The Red Devil
French press with reports of the town’s splendour. Four transalpini signed on and Milan-Sanremo, to this day still Italy’s biggest single-day event, was born. Given the rich pickings on offer, 33 riders rocked up under a deluge in the capital. Gerbi’s Bianchi team offered him two and a half lire per kilometre in the event that he won. Though no great scholar, he was bright enough to realise that, with a kilo of bread costing 40 centesimi, 720 lire was a monumental amount of money. As the racers blasted through Pavia, young Giovanni Rossignoli – quite new to this cycling business – found his way blocked by an irresistible force, his mother. She’d borrowed an umbrella and insisted, not unreasonably, that he take it along. Towards the finish Gerbi, having ridden alone for 200 kilometres, was caught by Gustave Garrigou, the French hardman. The Devil, fast running out of steam, sought to buy time by engaging his cofugitive in a little transalpine chit chat. A smart move even by Gerbi’s standards; he knew he’d not a prayer in a two-up sprint with Garrigou. Meanwhile Gerbi’s new Bianchi team-mate, Lucien ‘Petit-Breton’ Mazan, thundered across the gap to join the fun. Petit-Breton, it transpired, was on an outrageous 15 lire per kilometre for the win, his earning potential bolstered by the Sanremo Tourist Board. And so now Giovanni Gerbi put his thinking cap on. With Armando Cougnet indisposed – his car had broken down – big hearted Gerbi, purely in the spirit of Italo-French entente, shoved Garrigou off his bike, enabling Petit-Breton to steal a contentious victory in a shade over 11 hours. Rossignoli, presumably minus his mum’s umbrella, rolled in 12th almost three hours later as one of the 14 desperados who managed to wade through the mud to the finish. Garrigou appealed to the jury – without success, since the race, and in particular Gerbi’s antics, generated huge public interest. Everyone a winner (except Garrigou): Petit-Breton confirmed his class, the French their sporting and ethical superiority, Gerbi his reputation for chicanery. He wouldn’t let it bother him unduly. He’d persuaded Petit-Breton to split his winnings 50/50 in exchange for the nudge he’d given Garrigou. Milan-Sanremo, later dubbed La Primavera – the race of the springtime – was a spectacular triumph. In 1907 Gerbi would ‘win’ a second Giro di Lombardia. So popular was he that his latest conquest saw Gazzetta break the magic 100,000 circulation barrier for the first time. That afternoon, however, it was revealed that The Red Devil had been up to his old tricks. First he reached a gentleman’s agreement with two associates, Luigi Chiodi and the Swiss, Henri Rheinwald. He had them follow his wheel until he attacked, whereupon they simply watched him go. Worse still, he’d detailed them to create pandemonium within the bunch as he sped off up ahead. Having extended his lead to five minutes, he proceeded to cross a closed railway line, which a group of his associates ‘persuaded’ the signalman to keep locked. When the rest arrived they were detained by Gerbi’s supporters club, just for good measure. Later on, as Garrigou threatened to bridge across, his progress was impeded by a liberal sprinkling of nails. The best, however, was still to come. Seventy kilometres from home, Gerbi happened to catch up with three of his training partners, all of them very good, and all, miraculously, headed back to Milan along the same percorso. As such he was able to enjoy an untroubled afternoon in their wake and to gallop home some 40 minutes before poor Garrigou. When on the Monday it was announced that Gerbi was declassified for cheating and banned for two years, the Gazzetta office was besieged by an angry, newspaper burning mob demanding his reinstatement. Cycling, they claimed, was as much a game of stealth as physical endurance, and Gerbi had shown initiative and guile, prerequisites both for a champion racer. Unsavoury it may have been, but Giovanni Gerbi did wonders for business. Like all great sportsmen he polarised opinion and, better still, he shifted a hell of a lot of newspapers. The ban was reduced and the Tour of Lombardy took its place alongside Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Paris-Roubaix and Bordeaux-Paris among Europe’s most prestigious races. 11
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