Il Campionissimo

On January 2nd, 1960, Fausto Coppi, arguably the greatest cyclist of the 20th century, died of malaria at the age of 40. He'd caught the disease on a hunting safari in Africa, and upon his return to Italy, he was misdiagnosed. By the time the truth was discovered, he was already at death's door.

Winning the Tour de France twice and the Giro d'Italia five times, Coppi was cycling's biggest star in a golden era for the sport - the post World War II years. He shares the all-time Giro d'Italia mark with the great Belgian Eddy Merckx, with whom Coppi also is often mentioned in a cross-generational sporting argument that rivals the legendary Ali/Marciano debates of the 60's and 70's. All Europeans agree that one or the other of these two cyclists is the greatest ever. No, Lance does not enter into that conversation, not even as a joke.