Serse Coppi (19 March 1923 – 29 June 1951) was an Italian professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

born in Castellania. He was the younger brother of Italian cyclist

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...

Professional career

His greatest victory was

1949 Paris–Roubaix The 1949 Paris–Roubaix was the 47th edition of the Paris–Roubaix, a classic one-day cycle race in France. The single day event was held on 17 April 1949 and stretched from Paris to the finish at Roubaix Velodrome. The race was declared ...

, when he was placed

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winner with

André Mahé André Mahé (18 November 1919 – 19 October 2010) was a French road bicycle racer. He was born in Paris, France. He was a professional rider from 1945 until 1954. He jointly won the 1949 classic cycle race Paris–Roubaix with Serse Coppi in co ...

after controversy. He died in 1951 after crashing in the final

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

of the

Giro del Piemonte The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Piedmont region, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. From 2005–2019, the race was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Eur ...

, when his wheel was caught in the tracks of the Turin tramway. He was 28. The British weekly, ''The Bicycle'', reported: "The two brothers were still with the main bunch a kilometre from the end of the 272 km race. Fausto was not moving with his usual smoothness and Serse was by his side with words of encouragement. Then three riders crashed, but only one of them did not continue the race – Serse Coppi. He was actually able to ride to his hotel, and it was not believed that he was seriously hurt. But he was subsequently taken to hospital, where concussion of the brain was diagnosed. He died in Fausto's arms before an operation could be performed."The Bicycle, UK, 4 July 1951, p21

Notes

Italian male cyclists Cyclists who died while racing Cyclists from the Province of Alessandria 1923 births 1951 deaths Sport deaths in Italy 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-cycling-bio-1920s-stub