Felice Gimondi

Felice Gimondi

Felice Gimondi in 2009
Personal information
Full name Felice Gimondi
Nickname The Phoenix
Born (1942-09-29) 29 September 1942
Sedrina, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 71 kg (157 lb)
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Classics
Role Rider
Rider type All-rounder
Professional team(s)
1965–1972 Salvarani
1973–1979 Bianchi–Campagnolo
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
General classification (1965)
7 individual stages (1965, 1967, 1969, 1975
Giro d'Italia
General classification (1967, 1969, 1976)
6 individual stages (1966, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976)
Vuelta a España
General classification (1968)
1 individual stage (1968)

Stage races

Volta a Catalunya (1972)
Tour de Romandie (1969)

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Championships (1973)
National Road Race Championships (1968, 1972)
Milan–San Remo (1974)
Paris–Roubaix (1966)
Giro di Lombardia (1966, 1973)
Grand Prix des Nations (1967, 1968)

Felice Gimondi (Italian pronunciation: [feˈliːtʃe dʒiˈmondi]; born 29 September 1942) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist (after Jacques Anquetil) to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France (1965, his first year as a pro), Giro d'Italia (1967, 1969 and 1976), and Vuelta a España (1968).[1] He remains one of only six cyclists to have done so.[2]

Biography

Gimondi at the 1966 Giro d'Italia
Gimondi at the start of the 22nd stage of the 1967 Giro d'Italia

Gimondi grew up cycling with his mother, a postal carrier who rode a bicycle to make her deliveries. In 1964 Gimondi rode the road race at the 1964 Olympic Games, where he finished in 33rd place.[3] After winning the amateur version of the Tour de France (Tour de l'Avenir), he was signed, in 1965, as a professional to the Salvarani team. With the withdrawal of another cyclist from Salvarani's Tour de France team, Gimondi was added at the last minute and went on to win the tour, becoming an Italian national hero.

In 1966, he won two of the 'Monument' Classics: Paris–Roubaix and the Giro di Lombardia. Gimondi also won the UCI World Championshipss in 1973, after placing second in 1971 and third in 1970.

In the Giro d'Italia, Gimondi holds the record for the most podium finishes: nine total, consisting of three first place wins, two second-place finishes and four third-place finishes. He is currently associated with the Bianchi bicycle manufacturer.

He failed twice to pass doping controls, first in 1968 Giro[4] and second in 1975 Tour.[5]

A major cyclosportive event is named in his honour, the Gran Fondo Felice Gimondi, held annually around Bergamo. Likewise Bianchi have named one of their high level framesets after him the "FG Lite".

Currently, Gimondi is president of the TX Active – Bianchi cycling team, specialized in MTB races.[6]

Career achievements

Major results

Source:[7]

1963
1st Giro del Friuli
1964
1st Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1965
1st Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 3, 18 (ITT) & 22 (ITT)
1966
1st Paris–Roubaix
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia
1st Paris–Brussels
1st Stage ? Tour de Romandie
1st Coppa Agostoni
1st Coppa Placci
1967
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stages 10 & 20 Tour de France
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Giro del Lazio
1st Gran Premio di Lugano
1968
1st Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 17
1st National Road Race Championships (Giro di Romagna)
1st Stage 16 (ITT) Giro d'Italia
1st Trofeo Baracchi
1st Grand Prix des Nations
1st Critérium des As
1969
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage ?
1 Stage 12 Tour de France
1st Giro dell'Appennino
1st Stage ? Paris–Luxembourg
1970
1st Trofeo Matteotti
1st Stage ? Tour de Suisse
1st Stage ? Tirreno–Adriatico
1971
1st Stages 7 & 18 Giro d'Italia
1st Giro del Piemonte
1st Grand Prix de Wallonie
1972
1st National Road Race Championships (Giro dell'Appennino)
1st Overall Volta a Catalunya
1st Gran Premio di Lugano
1st Overall Six-Days of Milan
1973
1st UCI World Road Race Championships
1st Giro di Lombardia
1st Giro del Piemonte
1 Stage 16 (ITT) Giro d'Italia
1st Trofeo Baracchi
1st Coppa Bernocchi
1st Overall Giro di Puglia
1st Stage ?
1974
1st Milan–San Remo
1st Coppa Agostoni
1975
1st Stage 10 Tour de France
1976
1st Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 21
1st Paris–Brussels
1977
1st Overall Six-Days of Milan

Grand Tour results timeline

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
Tour de France 1 DNE 7 DNE 4 DNE DNE 2 DNE DNE 5 DNE DNE DNE
Stages won 3 2 1 0 1
Mountains classification 4 4 6 NR 5
Points classification 3 5 5 6 17
Giro d'Italia 3 5 1 3 1 2 7 8 2 3 3 1 15 11
Stages won 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Mountains classification NR NR 3 NR 3 7 9 NR 4 NR NR 11 NR NR
Points classification N/A NR NR NR NR 5 3 4 3 NR 3 3 NR NR
Vuelta a España DNE DNE DNE 1 DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE
Stages won 1
Mountains classification 4
Points classification NR
Legend
1 Winner
2–3 Top three-finish
4–10 Top ten-finish
11– Other finish
DNE Did Not Enter
DNF-x Did Not Finish (retired on stage x)
DNS-x Did Not Start (no started on stage x)
DSQ Disqualified
N/A Race/classification not held
NR Not Ranked in this classification

References

  1. Felice Gimondi. Cycling Hall of Fame.
  2. Mehl, Cathy. Contador's place in history at the Wayback Machine (archived 22 January 2009). astana-cyclingteam.com
  3. Felice Gimondi. Sports reference.
  4. (in Spanish) La Vanguardia (Spanish). Hemeroteca.lavanguardia.es (18 June 1968). Retrieved on 6 August 2014.
  5. El mundo deportivo (Spanish). Hemeroteca.elmundodeportivo.es (30 July 1975). Retrieved on 6 August 2014.
  6. 2008 Official Gewiss-Bianchi Team: in pursuit of new emotions and victories at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 July 2008). bianchi.com
  7. Felice Gimondi at Cycling Archives
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