1968 Giro di Lombardia, Race Used Caravan Plaque, Race Winner – Herman Van Springel

$320.00

The 1968 Giro di Lombardia was the 62nd edition of the Giro di Lombardia cycle race and was held on October 12th, 1968. The race started in Milan and finished in Como. The race was won by Herman Van Springel of the Dr. Mann team. The podium was filled out by Franco Bitossi and Eddy Merckx, who took second and third, only 15″ behind Van Springel.

Herman Van Springel was an accomplished time-trial rider, almost winning the Tour de France in 1968. Unfortunately, he was beaten in the last stage by Dutch rider Jan Janssen in a time trial. This still remains one of the closest races in Tour de France history. He wore the Maillot Jaune during four stages of the 1968 Tour de France and for three stages in 1973. He was the winner of the Green Jersey in 1973 and has 5 Tour de France Stage wins to his name.

Van Springel won a record seven editions of the marathon Bordeaux–Paris. In the autumn of 1968, he won the classic Giro di Lombardia. In 1971, Van Springel finished on the podium in 2nd place at the Giro d’Italia. He kept on cycling through the 1970s and ended his impressive career at the end of the 1981 season.

In today’s racing, the race organizer cars, team vehicles, and other participants of the official race caravan have disposable stickers affixed to the windshields. Slipping a bit into the way back machine, there was a time when the cars had plaques attached to the front of the follow cars.

As with most things ephemeral, the majority of the plaques were promptly tossed in the trash once the race was finished. The ones that survived have become quite collectible.

Made of Masonite

Size: 22 x 10 inches  (56 x 25.5 cm)

This is a one-of-a-kind item, so please look carefully at the photos to determine its condition.

Only 1 left in stock

Description

Giro di Lombardia

The Giro di Lombardia (English: Tour of Lombardy), officially Il Lombardia, is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy It is traditionally the last of the five ‘Monuments’ of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycling and one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. Nicknamed the Classica delle foglie more (“the Classic of the falling (dead) leaves”), it is the most important Autumn Classic in cycling. The race’s most famous climb is the Madonna del Ghisallo in the race finale.

The first edition was held in 1905. Since its creation, the Giro di Lombardia has been the classic with the fewest interruptions in cycling; only the editions of 1943 and 1944 were canceled for reasons of war. Italian Fausto Coppi won a record five times.

Because of its demanding course, the race is considered a climbers’ classic, favoring climbers with a strong sprint finish.

History

Milan–Milan

The Tour of Lombardy was created as an idea of journalist Tullo Morgagni. Morgagni wanted to give Milanese rider Pierino Albini the opportunity to take revenge for his defeat against Giovanni Cuniolo in the short-lived Italian King’s Cup. His newspaper, la Gazzetta dello Sport, organized a new race as a ‘rematch’ on 12 November 1905, called Milano–Milano. The race attracted vast crowds along the course and ended in Milan with the victory of Giovanni Gerbi, at the time one of the stars of cycling. Gerbi won the race 40 minutes ahead of Giovanni Rossignoli and Luigi Ganna.

Frenchman Henri Pélissier won the 1911 Giro di Lombardia in the sprint.

The race soon became a fixture as the closing race of the Italian and European cycling season. It was renamed Giro di Lombardia in 1907. After the pioneering years, the race was dominated alternately by Frenchman Henri Pélissier and local heroes Gaetano Belloni and Costante Girardengo, all winning the race three times.

Race of the Champions

Record winner Fausto Coppi won the race five times between 1946 and 1954.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, Alfredo Binda, Gino Bartali, and Fausto Coppi, icons of Italian cycling, were the main protagonists and immortalized the race with their exploits. Coppi won the race 5 times (of which 4 consecutive wins) and Binda 4 times. Coppi finished solo on every win, following a successful strategy of attacking on the Madonna del Ghisallo and maintaining his lead to the finish in Milan. Gino Bartali was the king of the podium with 9 top-3 finishes (3 wins, 4 second places, and 2 third places).

The race of 1956 was a particularly fascinating battle. At 60 km from the finish, a breakaway was formed with Fausto Coppi, seeking his sixth victory. Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni had missed the break, and as he fell further behind, a car passed him with Giulia Occhini, Coppi’s infamous mistress, sitting in the back. The two did not get on, and as her car passed, Magni saw her sneer at him. Infuriated, Magni set out in an improbable solo pursuit of the breakaway and caught the leaders in the final kilometers. He and Coppi openly argued, and André Darrigade, sensing their indecisiveness, attacked to claim the victory, thereby relegating Coppi and Magni to second and third place.

In 1961, the finish of the Tour of Lombardy was moved from Milan to Como and the identity of the race changed fundamentally. The previous flat finale towards the finish in Milan was replaced with a spectacular finish by Lake Como, just 6 km after the top of the last climb. Despite an occasional return to finishing in Milan, the race had developed a new personality, defined by a series of arduous climbs amid mountainous scenery.

Over the years, the race has been dominated mainly by Italian riders. Frenchman Henri Pelissier and Ireland’s Sean Kelly were the only non-Italian riders to win the race three times. Cycling legend Eddy Merckx won three consecutive victories from 1971 to 1973, but his last win was stripped after a positive doping test and awarded to second-place finisher Felice Gimondi.

The race of 1974 gave birth to another memorable anecdote. Eddy Merckx wanted to get his revenge, but fellow Belgian Roger De Vlaeminck attacked early in the race, inducing Merckx to make his team work in pursuit. De Vlaeminck, not really intending to go solo, stopped and hid behind a bush to let the peloton pass. He rode back to the front of the peloton and jokingly asked a baffled Merckx whom they were chasing. De Vlaeminck won the race ahead of Merckx.

The Autumn Classic

For nearly 70 years the race was called “il Mondiale d’Autunno” in Italy (“the World Championship of Autumn”), as the real World Championship was held at the end of summer. It lost this particular role in 1995 when the UCI revolutionized the international cycling calendar and moved the World Championship from August to October, one week before the Giro di Lombardia.

From 1988 to 2004, the Tour of Lombardy was the final leg of the UCI Road World Cup and was often the decisive race in that competition. In 1997 Michele Bartoli needed to finish ahead of Rolf Sørensen in the race to be the winner of the 1997 World Cup. For 30 km he did solo work in a four-man breakaway, so sacrificing his chances to win the sprint. The edition was won by Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, Bartoli finished fourth and won the World Cup.

Vincenzo Nibali won the 2015 and 2017 Giro di Lombardia.

The race had become the most important Autumn Classic together with Paris–Tours in France, which was mainly won by sprinters or escapees. By the early 21st century, however, Paris–Tours lost its status as a World Tour race, and the Tour of Lombardy was the one remaining major Classic in autumn, the only Monument in the latter part of the year. Damiano Cunego imposed himself as the Lord of Lombardy with three victories.

In 2006, the race celebrated its 100th edition, won by Paolo Bettini, one week after becoming world champion. The edition was particularly emotional because Bettini’s brother had died in a car accident just five days before the race, and the Italian was overcome with emotion when he crossed the finish line. Bettini is one of seven riders to win the Tour of Lombardy after becoming world champion earlier the same year. The other six are Alfredo Binda, Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Giuseppe Saronni and Oscar Camenzind.

Since 2012 both the World Championship and the Giro di Lombardia have a new, earlier date on the calendar at the end of September, and the name officially became Il Lombardia. It was the beginning of a remarkable revival for the Monument race. The Tour of Lombardy is now the classic par excellence for riders to take revenge for the world championship or to achieve an “Autumn Double win”. In recent years, Philippe Gilbert, Joaquim Rodríguez, and Vincenzo Nibali all won the race twice.

Excerpt from Wikipedia

Additional information

Weight 2 lbs

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