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 Cipollini at the1993 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Cipollini | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Il Re Leone (The Lion King) Super Mario Cipo Mooie Mario (Pretty Mario) Mousselini[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1967-03-22)22 March 1967 (age 58) Lucca, Italy | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft2+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb; 12 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Sprinter | ||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Del Tongo | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | GB-MG | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Mercatone Uno–Medeghini | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2001 | Saeco–AS Juvenes San Marino | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Acqua & Sapone–Cantina Tollo | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Domina Vacanze | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Liquigas–Bianchi | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Rock Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
Other
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Medal record
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Mario Cipollini (Italian pronunciation:[ˈmaːrjotʃipolˈliːni]; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated toCipo, is a retired Italian professionalroad cyclist most noted for hissprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 professional wins, 192 including criteriums), and his colourful personality. His nicknames includeIl Re Leone (The Lion King) andSuper Mario. He is regarded as having been the best sprinter of his generation.
His career highlights include theRoad World Championships andMilan–San Remo in 2002, and 42 stages in theGiro d'Italia. He also won 12 stages in theTour de France and three stages in theVuelta a España.
Cipollini was born inSan Giusto di Compito, surrounded by the mountains ofCapannori south ofLucca,Tuscany.[2] He came from a cycling family – his father, Vivaldo, had been a successful amateur racer in his youth, whilst his brotherCesare had raced as a professional and his sister Tiziana had also competed as a cyclist. Mario was a prolific winner in his youth career, scoring a total of 125 victories in age-group and amateur races before joining the professional peloton in 1989.[1]
In the1999 Tour de France, he led the peloton on the fastest stage in the history of the Tour, averaging more than 50 km/h over 194.5 km.[3] In the same Tour, he won 4 stages in a row, setting the post-World War II record for consecutive stage wins. He has also found success in Belgium, winningGent–Wevelgem in 1992, 1993 and 2002 (record).
At the peak of his career, Cipollini's speed was unrivalled, and he is credited with being the first rider with asprint train. The red jerseys of hisSaeco team, featuring team-mates such asPaolo Fornaciari,Giuseppe Calcaterra,Gian Matteo Fagnini andMario Scirea,[1] were commonly seen at the front of thepeloton toward the end of the flatGrand Tour stages in the late 1990s. The train kept the pace high in the closing kilometres, to dissuade opposing riders from attacking and to ensure that in the final 200–300 metres, Cipollini was the only cyclist able to maintain the speed. This changed the way teams approached mass sprints and bred a new generation of sprinters, such as fellow ItalianAlessandro Petacchi.
The beginning of 2002 saw Cipollini winMilan–San Remo with his newAcqua-Sapone–Cantina Tollo team, and laterGent–Wevelgem. However, a falling-out with the organisers of the Tour de France made him announce his retirement. Italian national coachFranco Ballerini convinced him to return to competition, and built the Italian national team around Cipollini for the2002 UCI Road World Championships. Cipollini won therainbow jersey in a sprint finish in Zolder, Belgium.
In the2003 Giro d'Italia, Cipollini focused onAlfredo Binda's record 41 Giro stage wins while in the world champion's jersey. His attempt was almost derailed by Alessandro Petacchi of theFassa Bortolo team. After many failed attempts, he finally broke the record, although he had to abandon the next stage due to injuries in a crash on a rain-soaked finish. He said that the crash ended his career. His team,Domina Vacanze–Elitron, was left out of the Tour de France that year, prompting a comment from Cipollini that the organisers disrespected the rainbow jersey.
When he retired from the2004 Giro due to another crash, it was the only time he entered the Giro without winning a single stage.
In 2008, he returned to competitive cycling with theRock Racing team at theTour of California.
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 26 April 2005, one week before the start of the2005 Giro. His swan song was to participate in a ceremonial prologue of the Giro wearing a fluorescent pink skin suit, which listed his 42-stage wins.
Cipollini emerged from retirement in early 2008 with Rock Racing. His first race back was the2008 Tour of California, and he finished third on stage 2. On the eve of theMilan–San Remo, he announced that he would retire again, citing disagreements over his leadership role on Rock Racing.
Cipollini made no secret that he did not like climbing stages, and while he completed all stages of the Giro on many occasions, he infuriated purists by not attempting mountain stages at the Tour or Vuelta. While this is a common practice with sprinters without points jersey aspirations to save themselves for the rest of the season, Cipollini's practice of releasing photos of himself lounging at the beach while the others struggled in the mountains earned him more than his fair share of attention in this regard.[citation needed]
Cipollini also became famous for extravagant clothing, especially racing uniforms, sporting custom-made skin suits. Some of his memorable kits include a muscle suit,[4] zebra,[5] and tiger[6] prints, and a techno-skinsuit[7] inspired by the 1982 filmTron. Off the course, Cipollini and his Saeco squad dressed as ancient Romans during a rest day at the1999 Tour de France, to celebrateJulius Caesar's birthday and to commemorate Cipollini's record fourth consecutive Tour de France stage win. He was fined for wearing an all-yellow outfit while leading the Tour de France; this practice to wear more yellow and even have a yellow bike has since become generally accepted.[8]
These antics violatedUCI regulations, which resulted in Cipollini and his team being fined thousands ofSwiss francs. The muscle suit fetched 100 million lira (US$43,710) in a charity auction, nearly 100 times the fine. Some organisers, especiallyJean-Marie Leblanc of the Tour de France, took offence at his hijinks, and he wasn't invited to race in the Tour from 2000 to 2003, despite being the world champion in 2003.
Cipollini was kicked out of the2000 Vuelta a España after he punched Vitalicio Seguros riderFrancisco Cerezo to the ground before the start of a stage. Later in 2003, he drew the ire of the organisers of the Vuelta a España when he quit after the prologue time trial. His team had been invited to compete with the condition that Cipollini participated. He said he was recovering from an injury and should not have been forced to race in the first place.
In February 2013, news surfaced that Cipollini could have been a client of doctorEufemiano Fuentes from 2001 to 2004.[9] A report published by Italian newspaperGazzetta dello Sport alleged that Cipollini's codename was "Maria" and that he received various doping products, including injecting 25 blood bags from the beginning of 2003 to the start of theGiro d'Italia in May.[10] Cipollini's lawyer stated that the claims were false when the story was revealed on 9 February 2013.[11]
His name was on the list of doping tests published by theFrench Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the1998 Tour de France and found positive forEPO when retested in 2004.[12]
In June 2022, and following allegations ofdomestic violence andstalking, the public prosecutor ofLucca demanded a two and half years of prison sentence for Cipollini.[13] In October 2022, Cipollini was sentenced by the Lucca court to asuspended 3 years in prison and to compensate the civil party for 85 thousand euros.[14][15]
Cipollini's powerful performances sometimes risked being eclipsed by his flamboyant manner and lifestyle. His height, looks and mane of hair earned him the nickname "Lion King", and he adopted other names, including "Super Mario" and "Mario the Magnificent". His wardrobe consisted of hundreds of suits, ties and shoes, many of which he never wore. In 2002, he was arrested for speeding on an Italianautostrada. He commented that it was the only place where he could safely get up to top speed for training. He responded to criticisms by claiming that he helped generate coverage for his sponsors and that it was all part of his showmanship.
Cipollini married Sabrina Landucci in 1993. The couple separated in 2005.[1] Despite being married through much of his career, Cipollini was regarded as asex symbol and rumoured to be awomaniser. He did little to dispel these notions with comments such as, "If I weren't a professional cyclist, I'd be a porn star".[16]
Daniel Coyle's bookLance Armstrong's War says Cipollini's profile was little more than a decoy. The intent was that competitors would find themselves distracted by the constant media coverage of Cipollini and demoralised by the impression that he could party all night and beat them the next morning.
Despite this boisterous public image, Cipollini could often be quite humble regarding his fellow cyclists. After breakingAlfredo Binda's record for Giro stage wins, he remarked he would have been happy "just to polish [Binda's] shoes". Reacting to the 2004 death ofMarco Pantani, Cipollini said, "I am devastated. It's a tragedy of enormous proportions for everyone involved in cycling. I'm lost for words."
In 2010, Cipollini started his own brand of bicycles, which were used by the ItalianISD–NERI team.[17]
On 18 November 2025, Cipollini underwentheart surgery at the arrhythmology and cardiology department of Torrette hospital inAncona. Initial signs were that the operation had gone well.[18]
OverallRegio-Tour
Points classification
Points classification after Stages 4 & 6 after Stages 1 & 7–10 after Stages 4 & 5
after Stage 1 after Stages 1 & 3–9
Road race, National Road Championships Points classification after Stages 1–4 after Stages 1 & 2Points classification after Stages 1 & 2 after Stage 2 after Stage 1 after Stage 4
after Stage 1 Points classification
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsPoints classification after Stage 1 after Stage 1 after Stage 2| Grand Tour | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | DNF | 142 | 124 | 126 | — | — | DNF | DNF | 89 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 107 | 100 | DNF | DNF |
 Tour de France | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | DNF |
/ Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | DNF | — | — | DNF | — | — | DNF | — |
| Monument | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | 14 | 41 | 10 | 2 | 27 | 7 | 108 | 81 | 99 | 43 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 109 | 36 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | 31 | 54 | 45 | — | 24 | 31 | — | — | — | — | 69 | 9 | DNF | — | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | 34 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Did not contest during his career | |||||||||||||||
| Giro di Lombardia | ||||||||||||||||
| Classic | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Omloop Het Volk | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | 8 | 29 | 1 | 35 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gent–Wevelgem | 33 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 96 | 4 | — | 59 | 26 | 35 | — | — | 1 | DSQ | — | — |
| Scheldeprijs | — | 1 | — | 1 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
