Thief returns stolen Bianchi bike raced by Fausto Coppi after owner makes emotional appeal

A bike ridden by Fausto Coppi has been returned to a museum it was stolen from on Monday after its 81-year-old owner made an emotional appeal for the thief to give it back.

Coppi rode the Bianchi bike at the 1949 edition of Paris-Roubaix – a race in which his younger brother Serse, who would die two years later, achieved the biggest success of his career, being declared joint winner in a dead heat with the French rider, André Mahé.

The bike was among 130 on display at the 18th Century Villa Farsetti in Santa Maria di Sala, a small town around 15 kilometres from Venice that will host the finish of Stage 18 of this year’s Giro d’Italia.

It belongs to 81-year-old Bruno Carraro, who among other things is honorary president of the Gruppo Sportivo Madonna del Ghisallo and a long time race organiser who is heading up the local organising committee for the Giro d’Italia’s visit.

The bicycle disappeared on Monday afternoon, and according to a report by the Corriere della Sera, Carraro burst out crying when he noticed it was gone.

He had been bequeathed it by a friend who died in 2015 who had received it from Coppi himself, and it is one of just four ridden by il Campionissimo known to be in existence.

Carraro’s appeal for the return of the bike quickly went viral on social media and on Tuesday evening it was found abandoned on a grass verge by the entrance to the Villa Farsetti, to his evident relief.