Fausto Coppi’s brother, Serse was born on the 19th of March in 1923 in Castellania, Italy. He started to race professionally in the Bianchi team as the most trusted domestique of his older sibling in 1946.
Nevertheless, he had his own personal success either: he won Paris-Roubaix in 1949, although under disputable circumstances. Originally, André Mahé crossed the finish line first and Serse won only the sprint among the chasers. But it was told, that a policeman navigated Mahé into the velodrome through a wrong gate. Thus, he violated the rules of the race, but it wasn’t his fault.
The superstar Fausto Coppi used his influence wanting the jury to disqualify Mahé and name Serse the winner. After several months of legal quarrel, both Serse Coppi and André Mahé was declared winners of the race.
On 29th of June in 1951, a week before the start of the Tour de France, the Coppi brothers attended the Giro del Piemonte. Only one km to go, three riders crashed inside Turin, one of them was Coppi. His wheel was caught in the tracks of the tramway. After he went down, he couldn’t finish the race, but was able to ride on his bike to the hotel. Later he had to be taken to the hospital, where he died before he could have been operated.
MORE FACES FROM THE PELOTON
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