Carlo Paiola was an Italian Olympic cyclist who migrated to Australia in 1960. He still lives in Wollongong but very few people outside of the cycling fraternity know of Carlo’s accomplishments and capacity for winning races.

Carlo was born in 1935 in Lendinara a small town in the province of Rovigo, just south of Padua in Northern Italy. Cycling was a common form of transport as well as a popular sport in Northern Italy in the years when Carlo grew up. However, it wasn’t until Carlo won his first race and became the champion cyclist of the province of Rovigo, that his passion for cycling really took off.

While Carlo was racing in Rovigo, he caught the eye of a ‘scout’ for the cycling manufacturer ‘Bianchi’ and was encouraged to join and train as part of the Bianchi racing team.

The Bianchi team trained champions and Carlo didn’t disappoint. It was in 1952 that as a dilettante Carlo became the Italian titleholder for fifteen of sixteen track races conducted in cities across Italy including Florence, Milan, Padua, Bologna, Ferrara, and Rovigo. But he was also a champion of the road where he came in the top three in six of eight road races he participated in of between 80 to 130 kilometres.

In 1953 Carlo repeated his success on the track and road. In that year he competed in fifteen track races coming in the top four finishers in fourteen of these races and in the top eight of the fifteen road races he competed in.

While he was racing he competed against renowned international cycling champions such as Fausto Coppi, Antonio Maspes, Leandro Faggin, Enzo Sacchi, Marino Morettini, Cesare Pinarello and Australia’s Sid Patterson. 

Giancarlo Paiola was their peer and a formidable competitor, having been selected for the Italian Olympic cycling team for the Helsinki summer games in 1952. He travelled with the team to Helsinki and after participating in the trials was selected for the finals. However, luck was not on his side. Carlo developed a tooth abscess the day before the finals and the medical team had to withdraw him from the final race.  

When he settled in Australia, Carlo continued to ride as an amateur and a professional. He joined many cycling clubs including the Wollongong and Marconi cycle clubs where he continued to win races on the track and road. Carlo became comfortable with his adopted Australian landscape winning the Canberra, Mudgee, Sydney, Foster, Port Macquarie and Surfers Paradise open road races, amongst many other individual and team pursuits. In 1992 Carlo represented Australia in the Veteran Olympics in Italy and won gold.

Carlo is now in his late 80s and continues to ride his bike three to four times per week, receiving waves of respect from his compatriot riders as he makes his way up and back to Stanwell Park. When he comes home he hangs his bike in his garage where it clinks against all the medals and trophies he stores there.