The Moser family is in mourning after the patriarch, Aldo, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and died at age 86 of a serious respiratory illness.

The Moser family is considered the most successful dynasty in cycling. Only 525 people live in Palu di Giovo, in the hills east of Trento, but the village is home to four Giro d'Italia Maria Rosa wearers: Aldo, Francesco, Enzo, and Gilberto Simoni, who rule the hills like vines, The Moser family and their family roots are intertwined.

Aldo is the eldest of 12 siblings; the other three brothers were professional athletes in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Their children, Leonardo, Ignazio, and Moreno, also raced professionally, but not as long as their father and uncles.

Aldo Moser, born in 1934, began cycling as a boy delivering bread around the valley; he raced with Fausto Coppi in the 1950s and his career lasted from 1954 to 1973. He competed in the Giro d'Italia 16 times, finishing sixth in 1955 and fifth in 1956, winning the Maria Rosa in 1958 and again in 1971.

At the 1965 Giro d'Italia, he was famously photographed climbing through the snow, surviving the legendary stage over Bondone won by Charles Gaulle in a snow storm in 1956, saying: "My hands were like blocks of ice, I felt nothing. He stopped to have his hands massaged, but kept riding while more than half of the peloton abandoned the Giro.

Francesco Moser had the most successful career of his family, winning 273 races, including the 1984 Giro d'Italia, the 1977 World Championships, and three Paris-Roubaix races. He also broke Eddy Merckx's hour record in 1984 using aerobars and disc wheels.

However, it was his brother Aldo who bought him his first bike and pushed him to start racing.

"I grew up idolizing him," Francesco Moser told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Without him, I would never have been a good rider. He pushed me to race. He had a good result in the 1969 Giro and convinced me to race. He gave me a bike called Gbc from his team."

"When I moved to Tiuskany in 1973 to race for the Philotex team, he raced with me. He could have retired, but he kept racing to help me. Diego was there too, and Enzo was the director sportif"

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"He had not been feeling well lately. He had a heart problem and was wearing a pacemaker. But we walked with him on Monday when he had his COVID-19 test. Sadly, we were unable to visit him in the hospital."