There are so many famous nicknames in the history of pro cycling. The Eagle of Toledo. The Human Locomotive. The Bricklayer of Friuli. The Badger. The Cannibal. Iron Briek. Monsieur Chrono. The Lion of Zoppas. Wait…the Lion of Zoppas?
There are clearly different levels to bike racing fame. A recently-released and charming little book of this name tells the story of Giuseppe Soldi, the Italian rider who came to be known as, yes, the Lion of Zoppas. Known at least to a circle of friends, acquaintances, teammates and competitors in the city of Cremona and its region, Soldi was one of those riders who biggest accomplishment–and it was a considerable one–may have faded with time but not in the memories of those who knew him.
Born in 1940, six months after Italy entered World War II, Soldi was the son of an innkeeper, later to become a miller. One senses that the family was modest, not flashy but accepting that the work needed to be done without complaint. Raised in the flat Po Valley plain in the village of Migliaro on the outskirts of Cremona, young Soldi joined the newly-formed local cycling club at 15 and quickly made a mark.
“Giuseppe learned early that races are won during the week, not on race day. They are won in solitary training on the country roads, when no one is watching and the only thing pushing you forward is that inner voice that says: one more kilometer, one more.”
As a junior, Soldi won 16 races, culminating in his 1958 victory at the most important national race in the junior calendar, the Coppa Dondeo. It is held in Cremona each year and Soldi’s win seemed to herald the start of career leading to the pros. But not every promising start leads to great things in sport. At 20 his progress was derailed by a crash to serious it took a year to recover. Then it was necessary to do his compulsory military service for two years and rather than joining Compagni Atleti in Rome, the branch of the service that would allow elite athletes to continue their training and competition, he ended up serving with a detachment of firefighters. Soldi was to admit this have been a miscalculation.
Returning to racing in 1964, he had lost valuable time but was fortunate to find a club in Cremona willing to take him on. This was G.S. Zoppas and under sports director Giosafatta Orlandelli Soldi rapidly returned to form. He won two races that year but by 1965 he had a total of 38 wins (or possibly 40) to his name. This was enough to attract the attention of the Italian national team and he was selected as one of the four amateurs to ride the team time trial at the UCI World Championships in Spain that year.
The book goes into some detail about the race, which was held near San Sebastian on September 2, 1965. Amazingly to us today, the Italians had shown up for training on the course forty days ahead of the race! It seems that every day in that time the menu consisted of steak and rice for breakfast and lunch. Up at 6:30, then after breakfast out on the course. Then out on the course again after lunch. It was a 50 km loop in the Basque country that would be ridden twice in the race.
As defending champions, the Italians started last, and were faced with horrendous weather as a near-hurricane blowing in from the Atlantic meant heavy rain for their stint. It was a hard day out, with one of the team puncturing, another dropping his chain, and another suffering from leg cramps in the cold. Only Giuseppe Soldi, the oldest in the team, rode on with no issues. In the end, the Italians retained their titled and Giuseppe Soldi returned home with a Rainbow Jersey and the accolades of Cremona.
The next year he turned professional with the fabled Bianchi team. After coming in 59th at Milano-Torino, he went on to Milan-Sanremo. Starting to climb the Turchino Pass, he was dispirited when a small group of riders, including Eddy Merckx, blew by him. Merckx went on to win, while Soldi, tired and disappointed, abandoned. Severely reprimanded by his sports director, he went home and ended his pro cycling career in some bitterness. No longer a racer, he became a bank employee for the rest of his working life.
But this was not the end of the story. A decade later, he resumed racing as an amateur and met consider success, with over 150 wins to his credit, including multiple wins in the Italian Banking Championships. When he passed away in July 2025, there was an outpouring of affection:
“Those who knew him remember the smile first, and the rainbow jersey second. They remembered his warmth, his simplicity, the quiet way he moved among others. He never sought the spotlight….And yet, in 1965, under the rain of San Sebastian, he became World Champion.”
“The Lion of Zoppas” was written by Luca Soldi, Giuseppe’s son. He and his own son, Nicolo, decided that the Rainbow Jersey should not stay in a box or hang on the wall at home but rather go somewhere where everyone with a love of cycling and the history of Italian sport could see it. As a result, Giuseppe Soldi’s Rainbow Jersey is now at the Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo on Lake Como, while other objects are in a museum dedicated to Cremona’s cycling history in that city.
This little book is a deeply affectionate look at a rider who may not have had palmares as celebrated as those of a Merckx or Gimondi but nonetheless had an impressive record of achievement in a sport he loved. But to his family and many friends he was more than this. The author writes: “There are men who become champions. And there are champions who remain men. Giuseppe Soldi belonged to the second kind.”
“The Lion of Zoppas” by Luca Soldi
72 pp., illustrated, paperback or in e-book version
Independently published, March 2026 (Available around the world via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing in seven different languages!)
ISBN: 979-8250967075
Suggested price: C$21.95/Kindle C$10.97
*** Available at AMAZON.COM HERE. ***
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