They lasted three months. They opened with rugby, closed with polo. These were the Olympics of Paavo Nurmi, with five golds in athletics, and Johnny Weissmuller, with three golds in swimming and a bronze in water polo, of Eric Liddell and his "Moments of Glory", and of Baron Pierre de Coubertin and his Olympic ideals. Paris, 1924 Olympics. Cinema was silent, decorative art was in vogue, Ernest Hemingway was writing in literary cafés, the Tour de France had just been won - for the first time - by an Italian, Ottavio Bottecchia.

Cycling was the second-to-last sport to compete for its titles. All in two days: Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July. All in one stadium: Vincennes, in Paris's Bercy district, the velodrome simply known as "La Cipale". On the program, among others, the team pursuit races on the four thousand meters. Fifteen nations registered, ten participants. Italy presented Aurelio Menegazzi, 24 years old, from Buttapietra near Verona, Angelo De Martini, 27, from Villafranca near Verona, Alfredo Dinale, nicknamed Fortunato, 24, from Marostica in Veneto, and Francesco Zucchetti, 22, from Cernusco sul Naviglio in Lombardy. The race was altered by withdrawals: those who couldn't qualify in direct confrontations due to lack of opponents had to compete based on times. Thus, the Azzurri passed eighth and quarter-finals by racing against nothing but the clock and qualified for the semifinals. Victory against Belgium. The final against Poland brought gold.

The passion for cycling - what could be more futuristic? - ran in the Zucchetti family: Francesco, more simply Franco, born in 1902, and Alfonso born in 1903. Track and road, road and track. On the track: speed, pursuit, middle-distance, American-style, six-day races. Franco was more talented. His team was Genova 1913, his track was Sempione, his calendar included classics like the Coppa Caldirola. In national selections, he won a spot in the quartet. After the Paris Olympics, as a professional, his horizons would have opened wide: a victory in Warsaw, one in Cologne, one in Marseille, some in the United States. Then silence. Until a fellow townsman, Tiziano Protti, discovered Zucchetti's tomb in the Trichiana cemetery in Belluno, where he had died in 1980. To prevent him from ending up in a common grave and to return a champion to his hometown, Protti worked to bring his remains back to Cernusco sul Naviglio. And thanks also to the local administration and Genova 1913, he succeeded. It was 2016.

"Around the World in 5 Minutes", slightly less than the time the Italian quartet took to win gold at the Paris Games in 1924, is the title of the theatrical performance inspired by and dedicated to Zucchetti. Written by Domenico Ferrari based on the original text by Ermanno Zacchetti, performed by Claudio Cremonesi, directed by Rita Pelusio, it will be staged tonight at 9 PM at the House of Arts in Cernusco. Free entry with reservation. In the audience, among others, Morena Tartagni and members of Genova 1913.