The history of the Italian cyclocross championships has very ancient roots: the first title was awarded in 1930, a full twenty years before the advent of the world championships. At the time, cyclocross was very popular and practiced in Italy, just a step below road activity, just think that we continued to run even during the most difficult years of the Second World War and the Italian event skipped only the 1940 and 1945 editions. The war itself interrupted the domination of the first great interpreter of Italian cyclo-cross, Luigi Ferrando, winner of 5 titles between 1932 and 1939The Ligurian was a good road cyclist, even winning a Giro dell'Appennino, the first of many examples of those who practiced both disciplines.
The black jersey
In the 1950s, a name stands out, well known to cycling history enthusiasts: Luigi Malabrocca, historic black jersey of the Giro d'Italia, who however knew how to assert himself in cyclo-cross, so much so that he won two Italian titles, in 1951 and 1953. In 1959 began the long collection of successes of Renato Longo, who continued until 1972 with 12 Italian titles to which the rider from Vittorio Veneto he achieved 5 world successesLongo, on the other hand, was a cyclo-cross rider through and through, and his road rides (two career victories) served only to keep his legs in training for the winter season.
Panizza bis
In the 1970s, road pros began to regularly attend Italian cyclocross, especially encouraged by events with cash prizes. At the Italian championships, the doubles of Wladimiro Panizza in 1975-76 and Franco Bitossi in the following two years. In 1979 the period of successes begins, 4 in 5 years, by Antonio Saronni, brother of Giuseppe, an absolute star of road cycling, with whom his careers almost never intertwined. Antonio only competed on the grass, if anything, it was Giuseppe who occasionally made a quick trip to the cyclocross area, always with a view to training.
Pontoni bursts in
The 80s are the years of Ottavio Paccagnella, 6 victories for him, The Nineties see the 1990s burst onto the scene Daniel Pontoni: the Friulian won 10 titles between 1994 and 2004 There would have been 11 if he hadn't been disqualified in 1998 for a positive doping test, thus leaving the Italian title to the current national coach, Fausto Scotti. In 2003, Pontoni won the national Elite title, but he wasn't the first to do so: in fact it precedes it Enrico Franzoi, However, he belongs to the U23 category (among the greatest, Franzoi won four titles between 2005 and 2009). This happened again in 2012, when Marco Aurelio Fontana (who won seven titles between 2008 and 2015) was preceded by Elia Silvestri.
Lechner Kingdom
The history of the Italian women's cyclocross championships has a much more recent genesis: the first Italian champion was Maria Paola Turcutto in 1996, then repeating the following year before it began Annabella Stropparo's long series of victories, the MTB specialist who took home eight titles between 1998 and 2006. A record that, however, was short-lived: 2009 marked the beginning of Eva Lechner's reign, with 11 wins to date, but the series could also be extended Sunday in Lecce...
