Cycling in mourning for Arnaldo Pambianco: Davide Cassani’s moving remembrance

The winner of the 1961 Giro d’Italia passed away at age 86

The cycling world mourns Arnaldo Pambianco, a rider from Forlì (originally from Bertinoro) who was able to win the 1961 Giro d’Italia, beating pedaling legends such as Charly Gaul and Jacques Anquetil. Pambianco was 86 years old and recently widowed after his wife Fabiola passed away in March.

On social media, it was Davide Cassani, a Romagnolo like Pambianco, who remembered him with emotion: “Arnaldo has always been one of my idols,” the former national team coach wrote on Facebook. “Perhaps because I knew him all my life, perhaps because he won the Giro d’Italia in the year I was born, certainly because he was a special Romagnolo. Arnaldo Pambianco, in the silence and darkness of this night, has ascended into the sky. I am sad because Arnaldo was truly an extraordinary person, a husband who could not bear and overcome the pain of losing the woman of his life: Fabiola, his wife.”

“I am sad because ‘Gabanin’ (as Pambianco was nicknamed, ed.) was truly a great man, a true champion, a unique Romagnolo. Rest in peace Arnaldo,” Cassani concluded.