Michele Bartoli

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**Michele Bartoli**
Personal information

Full name	Michele Bartoli
Date of birth	May 27, 1970
Country	Italy
Team information
Current team	Retired
Professional team(s)
1992-1995 1996-1997 1998 1999-2001 2002-2003 2004	Mercatone Uno MG-Technogym Asics Quick Step Fassa Bortolo Team CSC
Major wins
2 stages Giro d'Italia 1x Tirreno-Adriatico 2x Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2x Giro di Lombardia 1x Ronde van Vlaanderen 2x UCI World Cup 1x Amstel Gold Race 1x Züri-Metzgete 1x GP Ouest-France 1x La Flèche Wallonne

Michele Bartoli (born May 27, 1970 in Pisa, Italy) is a retired Italian road cyclist. He was a single-day race specialist, and was a 2-time champion of the Union Cycliste Internationale World Cup series.

He turned professional in 1992 with the Mercatone Uno team and in 1995 moved to the MG-Technogym team of Giancarlo Ferretti. After a brief stint with the Asics team in 1998 he joined the Italian super-squad Mapei from 1999 to 2001.

Bartoli was injured for some time, during which a feud with his former super-domestique Paolo Bettini started as Bettini started to rise to prominence with important wins and wanted a leadership role. The feud culminated in the 2001 World Cycling Championship during which the two refused to collaborate and allowed Freire of Spain to win the world title. He left Mapei to re-join Ferretti at the Fassa-Bortolo squad for 2002-2003. He retired at the end of the 2004 season with the CSC squad, citing lack of motivation.

Bartoli is widely considered to be the most complete classics rider in recent years. He has won a wide variety of classics, starting with the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Omloop "Het Volk" cobbled races in 1996 and 2001 respectively, and hilly races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1997 and 1998, HEW Cyclassics in 1997, Züri-Metzgete in 1998, La Flèche Wallonne in 1999, and the Amstel Gold Race in 2002. He won the Giro di Lombardia twice in a row in 2002 and 2003.

In addition, he was the Italian national champion in 2000, and has won several short stage races such as the Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour de Reggio Calabria and Trois Jours de la Panne.

One notable omission from his list of victories in the UCI World Cycling Championship, although he has made several notable attempts.

[edit] Teams and selected palmares

1992 - Mercatone Uno

1993 - Mercatone Uno

1994 - Mercatone Uno
- Freccia del Brabante
- GP Cerami
- 1 stage, Giro d'Italia
- Criterium d'Abruzzo

1995 - Mercatone Uno
- 1 stage, Three Days of the Panne

1996 - MG Technogym
- Giro di Reggio Calabria + 1 stage
- 1 stage, Tirreno-Adriatico
- Ronde van Vlaanderen (World Cup)
- Giro del L'Emilia

1997 - MG Technogym
- 1 stage, Tour de Mediterranèe
- 1 stage, Tirreno-Adriatico
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège (World Cup)
- Overall, UCI World Cup

1998 - Asics CGA
- 2 stages, Tour de Mediterranèe
- 1 stage, Giro di Calabria
- Giro di Reggio Calabria
- Three Days of the Panne
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège (World Cup)
- 1 stage, Giro d'Italia
- Züri-Metzgete (World Cup)
- Overall, UCI World Cup