Cycling stories are everywhere. On the road first of all, but also in the riders, in the team cars, on the buses, and even in the refuges. One above all, Bonetta, historic and mythical refuge of the Passo Gavia. The Lombard climb is a splendid one, a synthesis between the grandeur of the Stelvio and the extreme gradients of the Mortirolo. On its ramps you will find all of this.
The refuge was built in 1960 by Duilio Bonetta and his wife Vittorina Vitalini. They had four children, two boys and two girls. One of those boys is Federico who still manages the shelter together with them with the ever-present eye of mother Vittorina.
Federico Bonetta is a true host. A true mountain man. One evening we stopped to sleep at his refuge. It was getting dark, there was fog, and going down to Ponte di Legno wasn't the best option. We went in, Federico gave us a room, and we had dinner. It was us and a Belgian cyclist. pizzoccheri smoking and a glass and the other opened the book of memories for us. How many champions have passed up there.
The “first first”, Massignan
The walls of Bonetta are a huge collage of photos. There are cyclists, VIPs, skiers, but above all... cyclists. The first time the Giro passed through it was in 1960, and the honor of that baptism fell to Himerio Massignan.
«I found myself in front of a real own mule track – said Massignan – with gravel and rocks, six-meter high walls of snow and a sheer drop to keep me company."
"But," Bonetta says, "I was two years old and don't remember anything except what my parents told me about that day. Those were the first times I'd climbed Gavia from Santa Caterina, my home. But I remember the second time well, the legendary one in 1988."
Hampsten, the snow, the myth
And that was the stage that made the Gavia legendary. The riders passed through it in a storm. Today they would certainly block it, given what happened this year in Marbegno, but the book of cycling legend would have one less chapter.
«To this day it is my most fond memory. Vincenzo Torriani, then director of the Giro, made me eight phone calls. There were no cell phones back then, and he locked me in the shelter to wait for his calls. The first call came at 5:00 PM the previous afternoon, shortly after the end of the stage. Then he called every two hours throughout the night. He asked me: "Tell me, Bonetta, how are things up there?" "It's sleet and windy," I replied. "The snow wasn't really sticking." And he said again: "They have to get through, they have to get through." The next morning at 6 o'clock the cars arrived. Line of Business and then he faced them. But it was snowing until the race passed. It was when the first ones arrived that everything changed. The cold came and the snow began to stick."
Federico still recounts that adventure with great emotional intensity. He reveals that Torriani, who had "discovered" this passage, was in love with it.
Torriani wanted to do something for Bormio, given that the Valtellina landslide had caused enormous damage the year before. So he wanted to bring the Giro there. I was really struck by Johan Van der Velde, who, having reached the top, sped away. He didn't stop to put anything on. The TV looked for him, but couldn't find him. After three kilometers, he had stopped on one side. He couldn't brake. He was completely frozen.
The others, however, stopped. Some more, some less, they covered themselves. I remember that they were frozen and we put them inside the cars. They stayed there for a few minutes. They warmed up. They put on jackets and gloves. Even the gloves we had in the shelter, which we were supposed to sell to customers. Once they ran out of those, they put on the remaining ones, even the construction ones. We massaged his torso and legs. Also because the worst was yet to come: the descent. On the way up, they would somehow "warm up." What a sight.
«I can say that someone, even a very important name, got out in the car. Whether he then got back on the bike two kilometers from Bormio or earlier, I don't know. But he certainly left the Gavia in the team car."
How many laps
Over the years, the Giro d'Italia has continued to climb the 2.621-meter Gavia Pass. And many other champions have battled up there.
"I've always liked Colombians," Bonetta says, "they've always been combative. The other times, however, since the Gavia wasn't the final climb, it wasn't decisive, so you'd see the peloton pass.
«If they come up from Santa Caterina you see them approaching at 30-40 an hour (from that side, the final kilometer is practically flat, ed.) and they disappear. When they climb from Ponte di Legno, however, it's a completely different story.
Waiting for Pantani
A day that had heralded the myth vanished before the start. We are talking about the 1999 Giro and more precisely about that damn June 5th. All of Italy, or perhaps it would be better to say the whole world, was waiting for Marco Pantani. The Pirate had planned a feat akin to Coppi's Cuneo-Pinerolo. He'd attack the Gavia Pass, perhaps with a few others, and leave everyone behind on the Mortirolo. Instead, he was stopped just hours before the start of that stage.
"My goodness, the people there were! I've never seen so many," Bonetta says. They'd already come up the day before with their campers and tents... to save space. That night, the party turned into a frenzy. Imagine, they didn't even close the refuge. Then when the news arrived, there was general dismay. I saw people crying. Many people started to get off. Some even wanted to block the Giro... then when they saw the police, everything stopped. It was a moment of anger."
The Gavia in the heart
But over the years, many champions and personalities have continued to climb up there. And to enter the Bonetta Refuge. Federico knows many of them and has become friends with some. In the past, Gimondi was there. And Motta and Moser still come...
"Hampsten comes almost every year and still calls me. He brings tourists here. When he did this, they didn't go through the tunnel, but along the old overhanging road, which is now overrun with boulders. He can't believe it hasn't been upgraded for bikes. He tells me: they would have done it at the Tour. It's a wonderful step, an added value."
Many champions who are on retreat at high altitude, perhaps on the Stevio or in Livigno, often pass by there in the summer.
«One day a boy comes in. I look at him, it takes me a while to understand who he was, then I say to him: but you are From the mill! And he replied: yes, it's me. A polite guy. He had a Coke and a slice of cake. A truly simple guy, we exchanged a few words. He told me he was from Livigno, that he would then hike the Mortirolo and return to Livigno. I was happy to offer him cake and a Coke.
«Certainly – adds Bonetta sarcastically – he wasn't like someone else who, strong from his victory at the Giro, came, sat down with five other riders, entered, He ordered six Cokes and six slices of cake and left without paying or saying anything.I didn't get poorer for six pieces of cake, though… ».
«Ah, I almost forgot: Counter! Now that's a gentleman!...Whenever he came to Valtellina for one of his sponsors' events, he'd greet me as soon as he arrived and ask me about "Grandma Vittorina." He'd exchange a few words with her, and the same with us at the table. He'd have a crowd of people every time. He always wanted the same room to change. He told me that Gavia is a great achievement for him.
Federico Bonetta can tell you a thousand stories. If you happen to stop by this summer, don't be a hit-and-run tourist. Stop and talk to the refuge keeper; it's worth it.
