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Giro d'Italia 2012 poster commemorates Fausto Coppi and Wouter Weylandt Giro d'Italia 2012 poster (original picture by Jered Gruber)

Giro d'Italia 2012 poster commemorates Fausto Coppi and Wouter Weylandt

Jered Gruber's stunning picture of the Passo di Giau provides the backdrop...
by Simon_MacMichael
Fri, Nov 04, 2011 13:22
8

Organisers of the Giro d’Italia have unveiled the poster for next year’s race, which starts six months tomorrow. While the race gets under way in Denmark, the majestic scenery in the picture is very much Italian and commemorates two cyclists who will forever be linked with the race.

Those riders are four-time winner, Fausto Coppi, and Wouter Weylandt, the Leopard Trek rider who died following a crash on a descent on Stage 3 of this year’s race.

The Giro commemorates the legendary Italian rider known as ‘il campionissimo’ each year through designating the highest point of each year’s race as the ‘Cima Coppi’ (Coppi summit).

That honour that this year fell to the Passo di Giau near Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites, where the stunning picture on the poster was taken.

The words ‘Coppi è sempre presente’ – Coppi is always here – appear painted on the tarmac along with Weylandt’s initials and race number, 108, plus the phrase ‘Campioni non muiono MAI’ – ‘champions NEVER die.’

A lone rider sweeps through the past, trailing the Giro’s signature pink behind him.

Weylandt himself has had Stage 3 of next year’s race dedicated to him, reflecting not only the number of the stage on which he lost his life six months ago, but also the one in the 2010 race where he took his second Grand Tour win as the Giro visited the Dutch town of Middelburg, having previously won a stage of the 2008 Vuelta.

The Belgian's race number has also been permanently retired from the Giro.

Shot by photographer Jered Gruber, if the poster looks familiar it’s because a huge print of the non-retouched version was used by cycle clothing brand Castelli as the backdrop for their Castelli Café at last month’s Cycle Show in Birmingham.

You can find the official brochure for the 2012 Giro d’Italia here – be warned, it’s a big file, but if you're a fan of the race, it's definitely worth it.

Wouter Weylandt
Jered Gruber
Giro d'Italia 2012
Fausto Coppi
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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jeredgruber | 13 years ago
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Thank you so much for the kind words, everyone. It means a lot. I still can't believe all the support we're getting from everyone. I'm speechless.

I'd love to do something to support Wouter's fund. Working on figuring out how to work that out, while also trying to figure out how to get the image printed. It's a mess.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

jeredgruber [at] gmail.com

Thanks again for everything. JERED

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Simon E | 13 years ago
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Perhaps when Jered makes his first million from his work he can have the luxury of doing things solely for charity. Photography has never been a way to print money and if anything it's a tougher career choice than ever these days.

If you like the image enough then stump up and pay for it. If nothing else it allow Jered to do more of the same next year.

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Velo_Alex | 13 years ago
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Tony, I could give you a big old man-hug for that very balanced, sensitive response to the charity question.

It's worth folks knowing that the Giro d'Italia (RCS) didn't pay for the use of this image and that Jered & Ashley have had to sell bikes & equipment to make ends meet.

I'd encourage everyone to follow Jered & Ashley on Twitter (@jeredgruber @a_gruber) and to check out their Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smashred) to see more of their brilliant work.

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Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
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It's probably asking a lot for Jered to do a poster for charity Farky - that's probably one for the Giro organisers themselves to organise. I doubt he made much money from the shot so it would be good to help him get the print sales going - so once he has online print sales enabled head over to his site and buy one, see the link above in Jered's post.

Despite what people might think being a cycle racing photographer, indeed any sort of cycling photographer is not easy and not well paid, yeah there's a few big names making good money but only a few of them. For guys who are just starting out, even ones as talented as Jered, it's a tough game with hard work, dedication, and some very expensive kit all needed from the start.

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Farky | 13 years ago
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Jered, can u do a poster with funds to charity with Coppi and WW?

Would pay £20 for a decent print of that.

C'mon Giro...do good here.

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isabel | 13 years ago
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Beautiful! I don't know about the trailing pink, though... I kind of like it all in black and white...

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Karbon Kev | 13 years ago
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Would love to buy this somewhere ....

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jeredgruber replied to Karbon Kev | 13 years ago
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If you're interested in purchasing, please, just get in touch with me! jeredgruber [at] gmail.com. We're working on getting everything in order, so that we can do prints.

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