He was a good rider, even though his professional career was not long, Pietro Tamiazzo from Lodi, though of Venetian origins, born in Villanova sul Sillaro, an agricultural center in the Lodi plain, on April 5, 1945.

His passion for cycling and the bicycle led him to seriously pursue the path through the youth categories, which were very crowded at that time, reaching the amateur category in 1966, wearing the prestigious jersey with large white and blue checks of the prestigious Milanese team Excelsior, a regular presence with many of its riders in the numerous track events at the "magical track" of the Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan, on Via Arona, a frequent meeting place and a place of specific passion for two wheels, also frequented by road cyclists, fast paced riders especially, who trained there to refine their craft and develop their ability to stand out in road race finishes.

It is precisely the road that attracts Pietro Tamiazzo's greatest cycling interests and, in 1967, he wins a classic of that era, the Rho-Macugnaga where the climb is the strong point of the finale. And at Excelsior he is also a teammate of another rider, a racing colleague but, above all, a lifelong friend, Felice Salina whom we present again in an article by Marco Pastonesi.

Tamiazzo, also in 1967, finishes second at the G.P. Cuoio e Pelli, an important Tuscan race, places third in the Italian championship of his category and, in a "descending" progression, fourth in the Milano-Rapallo, a race with a long tradition. In his last year among the "pure" amateurs, in 1968, he strings together good performances not rewarded with podiums but which nonetheless open the doors of professionalism for him.

He moves to the senior category with Max Meyer, a valid team backed by the well-known paint manufacturing company, directed by Gastone Nencini and the passionate company manager, Erminio Bolgiani, later a leading figure in the cyclocross scene. Looking through the names of the squad members, in alphabetical order, we find Lorenzo Bosisio, Gianpaolo Cucchietti, Ercole Gualazzini, Claudio Michelotto, Primo Mori, Guido Neri, Luigi Sgarbozza ("Our Giggino"...). He races the Spanish Vuelta and thus achieves good placements in Italian races and in the squad he finds a former teammate, more friend than teammate, like Felice Salina, already at Excelsior, nearly the same age, from Pioltello, in the Milan area.

In 1970 he races with the Ferretti team, a team named after and directed with his own unique qualities, technical, dialectical and human - - by Alfredo Martini. His role is that of a reliable collaborator, domestique, as Tamiazzo specifies, an experience that continues in 1971, the year in which Ferretti, with Swedish paced rider Gosta Pettersson, wins the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia.

1972 sees Tamiazzo racing for Zonca, the lighting and illumination company owned by three brothers who were great cycling enthusiasts, guided by the shrewd Ettore Milano, always diligently performing his function in support of the designated captain. After his professional cycling career, Pietro Tamiazzo started his own business in the fruit and vegetable sector, with a shop that he managed for about forty years in the populous municipality of Melegnano.

The bicycle was never abandoned, however, compatible with work commitments and with a sporting spirit of friendship shared with Felice Salina and also Virginio Levati, their contemporary, born in Tribiano, in the Milan area, class of 1944, professional, good sprinter, winner of the Coppa Bernocchi 1971, beating none other than Patrick Sercu. In his professional years many Lombard roads, but not only, displayed - in abundance - the inscription in large letters "W LEVATI". The palmares of the stocky sprinter did not justify his reputation, especially on his "declared enemies," the climbs, of every kind and gradient, even outside the region. The author was a lifelong fan of his who worked in the road signage sector.

The Salina-Tamiazzo pair has been for several years the operating and patient arm of the former amateur tricolor champion (a few years ago....) and also former Excelsior member, Alberto Morellini who states "They are two right hands" precious, who interact and coordinate the organization of the gastronomic gathering, in triple digits, with places always sold out anyway, of former riders from various eras at the end of the season. A gathering without official speeches but with an authentic mine of memories and friendship with cycling as the common denominator.