Giulia Occhini

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Giulia Occhini (23 July 1922 – 6 January 1993), known as "La Dama Bianca" (“The White Lady”), was the lover of champion cyclist Fausto Coppi in a scandalous extramarital affair of the 1950s. Given Coppi’s high profile, this affair led to the shift in attitudes among the Christian Democrats in Italy towards the moral and legal aspects of adultery. At the time in Italy, divorce was not permitted and adultery was still a crime. Occhini herself was tried for abandoning her marriage. Her story became emblematic of the conformist and repressive climate of that period. Her nickname originated after the 1954 St. Moritz stage of the Giro d'Italia, when Pierre Chany, a journalist with L'Équipe, wrote: "We would like to know more about that lady in white (dame en blanc) we saw near Coppi,” referring to the snow-coloured duffel coat she wore.