 Bettini in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Paolo Bettini |
| Nickname | Grillo |
| Born | (1974-04-01)1 April 1974 (age 51) Cecina, Italy |
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 58 kg (128 lb; 9.1 st) |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Classics specialist Puncheur |
| Professional teams | |
| 1997 | MG Maglificio–Technogym |
| 1998 | Asics–CGA |
| 1999–2002 | Mapei–Quick-Step |
| 2003–2008 | Quick-Step–Davitamon |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
Other
| |
Medal record | |
Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974) is an Italian former championroad racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the bestclassics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the2006 and2007 World Road Race Championships. He is nicknamedIl Grillo ("the cricket") for his repeated sudden attacks and hissprinting style.
He gained prominence by winningLiège–Bastogne–Liège in 2000 and 2002. He set the record for World Cup wins in a season in 2003, winning theMilan–San Remo,HEW Cyclassics andClásica de San Sebastián. He won theGiro di Lombardia in 2005 and 2006, theZüri-Metzgete in 2001 and 2005 andTirreno–Adriatico in 2004.
Paolo Bettini lived with his family on theTuscany coast. He began racing when he was seven and won 23 of his first 24 races.[1] His first bike had a secondhand frame which his father, Giuliano, had painted orange. The components were cannibalised from other bikes.[1] He started racing after the encouragement of his brother.[2]
He came fourth in the world under-23 road championship in 1996, behind three other Italians, Giuliano Fugeras, Roberti Sgambelluri and Luca Sironi.[3] He turned professional the following year for the MG-Technogym team. There he rode asdomestique toMichele Bartoli, "aworking class cyclist", wrote Stephen Farrand, "destined to work for others to earn his crust."[1] He worked for Bartoli, who, in return, helped with advice.[3] Bartoli won theWorld Cup in1997 and1998 with Bettini's help.
Bartoli fell heavily on a knee in 1999, and Bettini was freed to race for himself.[4] He wonLiège–Bastogne–Liège in 2000 – treating himself to a €100,000Porsche[1] – and a flat stage of that year's Tour de France, fromAgen toDax. He won the 2001Züri-Metzgete after a few months without wins, beatingJan Ullrich in the sprint to the finish. His success led to a feud with Bartoli. It culminated in the 2001 world championship inLisbon, Portugal, where Bartoli refused to lead Bettini to a flying start in the sprint finish and the Spaniard,Óscar Freire, won instead.
The 2002 season was a breakthrough. In the World Cup, Bettini was caught in the final kilometres of Milan–San Remo. After his 1–2 win withStefano Garzelli in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Bettini ran neck-to-neck against Museeuw, who wonParis–Roubaix in a 50 km solo breakaway, and theHEW Cyclassics. A tactical ride inGiro di Lombardia earned Bettini the World Cup.
Bettini played a strong support role inMario Cipollini's victory in theUCI Road Cycling World Championship in Zolder, Belgium.
The 2003 World Cup series started withMilan–San Remo. Attacking twice in the last hills leading down to the Primavera, Bettini had the help ofLuca Paolini, who attacked down the tricky descent towards the finish.
However, injury in theGent–Wevelgem forced Bettini to miss several races until the Tour de France in July.[5] He then followed with a win in theHEW Cyclassics in front of Tour runner-up Jan Ullrich, and a win in theClásica de San Sebastián.
Bettini failed to win theUCI Road Cycling World Championship despite being the favourite due to a mistake at the end of the race. Having established himself in the winning breakaway, hesitation allowed the SpaniardIgor Astarloa to break away to win. Astarloa claimed that Bettini had offered him money to relinquish the win, which Astarloa said he refused. A feud ensued, and Astarloa attributed his comment to a misunderstanding of Bettini's Italian.[6]
The 2004 season started well with Milan–San Remo, butDavide Rebellin won theLa Flèche Wallonne (not in the World Cup),Liège–Bastogne–Liège andAmstel Gold Race. Bettini's disappointments continued with second places in theHEW Cyclassics, which he had won previously, and in theClásica de San Sebastián, which he had won the previous year. The points gained inParis–Tours put him in the leader's jersey, but with the last race, theGiro di Lombardia, better suited to Rebellin, the World Cup was not yet safe. Bettini followed Rebellin throughout the race, resulting in Rebellin's quitting in frustration.
Bettini's most important victory was the2004 Summer Olympics, where he broke away with PortugueseSérgio Paulinho for a comfortable victory decided on a last-minute sprint with both. He again failed to win the world championship due to an injury when he banged his knee against the team car at the beginning of the race.
AfterMilan–San Remo, Bettini had an injury-marked start which prevented significant participation in the spring classics, and he had no victories until he got two stage wins at the2005 Giro d'Italia, where he wore the pink jersey as leader of thegeneral classification for several days. After that, no more good results until the2005 Vuelta a España, where he beatAlessandro Petacchi in an uphill sprint inValladolid. After that, he took part in the world championship in Madrid, where he got into the decisive break but did not get a medal. A week later, he wonZüri-Metzgete for a second time. Two weeks later, he won the Giro di Lombardia as well.
Bettini won the first race of the season, theTrofeo Soller, which is part of theChallenge Mallorca. He also won theGran Premio di Lugano, two stages in theTirreno–Adriatico and the 15th stage in theGiro d'Italia, where he won thepoints classification. Following the Giro, he became theItalian road champion and won a stage at theVuelta a España before winning theworld championship.
His brother, Sauro, died in a car accident a few days after that victory, and Bettini was close to abandoning cycling. He changed his mind and won theGiro di Lombardia in tears.
On 2 March 2007, the French magazineVelo awarded Bettini itsVélo d'Or as best rider of 2006.[7]
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Bettini raced in the second annual 2.HC-rated2007 Tour of California and made it worth his while by capturing Stage 4 in a sprint finish. He later won the third stage of theVuelta a España and finished second in three more stages. Then he won once again therainbow jersey of the Elite Men's Road at Stuttgart.
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Bettini's start was plagued by injuries, including a fall at theKuurne–Brussels–Kuurne and a rib broken when he fell on a wet descent in theTour of the Basque Country.[8] He won theTrofeo Matteotti and stages at theTour of Austria andTour de Wallonie. He also won two stages at theVuelta a España, where he said he was leaving Quick Step after 10 years due to a financial dispute.[9]On September 27 he announced his retirement.[10] On 4 November, he fell during the Milan six-day and was taken to hospital unconscious.[11]
On 17 June 2010, Bettini was named as the new Italian national coach, following the death ofFranco Ballerini in a car accident earlier that year.[12] He left this role in 2014 to work withFernando Alonso on his new cycling team in preparation for its launch in 2015.[13]
Bettini followed the path of riders before the 1970s and took up six-day racing in the winter. He rode atMunich andGrenoble in 2006. "I didn't do it for the money", he said. "I had that already. I did it through my love of racing, to see what it's like to race on a track."[4] The bankings proved trickier than the road, however, and his debut was described as "catastrophic" as he failed to get alongside his partner in the two-man relay race, themadison, and finished the first night "with fear in his face."[4]Charly Mottet said:
Bettini married Monica Orlandini, a literature teacher, in 2000. They moved into a farmhouse belonging to his wife's family, who have been olive farmers for four generations.[2] They live in Riparbella, 10 km fromCecina, where Bettini was born.
Mountains classification
OverallGiro della Provincia di Lucca OverallMemorial Cecchi Gori
Points classification
Road race,UCI Road World Championships
OverallUCI Road World Cup OverallTour de Wallonie OverallGiro Riviera Ligure Pomente OverallUCI Road World Cup
Road race, National Road Championships OverallTour Méditerranéen Points classification
Points classification OverallUCI Road World Cup
Road race,Olympic Games
OverallTirreno–Adriatico
Points classification
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsRoad race, National Road ChampionshipsPoints classificationRoad race,UCI Road World Championships| Grand Tour | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | 25 | 7 | 44 | — | — | DNF | — | — | 38 | 56 | 41 | 19 |
 Tour de France | — | — | — | 122 | 74 | — | 114 | 114 | — | — | — | — |
 Vuelta a España | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF |
| Monument | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | 70 | 77 | 40 | 5 | 50 | 1 | 8 | 42 | 75 | 33 | 102 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | 23 | 16 | DNF | 9 | — | 7 | 21 | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | Did not contest during his career | |||||||||||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | 92 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 1 | — | 22 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | 21 | 9 | 10 | 20 | 30 | DNF | 29 | 1 | 1 | 103 | — |
| Classic | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Omloop Het Volk | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 3 | — | DNF | — | — | 90 |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 25 | 2 | DNF | — | — | DNF |
| E3 Prijs Vlaanderen | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | DNF | 48 | — | — | 24 | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | DNF | 32 | 14 | DNF | 8 | — | 3 | 37 | 8 | 7 | — |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | 50 | — | 19 | 20 | 37 | — | DNF | 41 | 12 | DNF | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | DNF | 11 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 2 | DNF | 101 | — | 4 |
| Hamburg Cyclassics | — | 12 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | DNF | 48 | 7 | — |
| Züri-Metzgete | 41 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | DNF | Not held | |
| GP Ouest-France | — | — | 7 | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Giro dell'Emilia | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | DNF | — | DNF | — |
| Milano–Torino | — | 21 | 2 | NH | — | — | — | — | — | — | 88 | NH |
| Paris–Tours | — | 47 | 14 | 4 | — | 19 | 11 | 6 | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games | Not held | 9 | Not held | 1 | Not held | 17 | |||||
 World Championships | 63 | — | 9 | 2 | 26 | 4 | DNF | 13 | 1 | 1 | 28 |
 National Championships | — | — | 7 | 15 | — | 1 | 11 | — | 1 | DNF | 27 |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
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