Fallen Angel

"Voted the most popular Italian sportsman of the twentieth century, Fausto Angelo Coppi was the campionissimo - champion of cycling champions. The greatest cyclist of the immediate postwar years, Coppi's scandalous divorce and controversial death convulsed Italy in the 1950s and were still making headlines half a century later." "In Fallen Angel, William Fotheringham, author of the definitive biography of Tom Simpson, tells Coppi's story for the first time for an English-speaking audience. Coppi was the first man to win cycling's great double, the Tour de France and Tour of Italy in the same year - and he did it twice. He achieved mythical status for his crushing solo victories, world titles and world records. His epic rivalry with Gino Bartali divided Italian opinion for a decade. But his significance extends far beyond his sport." "Coppi's divorce remains a landmark case in Italy's shift away from the church. In the 1950s, adultery in Italy was still a criminal offence, --