A column is defined as the main structural element of a building.
Walter Groppi, born in Piacenza in 1973, can rightly be considered a pillar of Team Equa, since he contributed to its birth and growth.
Raised on bread and sport, he won numerous roller skating competitions in the 80s, and then devoted himself to football. At 16 he bought a motorcycle, a symbol of freedom, but in 1990 he had an accident that forced him into a wheelchair.
However, thanks to the help of friends, his wife and the purchase of a “third-hand” handbike from Paolo Cecchetto, he managed to be reborn.
“I bought the bicycle to go for walks with my wife, I had been stationary for years and my body needed to adapt to the new movements. One day, during a walk with Adamo in the countryside near his home, I said to him: ‘If you don’t mind, I’ll speed up and go home’. My wife didn’t see me again for the rest of the day.”
Walter started competing with Gioco Polisportiva of Parma, and then moved on to Team Pulinet together with Cecchetto.
Meeting Paolo, Ercole Spada and Fabrizio Cornegliani was crucial, just like when Paul McCartney and John Lennon met and gave life to the Beatles.
Thus was born the great dream called Team Equa. “I was struck by how Ercole observed all of us in the handbike world with curiosity, interest and a project that was springing up in his head. It was clear that he saw within us a powerful engine, driven by enthusiasm and the will to live.”
The rest is history, with participations and victories in the Giro d’Italia, at the European Championships.