When Juventus and Milan were fighting for the Giro d'Italia

In the annals of Italian sports history, the year 1961 stands out as a remarkable period where the worlds of football and cycling collided. At the heart of this convergence were the visionary actions of figures like sporting managers Vincenzo Giacotto and Giovanni Borghi, who sought to blend the identities of their beloved football teams, Juventus and AC Milan with Italian cycling culture. Carpano-Coppi, a team that had languished in mediocrity for two years following the departure of legendary cyclist Fausto Coppi, underwent a dramatic transformation under Giacotto's guidance. Formed in 1956 by the Vermouth brand Carpano and Coppi to much fanfare but poor results, Giacotto recognizing the need for investment persuaded the Turati family, the team's owners, to inject substantial funds into the project.

Across the city, Juventus were experiencing their own resurgence under Umberto Agnelli's presidency, marked by record-breaking transfers, including breaking the transfer fee record twice in one week to bring in John Charles and Omar Sivori, Juventus had become the dominant force in Italy. Inspired by Juventus's success and seeking to imbue his team with a genuine Torinese identity, nothing was more Torinese than his beloved Juve. Giacotto made a bold move: he recruited many of the top Torinese pro-cyclists, including star Nino Defilippis, to join his newly re-christened Carpano team. The decision was to align the cycling team with the football club visually, and so in 1958 Carpano debuted their new jersey which bore the famous Juventus bianconeri colours. This however, stirred controversy among the riders, many of whom were Torino fans. Undeterred, Giacotto's strategy bore fruit, as Carpano surged to prominence in the cycling world.

In 1961, a second team run by the Turati family, Baratti was founded. In what is said to have been a ploy to appease unhappy Toro supporting cyclists and the wider Piedmontese public, this new team promoting the Baratti chocolate brand were given the classic granata colours of Torino. That made two cycling teams from Turin, one wearing Juve colours and the other the those of Torino FC. Both were essentially run as the same team. Not to be outdone, Giovanni Borghi, owner of electrical appliance manufacturer IGNIS, mirrored Giacotto's approach over in Milan in that same year. Although living in Varese Borghi was a staunch AC Milan fan and looked to leverage the city’s football heritage with his cycling teams IGNIS and FIDES. FIDES would now compete in the famous Rossoneri stripes of AC Milan. Just like with Carpano, success soon followed. 

The synergy between football and cycling reached its peak in 1961, much like in Serie A which had seen Juve and Milan vie for the Scudetto in the early 1960s, the two sides were going head-to-head in cycling too. Both Carpano and Milan-FIDES achieving notable victories, including three consecutive Giro d'Italia triumphs between them. Pambianco winning the Giro for Milan-FIDES in 1961 and the unexpected hero Franco Balmamion winning back-to-back Giro’s in 1962 & 1963 for Carpano. However, the football-cycling crossover wouldn’t last long. Regulatory issues around team ownership and the dual-team structure led to the dissolution of Baratti and the Rossoneri striped FIDES would vanish after its merger with Borghi’s other team IGNIS, they would now compete in a yellow uniform with a huge blue and white cross inspired by the story of the Three Musketeers. The Turati family would also soon pull the plug on the Carpano team in 1964 thus all but ending the football and cycling crossover. Despite this, the legacy of 1961 endures today as the moment where the worlds of football and cycling collided to give us a Juve and Milan challenge in both sports.