Severino Andreoli

Severino Andreoli was a great amateur, and at the 1963 World Amateur Road Race Championship, played a significant part in helping fellow Italian Flaviano Vicentini win the title. In 1964, Andreoli, along with Luciano Dalla Bona, Pietro Guerra, and Ferruccio Manza, won the 100 km team time trial title at the World Championships in Albertville, and a month later at the Tokyo Olympics, the same quartet surprisingly finished second to the Netherlands. As the team captain, Andreoli was 28th in the Individual road race.

Andreoli turned professional in 1965 with the Vittadello club, where he was mostly a support rider. However his win on stage three of the 1966 Giro d’Italia between Diano Marina-Genova (Genoa) went into the records books, and more than 50 years later was still there. Andreoli covered the 120 kilometres in an average of 48.828 km/h, the fastest stage ever covered in the history of the Giro. He competed in two other Giros with a 53rd place finish in 1965 being his best result.

Andreoli won the Brescia Criterium (1965), the Criteriums of Alte Cecato and Abano Terme (1966) and the Criterium of Col San Martino (1968). He also competed in the Vuelta a España twice, and the Tour de France once. In honour of his sporting achievements, Severino Andreoli was awarded a Gold Medal by the Italian Olympic Committee.