A crowd of friends and fans today gave their final farewell to Michele Dancelli. In the parish church of Castenedolo, the town where he was born 83 years ago, the funeral of the great Brescia champion was held, who passed away after a long illness.

Many personalities from the cycling world came to pay tribute, starting with Ernesto Colnago and the Salvarani, Molteni (Mario Molteni was present), and Lucchini families. Then his friend and rival Gianni Motta, not to mention the Brescia cyclists and champions: from Mario Anni, his trusted domestique and fraternal friend, Davide Boifava, and then Bruno Leali, Fausto Bertoglio, Renato Bongioni, Fabio Bordonali, Mino Denti, Angelo Tosoni, Nicola Ruffoni, Luciano Bracchi, Giuseppe Martinelli and many, many others.

"Michele's life was a bit like a stage race," the parish priest of Castenedolo recalled in his homily, "with climbs and descents, moments of glory like victories and other darker ones marked by suffering. The last chapters were undoubtedly the most difficult, those of illness and pain, but in the end he reached the finish line with his arms raised." We like to remember him this way.