Francesco Moser

Francesco Moser
Personal information
Nickname Checco
Born 19 June 1951
Palù di Giovo, Italy
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Road, track
Role Rider
Rider type Time-Trialist/Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1975 Filotex
1976-1977 Sanson
1977-1982 Famcucine
1983-1985 GIS
1986 Supermercati
1987 Brianzoli
1988 Château d'Ax
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
2 stages (1975)
Giro d'Italia
General Classification (1984)
Points Classification (1976, 1977, 1978, 1982)
23 stages

Stage races

Volta a Catalunya
General classification (1978)
Tirreno–Adriatico
General classification (1980, 1981)

One-day races and Classics

Road Race World Championships (1977)
Italian National Road Race Championship (1975, 1979, 1981)
Milan – San Remo (1984)
Paris-Tours (1974)
Paris–Roubaix (1978, 1979, 1980)
Gent–Wevelgem (1979)
Giro di Lombardia (1975, 1978)
La Flèche Wallonne (1977)
Züri-Metzgete (1977)
Infobox last updated on
April 28, 2008

Francesco Moser (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmɔːzer] or [moˈzɛr]; German pronunciation: [ˈmoːzɐ];[1] born 19 June 1951 in Palù di Giovo, Trentino), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer.

Moser was dominant from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s and won the 1984 Giro d'Italia, the 1977 world road racing championship and six times in three of the five classics. He turned professional in 1973, showing a stylish pedaling style. But his powerful build meant he wasn’t a gifted climber. His 273 road victories puts him behind Eddy Merckx (525) and Rik Van Looy (379), but ahead of Rik Van Steenbergen (270) and Roger De Vlaeminck (255). He was also an accomplished track rider, riding up to six Six-Day races almost each winter throughout his career. He rode 35, 14 of which with René Pijnen, winning 15. A nephew Moreno Moser (born 25 December 1990) is an Italian professional racer.

Palmarés

Classic races

After finishing second in 1974 behind Roger De Vlaeminck and in 1976 behind Marc Demeyer of Belgium, Moser finally won Paris–Roubaix, his favorite race, three consecutive times. Moser had seven podium finishes in Paris–Roubaix; only De Vlaeminck, with nine, has more. In 1978, he beat De Vlaeminck and Jan Raas of the Netherlands; in 1979, he beat De Vlaeminck and Hennie Kuiper of the Netherlands; and in 1980, he beat Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle of France and the German, Dietrich Thurau. Moser came in third in 1981 behind Bernard Hinault and Roger De Vlaeminck, and was also third in 1983 behind Hennie Kuiper and Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. He rode Paris–Roubaix in his final season as a cyclist in 1987. Other victories include the 1975 and 1978 Giro di Lombardia and the 1984 Milan – San Remo.

Other classics

Moser won the 1974 Paris–Tours, the 1977 Züri-Metzgete, the 1979 Gent–Wevelgem, and the 1977 Flèche Wallonne.

Grand Tours

Moser had some success in the three-week grand tours. He rode the Tour de France in 1975, and although he won two stages, led the race for seven days and won the young rider competition, he never rode the Tour again; the mountains did not suit him. However, he won the 1984 Giro d'Italia, in front of Laurent Fignon of France and Moreno Argentin of Italy. Taking advantage of an unusually flat course, Moser used time-trialing ability to overcome what others had gained in the mountains. He also won the points classification in the Giro d'Italia in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1982.

Other accomplishments

He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[2]

Moser won the 1977 world road racing championship in San Cristobal, Venezuela, in front of Thurau and Franco Bitossi. Moser was also silver medallist in 1976, behind Freddy Maertens of Belgium and second in 1978 to Gerrie Knetemann of the Netherlands.

On 19 January 1984, in Mexico City, Moser broke the 1972 hour record of Eddy Merckx. He rode 50.808 kilometers, on an aerodynamic bike with full disc wheels more advanced than the conventional bike Merckx used in 1972. As a result, in 1997 the Union Cycliste Internationale banned hour records set on bikes featuring technological advantages.[3] Under the new rules, Merckx's record wasn't broken until 2000. Moser auctioned his bicycle to benefit UNICEF.

In 1999, he admitted using blood doping in breaking the record, helped by sports doctor Francesco Conconi; his actions were not illegal at the time.[3] The 1984 record stood for more than nine years and Moser's ride brought aerodynamic technology to cycling. Moser retired in 1987.

Rivalries

Moser's biggest rival was Giuseppe Saronni.

After cycling

Moser has since 1999 been chairman of the Cyclistes Professionels Associés, CPA, founded 19 May, after the 1999 Giro d'Italia. The CPA is a union for professional riders of TT/I and TT/II league of teams (now UCI ProTeams and UCI Professional Continental Teams, respectively).

Career highlights

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Pink jersey Giro 15 7 - 4 2 3 2 WD 21 8 WD 1 2 3
Yellow jersey Tour - - 7 - - - - - - - - - - -
red jersey Vuelta - - - - - - - - - - - 10 - -

WD = Withdrew

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ (Italian) Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia
  2. ↑ "Francesco Moser Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Clemitson, Suze (19 September 2014). "Why Jens Voigt and a new group of cyclists want to break the Hour record". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2014.