Worlds 1927: Alfredo Binda, Nürburgring and the first rainbow jersey

Nestled in the Eifel mountain range of western Germany, sitting beneath an imposing twelfth-century castle, lies the small town of Nürburg.  Surrounded by lakes and by the peaks of long-extinct volcanoes, it is a place for hiking on spectacular trails that strike through the forests and meadows that bless this area of Germany. 

It is also a place to press the pedal to metal and to listen to the thunderous roar of finely tuned engines.  For the quiet village of Nürburg is home to the Nürburgring, one of the most famous motor-racing circuits in the world.

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The circuit opened in June 1927. One month later it was put to use as the venue for the 1927 edition of the UCI’s road world championships. 

Since the introduction of the amateur championship in 1921, the issue of opening the event to professional riders had been debated. As public interest in  the  event  grew,  so  the  voices  of  those  arguing  for  a  professional  race grew louder, but there remained resistance.

Nürburgring also hosted the 1966 world championships, won by Rudi Altig

The world championships were the pinnacle of the amateur calendar and some thought including a race for professionals, who already had numerous and increasingly prestigious races, would negatively impact the standing of the event. They counselled against including competitors who, in their eyes, were solely motivated by money.

The debate continued until 1927 when the UCI decided to hold a single race that was open to both amateurs and professionals with the titles awarded to the best placed in each classification.

The controversial decision meant that the Nürburgring would play a significant part in the history of cycling: it was going to be the circuit on which cycling’s first professional road world champion would forge their win.

Just as significantly, this was also the year the rainbow jersey was introduced – that simple white cycling jersey with its five coloured bands, mirroring the colours of the Olympic rings.

It would become one of the most sought after prizes in the sport: a unique, tangible symbol of achievement that stays on your back all season. Win the Worlds and the rainbow jersey was to be yours until someone took it off you.

The northern loop of the Nürburgring was a brutal examination of the strength and endurance of riders. The road twisted and turned and there were numerous climbs for the riders to tackle over the course of the 22.8 kilometre lap which had to be ridden eight times. Italian daily La Stampa called it ‘a continuous rollercoaster tormented by countless curves.’

It was made for motor racing but, at over 22km round and nestled amidst the forests of the Eifel Mountains, Nürburgring made for a tough Worlds course

Italy had boycotted the inaugural amateur championships in 1921, upset at the decision to run the event as a time trial, before Libero Ferrario claimed their first title two years later in the first Worlds run as a massed-start road race.

From that moment Italy embraced the Worlds as much as any other nation. Included in their ranks at the 1927 championships were two of the biggest names in cycling, not to mention the sport’s biggest rivals: Alfredo Binda and Costante Girardengo. 

The timing of the Worlds helped the Italians. With the true worth of the Worlds to the professional peloton being questioned, the cream of riders who had just completed the Tour de France were otherwise engaged with lucrative post-Tour assignments.  On the  day  of  the  Worlds for example Luxembourg’s  Nicolas  Frantz  and  Belgium’s  Maurice  De  Waele,  first  and second in the Tour respectively, were racing against each other in a nocturne on the Parc des Princes track in Paris.

In contrast, for obvious and commercial reasons, Italy’s best riders had been focused not on the Tour but on the Giro, a race that had finished some six weeks earlier. Unsure of his condition, Girardengo had not ridden that Giro, but Binda rode and ruled the race, winning twelve of the fifteen stages  and  claiming  the  overall  title  by  more  than  27  minutes. 

Ever since the 1920s, Italians -like Saronni and Moser-  have been obsessed with chasing the rainbow jersey.

Such  was his  dominance  that  Binda  was  the  overwhelming  favourite  to  win  the Worlds, despite the presence of Girardengo and a strong team of Belgian professionals, every one of whom had won at least one Classic.

The day of the race was cold and wet. A stiff wind blew and it was not long before riders were falling off the back and retiring. Binda launched his move with around 30 kilometres to go, on the climb to Karussell. In the space of 6 kilometres he opened a gap of more than two minutes.

The race was all but over. Binda’s winning margin over Girardengo was more than seven minutes. It was a stunning display  of  power,  his  performance  head  and  shoulders  above  everybody else.

In its account of the race, the British magazine Cycling described Binda as a  ‘remarkably  improved  rider’ somewhat  overlooking  his  previous performances  and  illustrating the blinkered  view  of  the  British  specialist cycling  press of the time,  which  viewed  both  professionalism  and  massed-start  road racing on the Continent with sceptical eyes. 

Italy had dominated the race. After Binda came Girardengo, Domenico Piemontesi and Gaetano Belloni, with Aerts the first non-Italian, nearly 20 minutes behind. 

The Worlds had struck gold with arguably cycling’s biggest star claiming the jersey, essential for establishing the credibility of the race. But the  experiment  of  starting  amateurs  and  professionals together  and  running  effectively  two  races  in  one  had  not  worked.

Alfredo Binda was arguably the sport’s biggest star of the time

The incongruous sight of awarding amateur world champion status to a rider who had crossed the line fifth meant the race was dubbed a fiasco by Cycling.

But the Italians did not care. A new era had begun and in Binda they had road cycling’s first professional world champion. 

‘You can view it an exaggeration to cry for a cycling race,’ wrote Giuseppe Tonelli in La Stampa. ‘But all of us Italians present at that time felt a lump in our throats and a tear in our eyes.’

Edited extract from ‘Chasing the rainbow – the story of road cycling’s world championship’ by Giles Belbin. Published by Aurum Press