Lombardia Preview: Utter confusion was the look on my face when Alessandro handed me the old newspaper and said it was a gift. Upon closer inspection, I realized I was holding the official program of the 1952 Giro di Lombardia in mint condition! Once I got over the shock that such a treasure still existed I couldnt wait to share it with PEZ-FansThe 1952 Giro di Lombardia race program is an amazing 32 page snapshot back into the race scene more than a half century ago, jam packed with race info, presented by the famous Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. Of course its in Italian and that makes it even cooler. The price was 0.50 Lira likely about 25 cents worth at the time. The cover of the 1952 Giro di Lombardia program features Fausto Coppi leading Louison Bobet over the Madonna di Ghisallo in the 1951 race.One thing that struck me was the huge number of man-hours it must have taken to produce such a document at a time way before computers and digital presses. Everything had to be typeset by hand, artwork for the ads was sketched or illustrated by hand, colored inks were limited, expensive and tough to use, so most of this edition is good old black and white.The legendary Fausto Coppi was the man of the times, unbeatable everywhere hed already won this race 4 times in 1946, 47, 48, and 49, and the cover of the program is a classic shot of...
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