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corsa rosa. a history of the giro d'italia. brendan gallagher bloomsbury publishing softback. 296pp illus. £14.99

i would be fibbing if i purported to be in any way acquainted with the musical output of teen heart throbs one direction. their manufactured existence, propensity for selling out large venues to screaming teenage girls and extremely doubtful musical standards do not equate well with my undoubted musical snobbery. in fact, it could be further narrowed down to the fact that i know the names of only two mono-directionals, one of whom may actually be a former one-directional.

to make matters even more obscure, i learned of the names accidentally, gleaned from a news item alleging that a chap by the name of zayn malik (surely that has to be an anagram?) preferred 'cool shit' to that of one direction's pop hits, a statement apparently made in a 2015 interview. for myself, i'm happy to leave directional things at that stage, with no real wish to learn further of their pop star antics. however, applying a similar philosophy to the choice of cycling's grand tours, i too would be far more amenable to 'cool shit' than the more humdrum, for want of a better word.

and in grand tour terms, there is no better cool shit than that of the giro d'italia, the 100th running of which takes place in a matter of weeks from now.

and where colin o'brien's previously published book concerning the same race offered an eclectic cherry-picking of salient features from the previous 99 editions, author brendan gallagher has been far more comprehensive in this illustrious paean to italian 'cool shit'.

"Colder, steeper, often higher, snowier, wetter, foggier, muddier, dustier and yet often more colourful than the Tour, the Giro can also be noisier, harder, friendlier and arguably more beautiful."

if corsa rosa said nothing more across its almost three hundred pages, the introduction from which the above quote is taken, succinctly captures the essence of "...this most brutal and beautiful of all cycling's contests." as you would expect, gallagher brings us in at the point of conception; the origins of the giro d'italia, no doubt recounted in print many times, but a timely reminder of the days when the power of newspapers was substantially different than is currently the case.

in common with the rhetoric and hyperbole of the time, la gazzetta dello sport did not exhibit much in the way of restraint when time came to promote their latest venture: "It is not only a sporting exercise that engages Italian cyclists from such a varity of regions, in a battle of dialects and personalities [...] It is also true patriotic work of acquaintance, swiftly turning to brotherhood, greeting and smiles." proving, if nothing else, that the press were as well-acquainted with fictional writing as they were dealing with facts.

though the giro has been contested by more than its fair share of campionissimos since battle commenced in 1909, arguably the first great protagonist was alfredo binda in the early 1920s, perhaps presaging the giro's reputation for style, never better illustrated by fausto coppi in the 1950s.

"With his good looks, slicked-back hair, perfectly pressed trousers and apparent playboy lifestyle...Binda was from another world altogether."

so successful was binda in hoovering up stage and race wins, (between 1927 - 1929, he won 26 of 41 stages) that ultimately the organisers resorted to paying him the equivalent of the winner's prize-money not to race the 1930 giro d'italia. those victories were well-attested on pink newsprint, but there is no doubt that, in common with many other cycle races with a lengthy pedigree, the giro benefited from more than the odd bout of creative reporting/writing prior to the arrival of film and television coverage. gallagher makes it clear that reporters on the gazetta rarely let the precise facts get in the way of a need to sell newspapers.

this is most notable when comparing the facts known about the early years and racing in the modern era. probably best illustrated by the furore surrounding the expulsion of marco pantani at madonna di campiglio mere days from the finale of the 1999 giro. oddly enough, pantani's substantial lead at that point in the race had already led to comparisons with that of binda's era, tempered by the likelihood that the diminutive italian was not riding 'unaided'.

"...direct criticism, meanwhile, came from those who, although accepting his dominance, felt he and his team were stifling the race and that Pantani didn't have to contest every stage vistory to comfortably take the title."

it would bear comparison with an episode of eastenders in which folk from london's east end appear not to swear at all, to recount the giro's most recent era without mentioning the alarming increase in drug use. that cycling has suffered from drug-taking almost since someone first drew a finishing line on the road is hardly a revelation, but since the nineties, many riders have resorted to ever more sophisticated and arguably dangerous methods of performance enhancement.

gallagher, commendably dispassionately, pursues the drug (epo) problem in the pages following his discourse on pantani's expulsion (the chapter is entitled pantani expulsion heralds dark days) "Further massively strong circumstantial evidence of long-term EPO use came when 'La Stampa' obtained confidential details of hundreds of blood tests for a dozen or so top Italian riders in the mid-nineties."

corsa rosa is an impressive book; well-researched, comprehensive but most importantly, written in a style that obviates any comparisons with academic prose, a pitfall that has blighted so many publications concerned predominantly with historical facts and figures. many of you will already be well-versed in the giro's historical idiosyncrasies, no doubt questioning the need for yet another treatise other than as a commercial exercise so close to the 100th edition. however, to categorise gallagher's corsa rosa in this manner would be to ignore some acute insights into the race's years of cycling entertainment and no matter how much you think you know, it's more than likely you'll unearth a previously hidden gem.

the book ends with a compendium of podiums and jersey winners since 1909, along with several other classifications and a well-ordered index for the more exacting reader. brendan gallagher has done himself and the giro proud.

thursday 20 april 2017