Mauro Grespan's last race ended today, Tuesday, at 2 p.m. He passed away at his home in Arcade, at 66 years old, after an incurable pleural disease discovered too late. A life spent with his bicycle always by his side, first as a cyclist and then as a professional in the world of two wheels.

Grespan had turned 66 on January 15th, the same day that Maurizio Fondriest, Franco Pellizotti, Silvano Contini, and Andrea Noè celebrate their birthdays. He leaves behind his wife Rossella and his children Gaia and Antonio.

The funeral will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at the Church of Catena in Villorba, where he was born. His older brother Primo, a former cyclist and firefighter, lives there and in recent years had continued to share with Mauro the memories of that season of Treviso cycling.

A generation of champions

Grespan was a contemporary of Moreno Argentin. They faced each other many times on the roads of Veneto, during a period when cycling in the Marca region produced riders of great talent. Mauro had the qualities to attempt the leap to professional cycling and pursued that goal, but was unable to find a team.

His cycling career had started very early. He was just 8 years old when he began racing among the Giovanissimi of Cusignana, a club through which numerous Treviso cycling talents had passed. As a junior, he moved to Leva Ciclistica Santa Maria del Rovere, then wore the jersey of UC Trevigiani in the Allievi and Juniores categories.

"I remember Mauro perfectly," recalls Germano Bisigato, his sports director and current president of the Association of Glories of the Province of Treviso. "He was fast, had won many races, but could also hold his own on climbs. I have good memories of Mauro. Back then he raced with Giuliano Pavanello, who later turned professional, with Walter Mosole, who died in a road accident while returning from a race, and with Caporale. Unforgettable years."

Fifty victories and a Milan-Bologna

In 1979 came the move to G.S. Calzature Spaip of Portogruaro, in 1980 to G.S. Zignago, and in 1981 to U.S. Fracor Aquila Levane.

His palmares includes approximately 50 victories, achieved on the road, track, and in night races. The most prestigious success came in 1980, when Grespan won the Milan-Bologna with the Zignago jersey, also setting the race's record average speed.

In 1981 he raced with Fracor Aquila Levane alongside, among others, Giuseppe Petito and Giancarlo Montedori, who would later reach professional cycling. Mauro, however, ended his racing career in 1982.

The track also in his heart

The road was not the only specialty in which he could excel. Grespan had a particular fondness for track cycling as well. "Mauro also enjoyed track racing," recalls his brother Primo. "He competed in the Milan Six-Day and won the Veneto junior title in the pursuit and the standing kilometer at the Mecchia Velodrome in Portogruaro."

These were the years of crowded tracks, six-day races, night events, and a cycling world profoundly different from today's. An environment in which Grespan had carved out his own space.

The bicycle as a life companion

After hanging up his racing bike, Mauro had not, however, abandoned his world. Rather, he had transformed that passion into a profession. He became a dealer for Assos, a Swiss brand specializing in technical cycling apparel. In recent years he had his shop in Castrette di Villorba, in a strategic area for the Treviso cycling movement, where the Popolarissima amateur race once passed through. He was also the commercial manager for Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Trentino-Alto Adige.

Thus, even after his last competitive rides, cycling remained the common thread of his life.

Today Mauro Grespan is gone. But his victories remain, the memories of those who raced with him and those who watched him pedal, and above all the bond with that Treviso cycling that had represented an important part of his life.

The last sprint has ended. The bicycle, however, remains. And it will not forget him.