Guido Bernardi

Guido Bernardi was very much part of the history of Piacenza cycling. Born in La Bellotta di Pontenure, he came into cycling after starting his sporting career with a local football team and in 1935 he made his début as a time-triallist on a borrowed bicycle.

Bernardi joined the Gruppo Rionale Corridoni of Piacenza, and in 1937 took part in 12 youth races. He joined the famous Cesare Battisti team in Milano team in 1940 and, after some good results, the war years intervened. He had a good series of results in the latter half of 1945 but then started to make the switch from road racing to the track, with selection for the 1948 London Olympics his priority. Duly selected he went on to win silver with the Italian pursuit team. That was the highlight of his career at the time, which was followed with prestigious international wins in Vienna (1949) and Zurich (1950), in addition to victories in the classic Italian races, Coppa San Geo (1949) and Trofeo Banfo (1950), wearing the jersey of Tre Mori Fiorenzuola.

Bernardi turned professional approaching the age of 30 with the Arbos team Piacenza, and he raced with the best riders of the day. Despite that, he never took part in the Giro d’Italia and after three seasons ended his career after the 1952 Milano-Sanremo.