Great pic.
Definitely not a full sloping fork crown. Looks like FB or Campagnolo high flange hubs, not Record. Stronglight cranks? And most interestingly, center pulls in 1960, on both bikes. Perhaps Mafacs on Kapitonov's bike, but no self-respecting Italian like Trape would have French brakes.
(although his cranks look like TA)
Can you (or other experts on this forum) explain to me how exactly was Kapitonov's bike different (presumably worse) than Trape's?
From what I'm seeing on the photo above, the frame geometry looks very similar on both bikes.
Kapitonov's bike gets commonly labeled as a touring (or a "postman's") bike in Russian sports history literature. However, I'm not getting to this conclusion by looking at the bike's photo, as Kapitonov's rig looks like a top notch racing bike for the time (1960).
It seems that Trape may have had better components, so I think of it (using a modern day analogy) as him riding a bike with a Dura-Ace groupset, whilst Kapitonov had one equipped with Ultegra. Is my analogy correct? Better groupset/components wouldn't guarantee a victory, especially in a 100-mile race in the 100+ degree heat.
Appreciate your insights.