Today, Friday, February 7th, marks 15 years since the tragic death of Franco Ballerini, a great cycling champion and later national team coach. A memory still vivid among sports enthusiasts and beyond, many will pay their respects not only at the Casalguidi cemetery where the "Ballero" rests, but also at Casa al Vento on the hill overlooking the Pistoia plain, at the spot where he lost his life during the Larciano Rally in 2010.

Here by the roadside on the stone base, a plastic statuette depicting a cyclist had been bolted, of no economic value, which was stolen last November in a deplorable act.

In recent days, as promised, Antonio Tabarin, president of the "Friends of Franco Committee", together with Franco's father-in-law, Luigi Ricasoli, has repositioned a new statuette on the base, which will be officially "inaugurated" today and adorns the memorial where a plaque reads "Coach Franco Ballerini, the world will remember you forever, goodbye Ballero".

Additional initiatives to remember the former national team coach include today at 5:30 PM, a book presentation at the Pegaso Hall of Palazzo Strozzi Sacrati in Piazza del Duomo in Florence for "Franco Ballerini Champion in Everything" with the author Caterina Benini and Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani. On Friday, February 14th, at the Milleluci Club in Casalguidi, the "Ballero Dinner" with proceeds going to the Meyer Pediatric Hospital Foundation.