Paolo Bettini

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Paolo Bettini

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image_caption = Paolo Bettini in 2007
fullname = Paolo Bettini
nickname = Grillo
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|4|1
country = ITA
height = height|m=1.69
weight = convert|58|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
currentteam = Quick Step
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Classics specialist/Sprinter
proyears = 1997
1998
1999–2002
2003–
proteams = MG-Technogym
Asics
Mapei
Quick Step
majorwins = Olympic Games Road Race (2004)
flagiconUCI UCI Road World Cup (2002, 2003, 2004)
flagicon|ITA Italian Road Race Champion (2003, 2006)
Tour de France, 1 stage
Giro d'Italia, 2 stages
Vuelta a España, 5 stage
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2000, 2002)
Züri-Metzgete (2001, 2005)
Milano-Sanremo (2003)
Tirreno-Adriatico (2004)
Giro di Lombardia (2005, 2006)
Clásica de San Sebastián (2003)
HEW Cyclassics (2003)
updated = September 11, 2008
medaltemplates =

Paolo Bettini (born April 1, 1974 in Cecina, Livorno, Tuscany) is an Italian champion road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Quick Step. He won gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the 2006 and 2007 World Road Race Championships. He won the UCI Road World Cup series three times in succession, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and has also won stages of the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España. He finished in 9th place at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.

He is nicknamed "Il Grillo" ("The Cricket") for his propensity to attack repeatedly, and for his sprinting style.

Career

He first gained prominence by winning the prestigious classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège race for the now-defunct Mapei team in 2000 and again in 2002. In 2001 he won the Züri-Metzgete for the first time. He set the record for the most number of World Cup race wins in a single season in 2003, by winning the Milan-Sanremo, HEW Cyclassics and Clásica de San Sebastián.

Early career

Bettini started his career as a domestique to classics star Michele Bartoli. However, Bartoli's injury and Bettini's wins in several key races meant that he was given more latitude to race for himself. Bettini won the 2000 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a flat stage of the 2000 Tour de France from Agen to Dax near the Pyrenees, barely edging out the charging peloton. The next year he won the 2001 Züri-Metzgete after a few months lacking any wins. Having made his way into the winning breakaway, he beat the favorite Jan Ullrich in the finale of the race by using his acceleration to jump away from Ullrich in the sprint to the finish. His worsening feud with Bartoli culminated in the 2001 World Cycling Championship in Lisbon, Portugal, where even though he was in the final breakaway with Bartoli, the latter refused Bettini's request to lead him out in the sprint finish, thus allowing Spaniard Freire to win the race.

2002 World Cup and race season

Having been the trusted domestique of Michele Bartoli in previous years, the 2002 season was a breakthrough season for Bettini with the departure of both Bartoli and Museeuw from the Mapei team. Bettini started his World Cup campaign with an aggressive ride in the finale of Milan-Sanremo, but he was caught in the final kilometers of the race. After his 1-2 win with Stefano Garzelli in Liège-Bastogne-Liège where both riders displayed brilliant tactical riding for their team Mapei, Paolo ran neck-to-neck against contender Johan Museeuw, who won the Paris-Roubaix in a 50-km solo breakaway, and the HEW Cyclassics. A tactical ride in Giro di Lombardia earned Bettini the World Cup.

Paolo Bettini played a strong support role in Mario Cipollini's victory in the UCI Road Cycling World Championship in Zolder, Belgium.

2003 World Cup and race season

The 2003 World Cup series started with Bettini's daredevil ride in winning the opener Milan-Sanremo. Attacking twice in the last hills leading down to the Primavera, Bettini had the excellent help of his super-domestique Luca Paolini, who attacked down the tricky descent towards the finish.

However, injury sustained in the Gent-Wevelgem forced Bettini to miss several races until the Tour de France in July. [ [http://www.bike-zone.com/news/?id=2003/apr03/apr15news Bettini to miss classics, April 15, 2003 cyclingnews.com] ] He then followed through with a charismatic win in the HEW Cyclassics in front of Tour de France runner-up Jan Ullrich, and a win in the Clásica de San Sebastián.

Unfortunately Paolo Bettini failed to win the UCI Road Cycling World Championship despite being the overall favorite, due to a tactical mistake at the end of the race. Having established himself in the winning breakaway with Spaniard Igor Astarloa, a moment's hesitation allowed Astarloa to break away to the finish to win the race. At the end of the race Astarloa claimed that Bettini had offered him money to relinquish the win, which Astarloa said he refused. A feud ensued, and Astarloa has since attributed his comment to a misunderstanding between his Spanish and Bettini's Italian [ [http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=5050 On Astarloa, Bettini and the ... bribe farce - dailypeloton.com ] ] .

2004 World Cup and race season

The 2004 season started well with his performance in the Milan-Sanremo, but saw an emergent Davide Rebellin win the triplet of La Flèche Wallonne (not in the World Cup), Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Amstel Gold Race. Bettini's disappointments only continue with second-place finishes in the HEW Cyclassics which he had won previously, and again in the Clásica de San Sebastián, again which he had won only last year. The points gained in Paris-Tours - usually a pure sprinters race - was enough to put him in the World Cup leader's jersey, but with the last race the Giro di Lombardia better suited to Rebellin's riding style, the World Cup was not yet safe.

However, despite the absence of Luca Paolini due to injury - which meant the loss of a native of the race circuit - Bettini managed to follow Rebellin throughout the race and control his climbing, resulting in Rebellin quitting in frustration.

Paolo's most important victory was in the 2004 Summer Olympics which saw him break away with only one other rider in the final laps and sprinting for a comfortable margin of victory. Unfortunately, he yet again failed to win the UCI Road Cycling World Championship due to a knee injury when he banged his knee against the team car at the beginning of the race.

2005 UCI ProTour and race season

After participating in the Milan-Sanremo, Bettini had an injury-marked season start which prevented him from having any significant participation in the spring classics, and he didn't get any victories until he got two stage wins at the 2005 Giro d'Italia, where he also donned the "maglia rosa" for several days. After that, he didn't get any more good results until the 2005 Vuelta a España, where he beat Alessandro Petacchi in an uphill sprint in Valladolid. After that, he took part in the Cycling World Championship in Madrid, where he got into the decisive break but, once again, he could not win and did not even get a medal. However, one week later, Bettini won the Züri-Metzgete for a second time in his career. Capitalizing on his form, two weeks following Zürich he won the last classic of the season the Giro di Lombardia as well.

2006 UCI ProTour and race season

Bettini won the first race of the season after winning the "Trofeo Soller" race, which is part of the Challenge Mallorca. He also won the Gran Premio di Lugano, two stages in the the Tirreno-Adriatico and the 15th stage in the Giro d'Italia, where he also won the Points classification (maglia ciclamino). Following the Giro he became the Italian National Road Race Champion and won a stage at the Vuelta a España before going on to capture the world champion's jersey at the Road World Championships.

When his brother Sauro died in a car accident a few days after that victory, Bettini was on the verge of abandoning professional cycling. However he changed his mind and soon afterwards won the Giro di Lombardia classic, in tears.

On March 2, 2007, "Velo" magazine awarded Bettini the prestigious Velo d'Or award as the best cyclist for 2006. [http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/11803.0.html Velonews.com EuroFile]

2007 UCI ProTour and race season

Bettini raced in the second annual 2.HC-rated 2007 Tour of California and made it worth his while by capturing Stage 4 in a sprint finish. He later won the third stage of the Vuelta a España and finished second in three more stages. Then he won once again the rainbow jersey of the Elite Men's Road at Stuttgart.

2008 season

Bettini's start of the season was plagued by a series of injuries, including a fall at the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and fractured a rib when he fell on a wet descent in the Vuelta al País Vasco. [ [http://www.velonews.com/article/74576/paulo-bettini-breaks-a-rib-in-pais-vasco-crash VeloNews - Paolo Bettini breaks a rib in Pais Vasco crash - April 12, 2008.] ] He wasn't able to win a stage at the Giro d'Italia but later won the Trofeo Matteoti and stages at the Österreich Rundfahrt and Tour de Wallonie. He also won two stages at the Vuelta a España, where he announced he was leaving Quick Step after 10 years due to a financial dispute. [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008//vuelta08/?id=results/vuelta0812 Stage 12 - September 11: Burgos - Suances, www.cyclingnews.com] ] On September 27th, he annonced his retirement [ [http://www.bicycle.net/2008/italian-cycling-legend-paolo-bettini-announces-his-retirement-after-title-defence Italian Cycling Legend Paolo Bettini Announces His Retirement After Title Defence] ] .

Palmarès

* Winner (2007)
* Winner (2006)
* )
* Season Champion – UCI Road World Cup (2002, 2003, 2004)
* Italian National Road Race Championship (2003, 2006)
* 1 stage win – 2000 Tour de France
* 1 stage win – 2006 Giro d'Italia
** " points classification (Final)
* 1 stage win – 2005 Giro d'Italia
** " – points classification (Final)
** " – general classification (after Stages 1, 3, 4 and 6)
* 2 stage win – 2008 Vuelta a España
* 1 stage win – 2007 Vuelta a España
* 1 stage win – 2006 Vuelta a España
* 1 stage win – 2005 Vuelta a España
* Milan-Sanremo (2003)
* Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2000, 2002)
* Giro di Lombardia (2005, 2006)
* Clásica de San Sebastián (2003)
* HEW Cyclassics Cup (2003)
* Züri-Metzgete (2001, 2005)
* 1 stage win – 2004 Tour de Suisse
* 1 stage win – 1998 Tour de Romandie
* 2 stage wins – 2006 Tirreno-Adriatico
* Overall and 2 stage wins – 2004 Tirreno-Adriatico
* 1 stage win – 2002 Tirreno-Adriatico
* 1 stage win – 1999 Tirreno-Adriatico
* Overall and Points classification – Tour Méditerranéen (2003)
* 1 stage win – 2007 Tour of California
* Tour de Wallonie (2002)
* Tour du Latium (2002)
* Tour de la province de Lucques (1999)
* Memorial Cecchi Gori (2000)
* Tour de la Riviera Ligure (2002)
* Gran Premio di Lugano (2006)
* Vuelta a Mallorca Trofeo Sóller (2006)
* Gran Premio Città di Camaiore (2004)
* Giglio d'Oro (2004)
* Mendrisio d'Or award (2003)
* Coppa Sabatini (2002)
* Coppa Placci (2001)
* Championship of Tuscany (amateur) (1999)
* Hofbrau Cup - Team Time Trial (1997)

External links

* [http://www.clubpaolobettini.it/ Paolo Bettini's official website]

References

Persondata
NAME= Bettini, Paolo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1974-04-01
PLACE OF BIRTH=Cecina, Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=