Diavolo Rosso e altre storie: gli eroi delle due ruote cantate

Lyrics, namely the "verses for music" (Zuliani 2010), have often dealt with topics concerning sports, including cycling. The bicycle often becomes the protagonist of sung stories as an instrument of redemption, as a vehicle of imagination and a support for everyday life. This essay starts from the "Diavolo rosso" (1982) by Paolo Conte, i.e. Giovanni Gerbi, an award-winning cyclist and a hero who went against the established sporting schemes and principles. Then, it continues with a series of famous protagonists and antagonists, such as Gerbi/Pavesi, Bartali/Coppi, Gimondi/Merckx, Pollastri/ Girardengo. Special attention is dedicated to the figure of Alfonsina Strada, forerunner of the bicycle heroine, sung by Têtes de Bois. It follows a digression on music, cycling and sustainability with the example of the Roman group and their stage electrically powered through a number of bicycles connected to a dynamo. Finally, it is raised the issue of the bicycle seduction in the collective imagination as a means of choice for heroes and anti-heroes chased by the shadow of death, retracing the songs dedicated to the story of the "pirate" Marco Pantani, the protagonist of a legend in contemporary narrations.