Mario Cipollini
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Mario Cipollini (born March 22, 1967) is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1989, his last in 2005; 191 victories in all) and his colourful personality. His nickname is Il Re Leone or The Lion King.
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[edit] Career
Cipollini was born in Lucca, Tuscany.
His career highlights include winning the Elite Men's Road Race of the 2002 Road World Championships, the classic Milan-Sanremo earlier the same year, and a total of 42 stages in the Giro d'Italia throughout his career. Cipollini's 42nd Giro stage win in 2003 --his last stage win in that race-- broke the previous record held by Alfredo Binda that had stood since 1933. He also won 12 stages in the Tour de France and three stages in the Vuelta a España. In the 1999 Tour de France he led the peloton on the fastest stage in the history of the Tour, averaging more than 50 km/h over 195 km. In the same edition of the Tour, he won 4 stages and set the record for the greatest number of consecutive stage wins. He has also found success in Belgium, winning the cobbled classic Gent-Wevelgem three times (1992, 1993 and 2002).
At the peak of his career, Cipollini's top speed was unrivaled, and he is often credited with being the first rider with a so-called "sprint train" built around his unique abilities. The sight of the red jerseys of his Saeco/Cannondale Team gathering at the front of the peloton toward the end of flat Grand Tour stages became commonplace in the late 1990s. The train kept the pace of the field as high as possible in the closing kilometers, both to dissuade opposing riders from attacking, and to ensure that in the final 200-300 meters, Cipollini was the only cyclist able to maintain the final speed. This concept changed the way teams approach mass sprints tactically, and bred a new generation of sprinters such as fellow Italian Alessandro Petacchi.
The beginning of 2002 saw Cipollini win the classic race Milan-Sanremo with his new Acqua-Sapone team, and later the Gent-Wevelgem race. However, another falling out with the organizers of the Tour de France made him announce his retirement. Italian national coach Franco Ballerini convinced him to return to competition, and built the Italian national team around Cipollini for the 2002 UCI World Cycling Championship. Flawless tactics and execution saw Cipollini earn the rainbow jersey as the world champion in a sprint finish in Zolder, Belgium.
In the 2003 Giro d'Italia Cipollini focused on trying to beat Alfredo Binda's record of 41 Giro stage wins while donning the world champion's jersey. His attempt was almost derailed by the emergence of fellow Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi of the Fassa Bortolo team. After many failed attempts, he finally equaled and broke the record, although he had to abandon in the next stage due to injuries sustained in a spectacular crash on a rain soaked finish. He later said that the crash had effectively ended his career. His team Domina Vacanze was again left out of the Tour de France that year, prompting a comment from Cipollini that the organizers disrespected the rainbow jersey. The 2004 Giro saw Cipollini drop out without any stage wins due to another crash, and the only time he rode the Giro without winning a stage.
[edit] Controversy
Cipollini made it no secret that he did not like climbing stages, and he infuriated many cycling purists with his habit of quietly slipping into the team car and returning to Italy after the flat stages of Grand Tours so as not to be seen struggling in the mountains.
Cipollini also became infamous for his extravagant taste in clothing, especially racing uniforms, often sporting custom-made skinsuits at high-profile cycling events. Some of his more memorable kits include a muscle suit, zebra and tiger prints, and a techno-skinsuit inspired by the 1982 movie Tron. Off of the race course, Cipollini and his Saeco squad drew attention for dressing up as ancient Romans during a rest day at the 1999 Tour de France, both to celebrate Julius Caesar's birthday and to commemorate Cipo's record 4th consecutive Tour de France stage win.
Unfortunately, these antics, though popular among fans, often violated UCI regulations, which resulted in Cipollini and his team losing thousands of swiss francs through fines (On the other hand, the muscle suit fetched 100 million lira (US$43,710) in a charity auction, nearly 100 times the fine). Some race organisers, especially Jean-Marie Leblanc (then organizer of the Tour de France), took special offence to his hijinks and he was left uninvited to the Tour from 2000-2003, despite being the reigning World Champion in the last of those years. Later in 2003, he drew the ire of the organisers of the Vuelta a España after quitting the race immediately following the prologue time trial. His team had been invited to compete only with the condition that Cipollini participate in the race. He defended himself by stating that he was recovering from injury and should not have been forced to do the race in the first place.
[edit] Lifestyle
Cipollini's powerful performances on the bike sometimes risked being eclipsed by his flamboyant manner and lifestyle off of it. His height, good looks and mane of hair earned him the nickname Lion King, and he also proudly adopted other names, including Super Mario and Mario the Magnificent. His personal wardrobe consisted of hundreds of suits, neckties and pairs of shoes, many of which he confessed had never been worn. In 2002 he was arrested for motorpacing in an Italian autostrada. Upon receiving the fine, he commented that it was the only place where he could safely get up to his top speed for training. Although he was often criticized for his antics, he responded that he helped generate a lot of coverage for his sponsors, and that it was all part of his showmanship.
Cipollini, despite being married through much of his career, was widely regarded as a sex symbol and rumored to be a womanizer, images he did little to deflect with comments like "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a porn star" [1] and "I want to die in an orgy" [2]. Rumors went so far as to say that he once stopped mid race to perform a "sex act" with a podium girl. Though likely false, these tales of sexual prowess contributed greatly to Cipollini's mystique and furthered his marketability to the point that no cyclist (outside of the ubiquitous Lance Armstrong) could even hope to approach it.
Another take on Cipollini, however, espoused by many cycling insiders and reiterated in Daniel Coyle's book Lance Armstrong's War, is that his glamorous public profile was little more than a carefully-engineered decoy. The intent was that competitors would first find themselves distracted though constant Cipollini-oriented media coverage, and then demoralized by the impression that Cipo' could party all night and beat them effortlessly the following morning. In reality, the length of Cipollini's career, the consistency with which he won, and his always impeccable physical condition suggest that he was among the most focused and hardest working riders in the peloton.
Regarding fellow cyclists Cipollini could be quite humble. After breaking Alfredo Binda's record for Giro stage wins he remarked that he would have been happy "just to polish [Binda's] shoes." Reacting to the 2004 death of the star-crossed Italian climber Marco Pantani, Cipollini said, "I am devastated. It's a tragedy of enormous proportions for everyone involved in cycling. I'm lost for words."
[edit] Retirement
After having vowed to retire several times in his career, usually in a public fit of pique, Cipollini finally made good on his promise on April 26, 2005, one week before the start of the 2005 Giro. His swan song was to participate in a ceremonial prologue of the Giro wearing a fluorescent pink skinsuit listing his 42 stage wins.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Óscar Freire |
World Road Racing Champion 2002 |
Succeeded by Igor Astarloa |
