The Sansonetti Family
Cycling champions
The Sansonetti family came to Australia from Raiano, Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo in Italy in 1959. The parents Stefano and Felicina came with their children Giulia, Remo, Salvatore (Sal), Angela Maria, Renato, Achille (Arch) and Maurizio (Maurice) on the SS Sydney from Naples. They arrived in Freemantle on 1st November 1959 and then onto North Fitzroy to join a family member, Antonio Sansonetti, who sponsored them. The family settled in Reservoir.
Sal found an old frame at the Collingwood tip and built it up. Remo bought an old cheap bike from a friend in Fitzroy. The twin brothers started going to the Brunswick track and there they met a man who would encourage them to race with him. This gave the brothers a taste for racing. Remo’s first race was in 1964 at a race club and his first win was at a 50 mile handicap at Templestowe on a rainy windy day. He raced for the Preston Cycling Club. He remained with the Preston Cycling Club for the rest of his riding years.
The Sansonetti Express
The Sansonetti brothers shared their passion for riding with the Preston Cycling Club. Every Sunday they had a meet up where they would ride with club members and national champions from Bundoora across Melbourne. This started was affectionately called the Sansonetti Express. They also frequently rode at the Oakover Rd track and the TW Andrews Reserve Reservoir.
Achievements
The Sansonetti brothers all had a career in cycling that took them all over the world. Arche’s first race was the Echuca to Kerang 70-mile handicap. He was later picked in the Victorian team for the team's time trial. He won the national title on two occasions. Maurice turned professional and rode The Herald Sun Tour. In 1970 Remo and Sal won the Melbourne six-day race and then they won six races in Milan. In 1971 Remo and Sal joined the Molteni amateur team and then make it into the national Italian team for the World Championships. In 1974, 1975 and 1975 all brothers rode the Tour of the North in Northern Tasmania.
In 1974 Remo won bronze in the road race at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. In 1976 and the Montreal Olympics he finished thirty second. Remo and Sal carried the Australian flag at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. At these games Remo fell off the bike but still managed to help Phil Anderson win gold. Remo rode in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, where his team got silver. The Brisbane Commonwealth Games was Remo’s last race.
Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1954. Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia, Passenger Lists, 1897-1963 Sands and McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1864- 1974. [Microfiche]. (1974). Melbourne, Australia: Sands & McDougall. The Sansonetti Brothers. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.licoricegallery.com/index.php/sansonetti Twins carry flag for Australia (1978, July 31). The Canberra Times, p. 15