DISRAELI DOCUMENTS
Gianni Bugno, Italian, 1964 -
By the end of the 1980s, all of Italy was desperate for a great rider to win the Tour de France. No italian had achieved this feat since Felice Gimondi in 1965. For a while it looked as though Gianni Bugno might just be the man. He won the Giro in 1990 and the World Road Race Championship in both 1991 and 1992. He also had that indefinable something that makes a great rider.
But a victory in the Tour was not to be. 1991 saw the first of Miguel Indurain's five consecutive wins. Bugno came second in 1991 and third in 1992. It is, however, notable that Bugno was both a one-day rider who could win the Worlds, and a climber who could win the Tour stage to L'Alpe d'Huez in both 1990 and 1991.
Not content with merely performing, Gianni Bugno was also a by-word for cycling style. You can see some of that in this postcard from 1991. Anyone who can make Bollé wrap-around glasses look sharp is clearly a star.
I believe that Gianni Bugno won both of his Worlds titles riding a Shimano Dura-Ace 7402 derailleur. I think he was the first rider to win the Worlds riding Shimano, and did so 8 years before Lance became the first Shimano rider to 'win' the Tour.
