- Gaetano Belloni
Gaetano Belloni (August 26, 1892 – January 9, 1980) was an Italian professional road racing
cyclist . The highlight of his career were his overall win in the 1920Giro d'Italia , the two victories inMilan-Sanremo (1917 and 1920), and the three victories in theGiro di Lombardia (1915, 1918 and 1928).Belloni was born at
Pizzighettone , nearCremona , and made his debut in the road cycling world in the wake of his elder brother Amleto. As anamateur , in 1914 he won the "Small" Giro di Lombardia and the Coppa del Re, as well as the Italian championship.Having avoided to be called to the front, Belloni won surprisingly, the overall Giro di Lombardia in 1915 (a feat he repeated in 1918 and 1928) and the
Milan-Sanremo of 1917.In 1920 he obtained his greatest victory, the
Giro d'Italia . In the 1920s Belloni constantly rivalled with his friendCostante Girardengo , being almost always defeated and gaining for this reason the nickname of "Eterno secondo" ("Eternal second").He won a total of 43 races as a professionist, including 12 stages at Giro d'Italia.
External links
* [http://www.museociclismo.it/corridori/corridore.php?id=1191 Museum of cyclism bio (in Italian)]
* [http://www.dewielersite.net/db2/wielersite/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=1896 Profile]
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