Giuseppe Olmo Photo Gallery
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Giuseppe Olmo (born November 22, 1911) was one of the finest riders of the 1930s, a golden age for professional cycling.
His career was centered on Italian racing and his win list is eloquent. He won a stunning 9 stages in the 1936 Giro d'Italia, though he still finished more than two minutes behind Gino Bartali that year. It was an incredible cycling era.
Perhaps his most famous accomplishment was his breaking Maurice Richard's World Hour Record on October 31, 1935, riding 45.090 kilometers. Maurice Richard took the record back on October 14, 1936.
Upon retiring Olmo went into the bicycle business. In the 1970s I had the pleasure of selling bikes from his factory under both the Olmo and Maserati names and found them to be among the finest available. Beautifully brazed and painted, they were a joy to sell and ride.
Giuseppe Olmo died March 5, 1992.
Major victories:
1931: Italian amateur road champion
1932: Olympic team road race (with Attilio Pavesi and Gugliemo Segato), Milano-Torino
1933: 2 stages (4th & 12th) of the Giro d'Italia
1934: 3 stages (13th, 16th, 17th) Giro d'Italia
1935: World Hour Record, Milano-San Remo, 4 stages (5th, 13th, 17th, 18th) Giro d'Italia
1936: Italian road championship, Giro dell'Emilia, 9 stages Giro d'Italia and second place overall
1937: 6th stage Giro d'Italia
1938: Milano-San Remo, Torino Ceriale, Giro di Campania
Professional Teams:
1933-1940: Bianchi
1940-1942: Dei
Photos:
Signed photo from the Mondonico family collection
A young Olmo
1935 Giro d'Italia with Vasco Bergamaschi and Gino Bartali
Another publicity shot of Oomo
A stele commemorating Olmo's world hour record in the town of Comun Nuovo, near Bergamo
Undated photo of Olmo
1936 Giro d'Italia. Olmo winning in Legnano
This picture is thought to be of Olmo riding to victory in the 1938 Milano-San Remo
Olmo was a track man and a lot of the survivng pictures show him on a track bike.
The Olmo team for the 1946 Giro d'Italia. American Joseph Magnani is the third Olmo rider from the right.