Fernand Decanali did track & field athletics before taking up competitive cycling in 1943 with local club Pédale Joyeuse. As an amateur, Decanali won the French amateur team road championships in 1944 and the Paris-Ézy race in 1947. The high point of his amateur career came at the 1948 Olympics, where he won gold in team pursuit. Decanali turned professional after his Olympic victory and competed with such teams as La Perle-Hutchison and Tandil until his retirement in 1953. His most notable victories were at the 1949 and 1951 Riom Criterium. After finishing his competitive career, Decanali worked as a wholesaler of petroleum and petroleum products and later ran a bar named Comptoir Jaurès at the La Plaine district of Marseille.
France