«A while ago I was participating in a debate. At one point, a specialized journalist said that women's cycling in Italy was born in the 1980s. I couldn't see any more: "So, my dear sir, who set the 1972 Hour record?"It has become all colors." Words from Mary Cressari, who at 78 has not lost a shred of her verve, of that sparkling character that led her to emerge in cycling between the 1960s and 1970s.
For a long time, Cressari was the only Italian woman capable of establishing the Hour record (she then succeeded Vittoria Bussi), which now, in the men's field, enriches Filippo's list of achievements Ganna. The conquest of that record was a real adventure and fifty years later many still remember this anniversary.Mary willingly submits, each time, to opening the treasure chest of memories, but each time something different, important, always appears.
"Who's putting up the money?"
The story of that record stems from very different perspectives: "My goal was to break the 5, 10, and 20-kilometer records, but they decided to close the Vigorelli velodrome on October 30th, and so I found myself without a velodrome where I could train and attempt the records. The president of the company came to me. Terranean suggesting that I try the records in Mexico where Merckx he had just achieved the hour record, provided that I also tried to extend my lead.“Great idea,” I said, “but who’s going to put the money in?”From there Terraneo set the whole movement in motion and the funds to try arrived.
I trained in Busto Garolfo, but I'd never done an hour, so I started to lengthen it. On November 17th, we set off, a bit adventurous. Only the day before we had paid the fee required for the attempt and made the doctor's request for it to be valid. However, there were many difficulties and we only had a week available."
A customized Pogliaghi
The main problems concerned the bike: «Before leaving, my sport director Alfredo Bonariva he asked for information on everything that would be needed and what we would find in Mexico City Albania, the sports director who had accompanied Merckx on his successful attempt. We had based our training on many of his suggestions, but we didn't have a suitable bike. They offered me a super-light Pogliaghi, it weighed 4,7 kilos, they had made it specifically for the hour record attempted by the amateur Brentegani three years before.The measurements were there, but we needed to work on them because at the time, no advertising outside of my sports group was allowed to appear on the bike.
«I had to sandpaper the tubes and also the saddle to remove the Selle Italia branding. The result was that I was going back and forth on the bike and it was not exactly the ideal situation… But few people know that I used the same helmet as Merckx, in the sense that the Belgian champion had forgotten it in the changing rooms of the velodromeWe re-fitted it to my head with some padding…».
"Giving up? No way..."
The appointment was scheduled for Wednesday morning, November 22nd: "I set the 10- and 20-kilometer records and continued on, but I had spent a lot of time in the first part. In the end, I missed the record by just 70 meters and burst into tears. We didn't have the funds to stay and try again. The Italian consul came to us and told us that he was thrilled by the feat and that there was no question of returning. I had to try again, he would have paid all the extra costs."
The experience was useful in achieving the goal: «The next day I rested because I was exhausted, on Friday I made the record attempt on the 5 kilometers which I succeeded. But we had to focus on the Ora. We planned to try it the next day but we changed the gears, going from 51x15 to 55x16.And this time I started slower, after all I only had to think about the Hour, so in the final I had more energy and finished with 41,471 meters and 74 centimeters. Yes, I remember those too..."
Relations with the FCI
Did that record have any impact? "A lot, but those were different times and it wasn't easy to manage. They offered me a lot of advertising gigs, for example, but I couldn't accept them because I would have lost my amateur status. Ours, the women's, was a desperate cycling. No one wanted us, and things didn't change that much. Above all, the Federation couldn't stand us. Just think, in 1974 they didn't take us to the World Championships because they said we weren't up to it. In response, I went to Vigorelli and set the world record in the 100 kilometers: not up to it at all..."
Mary's career was often marked by clashes with the FCI: "They had set the activity limit at 30 years, but I was still going strong, I protested and they removed it, then they set it at 35 years.I said: “But how come, at the World Cup the Burton "Are you participating at over 40 with your daughter? Should we be the only ones with the limit?" They removed it, but I had practically skipped the preparation because of them and I didn't get results up to the level of previous years. It was 1979 and I decided I'd had enough."
The Snub of Los Angeles '84
Shortly after, they offered her the position of coach of the women's national team: «Naturally for free… In the meantime, however… the proposal to bring women to the Olympics had been accepted, I started working with three girls who seemed to me to be suitable for the Los Angeles path. Canins She didn't work with us, but then again, she was an atypical cyclist. She had to outperform everyone because she didn't have the sprint skills. I wanted to work with more suitable athletes. The Federation made a fuss, I said I would pay for their stay out of my own pocket. Result: they brought Canins and three other athletes to Los Angeles, mine, the federal ones, weren't even considered. It was too much..."
Cressari resigned and since then she has watched the growth of women's cycling on TV, often invited by organizers and fans: «When I look at today's champions, I think they are there also because of the battles I fought, because of the sacrifices we made as a family, paying for everything out of our own pockets. Today? Another world…».
