Tullio Rossi, a Roman ex-professional, born in 1948, passed away last night. The Cicli Rossi website tells his story.

A slender athlete, with good skills both in pace and sprinting, but weak on climbs. A Roman guy, in a period of Italian cycling where Lazio riders were very few, and where he, with a king's name, seemed in the early moments of his professional career to best inherit the legacy of Luigi Sgarbozza from Ciociaria.

Indeed, after a good amateur career (notably his success in the 1969 Salvatore Morucci Trophy, a category classic), in his first year among the cycling elite, in 1973, Tullio won the Fiuggi stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Lazio location of his success and the fresh memory of the Ciociaro's talkativeness (maintained through his current television performances...), projected Rossi to an immediate comparison with Sgarbozza, making him popular.

The two were actually very different, in physical structure and demeanor, with their only common point being their quick burst of speed, discrete for Tullio, good for Luigi. Their approach to their role was also different: the man from Frosinone was somewhat anarchic and self-centered, while Rossi was available for support and behind-the-scenes work for the team. It was precisely these availabilities that allowed the Roman rider to push his career, after his dazzling debut with a stage win in the 1973 Giro (which he finished in 74th place), until he was 30.

His time of potential was indeed closed with the Dreherforte experience ('73-'74), because in both Presutti Notari Splendor ('75) and Furzi-Vibor ('76), Tullio learned well the role of support and realized it as a certificate of validity, when, in '77 and '78, he defended the colors of Felice Gimondi's Bianchi. Alongside the Bergamo rider, Rossi consumed his last years of activity, performing a humble and obscure job. During this period, he also participated in the Vuelta a España ('78), which he finished in 61st place. Like his last captain, Tullio also hung up his racing bicycle at the end of that year.

A peculiarity: the Roman rider was the first to try and launch clip-in pedals.