I used to have not one but two boards for this game, and I did not even know its title since I had nothing else (no box, no rules, no counters) except an incomplete set of mysterious oversized cardboard cyclists, the function of which in the game was impossible to guess (see below). I provisionally labelled the game "Velodromo", and so it remained on this website for almost two decades. With this box, another gem from François Cardinet's collection, the problem is solved.

Or maybe I should say that at least part of the problem is solved, since games by Edizione Cicogna seem to raise more questions than they answer.

 

 

The problem I have now is that the pre-war-looking cyclists depicted on the board do not match the obviously post-war plastic cyclists found in the game. Of course, a game cannot be older than the most recent of its components (technically this is called a date "post quem"); this game cannot have been made before its cyclists, and these were not made before the end of the 1950s (or maybe even later).

However, if you compare the board to that of this other Cicogna game, you will see that the one we have here is obviously earlier (and that other game is dated quite precisely). No wonder that, when I just had the board(s), I thought the game was made in the 1930s.

 

Here are the contents of the box: Just a tri-folded board, eight riders, two dice, and a set of eight cards supposedly matching the riders' colours. By the way, the box measures 44 x 29 x 3 cm, the open board is 58 x 42 cm, and the cyclists are 45 mm long.

 

The rules, pasted below the box lid, are also those of an older game. They are very simple. We expect somewhat more elaborate rules in a post-war game (compare to the Velodromo rules to see what I mean) unless, of course, the game is meant for young children. However, the game aesthetics are not those of a childrens' game, so, again, something is not quite right here.

Incidentally, before I had the rules, I filed this game under "track cycling games", not because I thought it represented a track cycling race but just because the track depicted on the board was oval, and never bothered to move it to another list despite the obvious signs that it was not a track cycling game. I guess I cared less about those distinctions back then.
 

 

According to the rules, the riders are numbered and the starting order is determined by the number on the rider. Players draw the coloured cards before the game to find out which cyclist (or cyclists) they play with. While this may look well in theory, there are two important drawbacks. The first and more obvious is that this just applies to the first game turn; after that the player ahead moves first, as in many other cycling games.

The second problem is that the riders found on this copy of the game do not exactly match the colours on the cards (on the picture above is my best try to match them), and, more tellingly, they are not even numbered. It is quite obvious to me that these riders were not originally meant for the game and have been added later. However, I do not think this was made by a former owner of the game, but it was possibly the way the game was released at some point.

My guess, until I am proven wrong, is that Edizioni Cicogna tended to recycle its game components onto new games/editions over the years, creating some Frankengames in the process, as is the case of this game. This would also explain why there are two different "Velodromo Cicogna" games with the same box (here is the second one).

 

Of course, if you forget about the datation incongruence, the theoretical issues, AND the coloured cards, the game is still playable (even enjoyable) as a simple roll-and-move game. Here is the peloton after the first move.

 

Grouped bunch.

Two riders in a breakaway

A close-up.

Left: Tri-folded board with a blue background, the one actually found in the game box described above.
Right: Two-fold board with a blue background, possibly from a somewhhat bigger box.
Centre: Tri-folded board with a red background, possibly from the 1930s.

 

As I said above, before François found the boxed version of this game, I just had two boards, one with a blue background, quite similar to the one present in the box, only two-folded, and another with a red background, which is quite obviously older. While the three boards are roughly the same size, the two-folded board does not fit (by just a few millimetres) in the box, which makes me think there was at least another edition of the game with a somewhat bigger box (and possibly numbered cyclists that did match the colours on the cards).

 

 

When I first received the board with the red background, it included seven mysterious cardboard riders (there should have been at least eight since they are numbered 1-8, missing number 6). They did not look like they were meant to be mounted on stands, being obviously too big (8 cm long, they would have been very unstable) and one-sided (the back is blank). It was hard to image them as game pieces. However, the style of the drawings was unmistakably consistent with that of the board, so they were obviously related to the game; I just did not know how.

 

At least this part of the mystery might be solved. These riders must be the equivalent to the coloured cards found in the game box. My bet is that there was a 1930s version of the game, with the red-backgrounded board, these cycling-shaped cards, and matching (either by the number or by the jersey colours) cycling figurines. Needless to say, any information to confirm or deny my guess will be welcome.

Roll only one die on the next turn.

 

The first two riders who reach or pass that point share the mountain price.

Miss one turn.

The first two riders who reach or pass the "premio da velocita" square share the sprint price.
On puncture (foratura), miss one turn (unlike the previous puncture square; that's unexpected).

Ouch! Quit the race.

Pay a penalty to add to the finish line pot.

Miss two turns.

Quit the race.

That's cheating! Pay a penalty and quit the race.

The finish line pot is shared by the two first riders to cross the line.
And of course this was never a track cycling game.
 

Compare the Edizioni Cicogna logos on the red and blue boards. Both blue boards have the same logo.
(You can see another "Creazioni Cicogna" stork at the bottom of this page).