Vuelta of 1956. Penultimate stage, the 207 km Bilbao-Vitoria. It's May 11th, a Friday. What remains of the group (Swiss Koblet, Spanish Poblet, and French Bobet have retired, with only 40 of the 90 starters expected to finish) is fighting for survival on the final climbs. The standings show Angelo Conterno, nicknamed White Pen, in first place (leading the stage and jersey since the second day), second is Spanish Federico Martin, known as Bahamontes, at 8", third is Spanish Jesus Lorono at 43". But the two Spaniards don't get along: between the two quarreling, the third escapes and wins - an old story, a current story, just like the 2025 Giro d'Italia with Englishman Simon Yates enjoying himself while Mexican Isaac Del Toro and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz argue.

The race is a bet: the favorites are for Bahamontes, the rapacious climber. The race is a battle: Bahamontes a victim of accidents, setbacks, and ailments. The race is strategy: Conterno clings to all his strength, and it seems that on the Sollube, the day's final climb, he also clings to the jerseys of supporting, allied, complicit riders, even from other teams (they raced in national formations), so much so that the jury penalizes him by 30". In fact, Benigno Azpiru from the Cantabria regional team wins the stage, triumphing solo, with Arrigo Padovan almost 9' behind, and the best group led by Belgian emperor Rik Van Steenbergen, with Conterno and Lorono on his wheel, followed by Nino Defilippis and Giancarlo Astrua, previous stage winners. Conterno, Defilippis, and Astrua: three Turin riders (Astrua born in Biella, but Turin by adoption); actually, four, with Pino Favero included.

The next day, the 190 km Vitoria-Bilbao, is not a parade but a calvary, especially for Conterno. He has a fever, possibly bronchopneumonia. The Spaniards attack him repeatedly. He defends himself as best he can. Perhaps even beyond his capabilities. He survives the two mountain passes of the day. Perhaps he is saved. Insults, whistles, even spitting fly. At the final arrival in Bilbao, Van Steenbergen claims his sixth stage victory, Conterno relegates Lorono to second place by just 13" and delivers the first Italian victory in the Vuelta. Amid countless controversies.

Conterno was a gentleman. Simple and elegant, cordial and affectionate. He loved bikes, not just cycling. I met him in the 1990s. His White Pen had become a White Head. I interviewed him for "La Gazzetta dello Sport". He told me about his Vuelta. "Back then, there was only one doctor for all riders, and he was a Spanish doctor. My bronchopneumonia would have been immediately communicated to Logrono and Bahamontes. They would have attacked me from the first to the last meter. They did, but not as ferociously as they would have if they had known I was unwell". A version confirmed by Franco Bocca in his "La Torino del Cit" (Hever, 2023): "Just before the final stage, I got a high fever. I would have needed a doctor, but unfortunately at the Vuelta, there was only the organization's doctor, who was naturally Spanish..."

Bocca adds that Conterno "gritted his teeth in silence, regularly started the final stage, anxiously surrounded and supported by his teammates, who under no circumstances were willing to let slip on the last day the substantial victory prize they had tenaciously pursued for almost three weeks". And Conterno arrived at the finish line "with a 40°C fever".

The day I met Conterno, Defilippis was also there. They were true friends. They intuitively shared mutual and ancient esteem, respect, and trust. To Beppe Conti for "My Champions" (Graphot, 2000), the Cit said that Conterno "poor guy, really risked a lot", explained that "we kept that serious illness hidden from everyone for three or four days", specified that "at night he couldn't sleep, not because of the mattress - another would have gone home, but we couldn't give up all that money", confirmed "we asked the Belgians for help against the Spanish attacks", added "Van Steenbergen, already out of the classification, also gave us a hand", revealed "we pushed Conterno uphill, and then guided him downhill because the fever made him nearly blind", admitted "the Spanish fans in the mountains spat on us". Defilippis won the climbers' classification ahead of Bahamontes: "My pride and joy".