GRAN PREMIO MAMMA E PAPA' GUERCIOTTI, 45 YEARS OF CYCLOCROSS HISTORY

CYCLOCROSS | 27/11/2024 | 08:10
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The Mamma e Papà Guerciotti Gran Prix of the 2024-25 cross season is about to take place. Normally, the race by Fas Airport Services – Guerciotti – Premac is part of the international calendar. Among the international races in the Italian territory with regular running, the Guerciotti family's race is the oldest. The winter 2024-25 edition will take place at Vittoria Park in Brembate (Bergamo).
On Saturday, November 30th, amateurs and, for competitive categories, beginners and juniors will compete for the "Guerciotti". Men and women will race in all categories. On Sunday, December 1st, the public will be able to watch international races for juniors, under-23, and elite, men and women. According to regulations, elite and under-23 will race together, and a single ranking will be drawn up.
The Mamma e Papà Guerciotti Gran Prix is also a race where the national cyclocross jerseys are often awarded. Patron Paolo Guerciotti organized the Italian Championships in Sirone in January 1999, then at Idroscalo in Milan in 2010 and 2019. On January 13 and 14, 2024, the national races with organizational aegis by Fas Airport Services – Guerciotti – Premac were held in Cremona. However, the "cradle" of the classic is Parco Lambro in Milan.
Besides taking place on the Sirone hill, the race was also held at Parco Saini in Milan, then at Idroscalo (continuously from the 2001 to 2020 edition), and finally from November 1st, 2021 in Cremona. The multiple-time winner of the "Guerciotti" is Daniele Pontoni, who secured victory in 8 editions. His wins came in the 1991, '92, '93, '95 editions, twice in '99 (that year the race was held twice, as the cross season spans two solar years), 2000, and 2002.
It's late December 1978, and the first winner of the classic is Vito Di Tano. The success in the Guerciotti Gran Prix brings him luck. The Guerciotti team's standard-bearer triumphs in Saccolongo at the Amateur Cyclocross World Championship a few weeks later. The January 1979 Saccolongo event is an unforgettable memory for Vito, who would repeat his world success in 1986 in Lembeek.
At the end of December 1979, Franco Vagneur wins the "Guerciotti" at Parco Lambro. The volcanic Paolo Guerciotti hires Roland Liboton, and the Belgian repays him with triumph in his home race in 1980.
For the winter 81-82 edition, Paolo decides to move the naturally international race to the Sirone plateau. The star Hennie Stamsnijder wins it. The following year, Vito Di Tano imposes himself for the second time. Then begins the "golden" foreign hegemony for Guerciotti. In fact, Liboton, first in the Guerciotti Trophy in 1984 and '85, and the German Mike Kluge, triumphant in 1986 and '87, are all his riders. In '87 the race takes place again at Parco Lambro in Milan.
The location in the historic Milan district also brings luck to the Danish Henrik Djernis, another Guerciotti standard-bearer, who wins in 1988 and '89. Note that the 1988 edition is held on a Friday, a working day, as a strategic choice to have the best at an international level.
The Pontoni era is about to begin, with the race always anchored to Parco Lambro. After three consecutive triumphs at Parco Lambro in the "Guerciotti" included among the international Superprestige trials, then the most important cross challenge, in '94 Pontoni is defeated at Parco Lambro. The Friulian, with an unprecedented black Italian Champion jersey with a tricolor band that sparks controversy among aficionados, finishes second, beaten by Rodomir Simunek. It's an edition followed by a euphoric public from the early hours of the day.
Always with the Superprestige label, the Guerciotti Gran Prix emigrates to Parco Saini on December 8th, 1996. The Superprestige trial transforms into a Rabobank team show, triumphing thanks to Adrie Van Der Poel (Mathieu's father). Then the helm of the event moves again towards Sirone with the 1999 Italian Championships where, under the rain, Pontoni wins. The last edition in Sirone is that of November 2000 with Pontoni dominating. Women had already made their appearance at the Guerciotti some years earlier. In November 2000, the women's Guerciotti is also international, and the German superstar Hanka Kupfernagel seals the victory.
On December 8th, 2001, the first Guerciotti at Idroscalo proves to be the ideal location for the event. The young Enrico Franzoi imposes himself, defeating Daniele Pontoni and many foreigners despite being only 19 years old. Daniele takes revenge the following year. Paolo Guerciotti is very determined, wanting yet another quality leap. And so, several editions of the third millennium are valid for the World Cup, a challenge under the aegis of the International Cycling Union. At Idroscalo in the first post-2000 decade, the most famous male and female stars of the specialty perform. The World Cup is an immense spectacle, and numerous Benelux fans arrive at Idroscalo. Bart Wellens is the number one in the order of arrival in 2003 and 2006, the extraordinary Sven Nys in 2004 and 2005. Kupfernagel is also first in 2002.
In the 2004 Guerciotti, the first of the juniors is a promising girl, winner of the World Road Championship in Verona two months earlier. It's Marianne Vos, who will mark an era in women's cycling across all specialties and is still active today. Also noteworthy are the 4 victories of the other Dutch rider, elite Dafny Van Den Brand, and the 3 by Eva Lechner. The World Cup epic in Milan-Idroscalo ends when Paolo Guerciotti decides to organize the Italian Championships at Idroscalo for the second time. It's the 2010 edition, where the creative Marco Aurelio Fontana triumphs; he is another standard-bearer of the Guerciotti team.
In subsequent years, besides the double by Marco Silvestri, a talent of the Guerciotti team, there are the triumphs of Jens Vandekinderen, Stan Godrie, Marcel Meisen (twice) and Sascha Weber, as well as that of Gioele Bertolini in the 2019 national colors.
The Guerciotti-Parco Maffi Cremona era begins on November 1st, 2021, and the triumphs are signed by Jakob Dorigoni, who in the rain precedes Gioele Bertolini, both Guerciotti standard-bearers, and Silvia Persico. Always with an international label, of course. Like in the third weekend of January 2023, when Filippo Fontana of the Carabinieri Sports Group wins ahead of Jakob Dorigoni, and the blonde Rebecca Gariboldi does the same among the elites, preceding Sara Casasola.
As announced, in January 2024 the Mamma e Papà Guerciotti Gran Prix is again valid as the Italian Championship. The race is always at Parco Maffo Vialli in Cremona with extremely low temperatures. The team with the new denomination Fas Airport Services-Guerciotti-Premac triumphs in the team relay (mixed relay). Here are the 4 relay runners: Tommaso Ferri, Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni, Sara Casasola, Gioele Bertolini. And the day after in individual trials, Filippo Fontana (Carabinieri) wins the Italian Elite Championship, while the national jerseys for the Fas Airport Services-Guerciotti-Premac team are given to Valentina Corvi (under-23 girls), Elisa Ferri (junior girls), Filippo Agostinacchio (under-23).
November 30th and December 1st, 2024, with the new Vittoria-branded location, a different era of the Mamma e Papà Guerciotti Gran Prix begins. With Vittoria's partnership, the history of the cyclocross classic continues.