Magni with wife and daughters
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Personal information | |||||||||||||
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Full name | Fiorenzo Magni | ||||||||||||
Born |
Vaiano, Italy |
7 December 1920||||||||||||
Died | 19 October 2012 Monza, Italy |
(aged 91)||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||
Current team | Retired | ||||||||||||
Discipline | Road | ||||||||||||
Role | Rider | ||||||||||||
Professional team(s) | |||||||||||||
1940–1943 | Bianchi | ||||||||||||
1944 | Pedale Monzese | ||||||||||||
1945 | Ricci | ||||||||||||
1947–1948 | Viscontea | ||||||||||||
1949–1950 | Wilier Triestina | ||||||||||||
1951–1953 | Ganna | ||||||||||||
1954–1956 | Nivea-Fuchs | ||||||||||||
Major wins | |||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Fiorenzo Magni (Italian pronunciation: [fjoˈrɛntso ˈmaɲɲi]; 7 December 1920 – 19 October 2012) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist.
Magni was born to Giuseppe Magni and Giulia Caciolli, and had an elder sister Fiorenza. He started competing in cycling in 1936, in secret from parents. His early successes became known to locals, including his parents, they allowed him to continue. After the deaths of his father in December 1937, Magni left school to take over his father's business and provide incomes for the family, yet he continued his cycling workouts.
On 10 June 1940 Magni was enlisted as a gunner to the 19th Regiment in Florence and dispatched to Africa, but the ship that was supposed to transfer him sank, and Magni was reassigned to Rome. He served there until returning to Florence in 1943. Next year he was enlisted to the Italian voluntary militia. His unit was involved into a violent confrontation with Calenzano partisans known as , but Magni himself arrived to the site when the battle was over.
On 5 November 1947 Magni married Liliana Calò; they had two daughters Tiziana and Beatrice. In 1951, at the peak of his cycling career, Magni started working for Moto Guzzi, and two years later began selling cars with Lancia. Later in 1980 he became an official dealer for Opel and some Asian companies. In the 1980s he was also involved in trading petroleum products with Giorgio Albani. Magni terminated his business activities in 2009. He died on 19 October 2012 in Monza, near Monticello Brianza, where he lived since 1975.
During the war Magni combined track and road events, but later focused on road racing. He was the "third man" of the golden age of Italian cycling, at the time of the rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. The highlights of his career were his three overall wins in the 1948, 1951 and 1955 Giro d'Italia, and the three consecutive wins (record) at the Tour of Flanders (1949, 1950 and 1951).