The Stadio Franco Ossola (also called Luigi Ganna Velodrome) is a sports

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

and

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

currently in use by the football team A.S.D. Città di Varese. Constructed in 1925, and originally named the ''Stadio del Littorio'', the stadium was renamed in September 1950 in memory of Franco Ossola, an Italian from

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

and player for

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), colloquially referred to as Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont that currently plays in the Serie A, the highest football league of Italy. Founded in 1906 as ''Foot-Ball Club Torin ...

who died in 1949 in the

Superga air disaster The Superga air disaster (, "Tragedy of Superga") occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire Torino F.C., Torino association football, football team (popularly known as the ''Grande ...

. The cycling track was used for the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and is named after Luigi Ganna, the winner of the first

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

in 1909, who was born in nearby

Induno Olona Induno Olona is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in north-western Lombardy, north of Milan, in the Province of Varese. It had a population, in 2021, of c. 10,287. Topography The town is located between Valganna (valley), Valganna and Valceresi ...

. Originally, the stadium could accommodate up to 23,000 spectators, but the capacity has been reduced to comply with safety standards, so much so that now the north stand, which houses the home fans, is not usable. In recent years, plans have been drawn up to create a new 10,000 seater stadium to replace the existing one.

References

External links

* Varese SSD Varese Calcio ASD Città di Varese Franco Franco Velodromes in Italy Cycle racing in Italy Sports venues in Lombardy 1925 establishments in Italy Sports venues completed in 1925 {{cycling-venue-stub