Slow tourism in the footsteps of Fausto Coppi

He had a rakish body, 60 kg by 1.80 m, long, curved legs with promising muscles and a ribcage made for storing breath at will. Biagio Cavanna saw his potential. A former boxer, cyclist, masseur, and athletic trainer, known by all as the ‘blind seer’ (he was blind but very capable of interpreting an athlete’s body with his hands), Cavanna worked hard with Coppi, became his friend and confidant, and helped him achieve heroic feats. When it was still impossible to shake off the trauma of World War II, his victories made those days a little brighter. Like the legendary triumph in the Cuneo-Pinerolo stage of the Giro d’Italia in 1949: Coppi rode solo for 192 km. And on the radio the voice of Mario Ferretti croaked: “There is only one man in command. His jersey is white and pale blue. His name is Fausto Coppi”.

Besides the myth of the “Great Heron”, however, there is also a territory to be discovered, and doing so by emulating the “Campionissimo” makes it all even more evocative. You have to see with your own eyes these roads of the epic cycling of the early 20th century. These roads are still (and magically, one might say) free of traffic, and naturally follow the gentle ups and downs of the Tortona hills. Running alongside a countryside made of rows of vines and crops, you will travel through villages with modest houses and working farms where time seems to have stood still, cities and towns worthy of a stop, for one reason or another.

And here you must imagine him, a very young Coppi who, when he was still unknown to glory, went back and forth the delicatessen in Novi Ligure, where he was working as a helper, or you can think of him struggling with the chronometer, muscles and breath, sweat and thirst during training.
Depending on the route chosen, one reaches places that tell about the art, history, and culinary traditions of the area: Volpedo and Tortona, which can be reached along all the routes, and Novi Ligure, touched by the two longer routes.
Volpedo is the birthplace of Giuseppe Pellizza, who worked in today’s Piazza Quarto Stato, between 1891 and 1901, at his masterpiece and great manifesto of the same name. Today the town celebrates him with the installation of reproductions of his works around the town and opening to the public his painting studio as well as an educational museum.
In Tortona, you can stop for an agnolotti lunch, taste baci di dama and take some time to visit the Divisionism Art Gallery, which traces back the Divisionism history from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, also including early Futurist works. The Museum displays 17 works by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo and art pieces by, among others, Segantini, Bistolfi, Morbelli, Olivero, Boccioni, and Balla.
Finally, Novi Ligure. A walk through the centre is enough to realise how much Novi resembles the villages of Liguria: you will see lots of colour and a triumph of trompe l’oeil on the façades of the buildings. This is the heritage left by the Republic of Genoa during its rule over the region. And who knows how much chocolate Girardengo, a thoroughbred Novese, and Coppi, who lived in Novi for most of his life, ate. So, in this case, an unmissable stop is the Campionissimi Museum, 3,000 sqm entirely devoted to the history of cycling and bicycle, and to the two champions who gave all their energy, as sportsmen as well as men, to this area.