It happened suddenly. The night between February 15 and 16, 1964. Pierino Bertolazzo, sports director of Cynar, died of a heart attack. He was in Diano Marina, at the Hotel Tiziana, managed by the Bersano family - of Tiziana, who would become Felice Gimondi's wife. Alfredo Binda, the team's general manager, first informed Bertolazzo's family, then called a technician who could replace him. Vasco Bergamaschi. Singapore. Who tonight at 9 PM will be remembered and honored in his San Giacomo delle Segnate, in the auditorium, 90 years after his victory, from gregario becoming captain on the road, in the Giro d'Italia (HERE our article).

After World War II, Bergamaschi returned to cycling. First nine years with Torpado, cultivating the talent of Nino Defilippis and Angelo Conterno, developing the youth of Aldo Moser and Cleto Maule, relying on the energy of Guido Boni and Giovanni Pettinati, betting on the ambitions of Renato Giusti and Guido Neri. Then with Cynar, among the Swiss Rolf Maurer, among the Italians Franco Balmamion, Diego Ronchini and Dino Zandegù. Singapore had lived through the era of Binda and Learco Guerra, then that of Gino Bartali and the first Fausto Coppi. He knew, he understood. He had suffered, he had seen. He would pass on, he would teach.

"Vasco was a father, a good father" - recalls Giusti, with him at Torpado from 1959 to 1962 -. "A gentleman. Never angry. He belonged to the old school, but back then there was only one school, that of training and racing, of plain rice and steak even at five-thirty in the morning, at most minestrone, of going to bed early in the evening and waking up early in the morning. From my house to his was about sixty kilometers, I would go there training, find him in his cyclist's workshop, he would talk to me in Mantuan dialect and he loved me, especially after I won two stages in the 1961 Giro d'Italia".

"Vasco was a good person" - says Franco Lotti, with him at Cynar in 1964 -: "healthy, simple, fair, not very decisive, a man of the old generation. He didn't dictate commandments, but gave advice. Training, forming various groups, forcing those behind in preparation or ahead in nutrition to take a longer ride. When the Giro d'Italia came, one more Swiss and one less Italian were chosen: me. I made up for it in the Luxembourg Tour: third place in the team time trial, ninth in a half-stage".

"Vasco was a good man" - explains Balmamion, with him at Cynar in 1964 -. "But in the Giro d'Italia there were two occasions when he could have helped me. The first in the third stage, in San Pellegrino, I punctured and was left alone for 1'15" with the wheel in hand waiting for the team car. The second in the eighth stage, in Pedavena, the descent from Croce d'Aune, very bad and unpaved, a tire massacre, I punctured and was left alone for 1'15" again with the wheel in hand, he had chosen to follow Maurer. In Milan I wouldn't have won, Jacques Anquetil was unbeatable, but maybe I would have finished second instead of eighth".

"Vasco was elegant, aware, practical" - adds Zandegù, with him at Cynar in 1964 -. "Once I drove him crazy. Wednesday, September 30, 1964. Grand Prix du Parisien. In Paris. A team time trial - six riders per team, a kind of world team championship, ancestor of the race that would be invented 50 years later. Distance: 131 kilometers. Route: up and down. Bergamaschi, for par condicio (and since it was an aperitif, also for bar condicio), chose three Italians, Balmamion, Ronchini and me, and three Swiss, Maurer, Roland Zoeffel and Werner Weber. Ready, go, full speed, but I was having a terrible day. Until I gave in, dropped back and was caught by Saint Raphael-Gitane-Dunlop, the team led by German Rudi Altig, who started after us. But here's my immense pride. Instead of giving up and abandoning, instead of getting off the bike and onto a broom wagon, I attached myself to the opposing 'train', recovered my strength and surprisingly - to them and to myself - began to go, turn and pull. Partly to prove my time trial value and partly in an attempt to rejoin my teammates. Altig and company did not refuse the unexpected support, indeed, they encouraged me: allez, allez, allez, which means ale, ale, ale. The encouragement galvanized me. And I committed myself. It was a fantastic race. Cynar, despite my absence, set the best time until Saint Raphael-Gitane-Dunlop arrived at the finish line, strong with Altig, but also with me. Final standings: first Saint Raphael-Gitane-Dunlop, second Cynar. My teammates were disappointed, Bergamaschi was devastated".