after years of fighting. Italy was no exception following the Allied invasion in September 1943. Independence-minded Lombardy was the birthplace of the Italian Socialist Party, and support for the Communists was strong.<\/p>

\"Gifts<\/a>For their courageous battle against the German Nazi regime during the Second World War, many people admired the Soviet Union and its leaders. It was against this background that Panizza\u2019s Communist father named him Wladimiro.<\/p>

But why Wladimiro? It was an Italianised version of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov\u2019s first name. Lenin, as he was better known in the West, was much romanticised as a founder of the \u201cworkers\u2019 paradise\u201d of the Soviet Union.<\/p>

Apprentice goldsmith<\/h2>

\u201can extremely precarious occupation\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Wladimiro was training as an apprentice goldsmith when it became apparent he had a talent for cycling. Despite the stocky demeanour of a bantam prize fighter, he proved to be an excellent climber.<\/p>

An advantage in the hills of Italy, where the Apennines form its spine and the mountain ranges include the fearsome Alps and Dolomites.<\/p>

By the time he signed as a professional for the 1967 season, he\u2019d already scored dozens of victories as an amateur. I strongly suspect that if he\u2019d stuck to the goldsmithing, he would have been a financially richer man.<\/p>

Even today, many professionals are barely scraping a living and, as we\u2019ve discovered in our interviews, some are paying to be \u2018professionals\u2019. Back then, the financial rewards were even more limited for professional cyclists, and it was an extremely precarious occupation.<\/p>

During his nineteen years as a professional, Wladimiro rode for sixteen different trade sponsors. Although the management might have changed less, this lack of continuity in teams was common and reflected the inherent financial instability.<\/p>

Longevity<\/h2>

\u201crode the Giro d\u2019Italia eighteen times\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Panizza\u2019s career is remarkable in that he lasted as a professional from 1967, signing for the Vittadello team through to 1985 when he rode out his final year in the colours of Ariostea.<\/p>

During his nineteen years as a professional, he rode the Giro d\u2019Italia eighteen times, which is still the record. He failed to finish only twice.<\/p>

His career began in the era of Felice Gimondi and traversed those of Eddy Merckx, Giuseppe Saronni, Francesco Moser, Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond. He finally hung up his wheels at the age of 40. Even at this grand age, he still ranked twenty-eighth overall in his curtain call Giro.<\/p>

This impressive tenure has to be considered against the conditions that Wladimiro would have experienced during his career. Knowledge about training and nutrition that is now taken for granted was unheard of then.<\/p>

Old wives\u2019 tales<\/h2>

\u201cgrind their way painfully upwards\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Many training practices and approaches to fuelling were based on untested theories that were often no better than \u201cold wives\u2019 tales\u201d. For example, riders would deliberately go without drinks whilst training to stimulate what they might face during a race.<\/p>

Race bikes have been transformed since the advent of first aluminium, then carbon fibre. But I think the really big difference is the number of gears that are now available to riders. The move from what was then five-speed cassettes to twelve has enabled a much wider range of gears.<\/p>

This is most notable during the long mountain climbs. Compare videos of even the 1980s to today\u2019s races in the high mountains. We are used to watching the likes of Tadej Poga\u010dar and Jonas Vingegaard literally spinning their pedals around to the tops of mountain passes.<\/p>

The riders of the 1980s, by contrast, labour and sway as they force and grind their way painfully upwards.<\/p>

Their contorted faces display the strain on their backs and knees. No wonder so many riders, compounded by illegal steroid use, suffered debilitating knee problems. In the picture above, like so many from that period, Panizza has the look of a man aged before his time.<\/p>

Like cattle<\/h2>

\u201crecklessly dangerous\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Not only were conditions harsh for the riders, but they were often treated little better than cattle or pure commodities. Team managers and race organisers often behaved contemptuously towards their needs and safety.<\/p>

Had he raced for another three years, Wladimiro may have raced the appalling and recklessly dangerous 1988 Giro when riders endured a blizzard as they crossed and descended the Gavia Pass. It became known as \"Il Giorno Della Neve\u201d - the Day of Snow, and also \u201cthe day the big men cried\u201d.<\/p>

Whether he continued to race out of a love for the sport or through financial necessity, we can\u2019t be sure. In truth, it was probably both.<\/p>

Rarely a leader<\/h2>

\u201chandicapped by his weak time trialling\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Panizza\u2019s palmares are more than respectable. Stage wins in both the Tour de France and Giro d\u2019Italia, and victories in one-day races such as Milano-Torino mark him out as a classy rider. Greater success could have been achieved had he not been handicapped by his weak time trialling.<\/p>

Rarely a team leader, he usually operated in a domestique role for his better-known team leaders, including some of the true stars of Italian cycling such as Saronni, Gimondi and Gianni Motta.<\/p>

1980 Giro d\u2019Italia<\/h2>

\u201cthe improbable was seemingly possible\u201d<\/em><\/p>

It\u2019s one race in particular that he is best remembered for. Going into the 1980 Giro d\u2019Italia, he was expected to act as a loyal domestique to Giuseppe Saronni. The race started well for Saronni when he took the first three road stages.<\/p>

But it was Panizza who donned the pink jersey of race leader after stage 14 from Foggia to Roccaraso. Bernard Hinault\u2019s Renault-Gitane team forced a split in a crosswind, and pint-sized Panizza managed to hang on to take second on the stage behind Hinault.<\/p>

Panizza clung to the coveted leader\u2019s jersey like a limpet for five stages. With only three left to run, it appeared the improbable was seemingly possible. But the tenacious and wily Hinault was just biding his time.<\/p>

Stelvio Pass<\/h2>

\u201cthe steep banks of snow\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Sending his friend and teammate Jean-Ren\u00e9 Bernaudeau ahead, Hinault countered over the Stelvio Pass. Dropping Panniza and all other contenders on the lower slopes, he closed in on his teammate as they passed through the steep banks of snow that lined the route.<\/p>

Together, they rode to a four-minute advantage by the finish, where Bernard courteously handed victory to his super-domestique. It was a high point in their relationship. The next season, the protege left for Peugeot and with him, no love for Hinault.<\/p>

As Greg Lemond would discover a few years later, there was only ever room for one number-one in Hinault\u2019s teams.<\/p>

Wladimiro inevitably lost even more time in the final time trial but managed to retain second place just ahead of fellow Italian Giovanni Battaglin.<\/p>

At that year\u2019s World Championships held in the Alpine mountains near Sallanches, Panizza was fourth behind a rampant Hinault. So hard was the race that only fifteen riders finished.<\/p>

Panizza would never go so close again, but he continued to be a successful rider right up to his final season in 1985.<\/p>

Cyclocross rider<\/h2>

As if riding in a record-breaking number of Giri d\u2019Italia and participating in races from Spring to Autumn, the Italian was also a creditably good cyclocross rider.<\/p>

He won the Italian national cyclocross championships in 1975 and 1976 and finished twelfth in the world championships.<\/p>

Death<\/h2>

Sadly, Wladimiro Panizza didn\u2019t enjoy a long retirement from cycling. He suffered a fatal heart attack in 2002 at the young age of 57.<\/p>

Perhaps all those long hours suffering in the saddle and who knows what else was just too much for his body to endure.<\/p>

\"Read<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Notable results<\/h2>

20 professional victories.<\/p>

Two stage wins in the Giro d\u2019Italia and one at the Tour de France.<\/p>

Second place at Milano-Sanremo behind Eddy Merckx in 1976.<\/p>

Fourth at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 1974. Interestingly, he crossed the line in fourth place, but the winner, Ronald De Witte, was later disqualified for doping. Despite this, Panizza was never awarded third place.<\/p>

Third at the Giro di Lombardia in 1976, won by Roger De Vlaeminck.<\/p>

Second overall at the Giro d\u2019Italia in 1980, won by Bernard Hinault.<\/p>

Fourth overall at the Tour de France in 1974, won by Eddy Merckx.<\/p>

Fourth at the World Championships in 1980, won by Bernard Hinault.<\/p>

2 November 2023, Tim Costello<\/em><\/p>

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