Fiorenzo Magni, a former Giro d’Italia champion and three-time consecutive winner of the Tour of Flanders, died yesterday, Italian media reported.

He was 91.

Magni, who won the Giro d’Italia in 1948, 1951 and 1955, was also a three-time Italian champion who became known as the “third man” in a golden era of Italian cycling dominated by the rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali.

Although known for his individual sporting exploits, including winning the Tour of Flanders in 1949, 1950 and 1951, Magni is also associated with a notable episode on the 1950 Tour de France.

Magni famously walked out of that year’s edition while wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey to support a Bartali-led revolt after the Italian great had been assaulted by French fans on a stage from Pau to Saint Gaudens in the Pyrenees.

Magni, who ended his career in 1956, went on to own a car dealership near Milan but is still recognised as one of Italy’s greatest riders of the post-war period.

Only last week a book about Magni was given pride of place at the Italian Olympic Committee’s (Coni) Hall of Fame.