Michele Bartoli (born 27 May 1970, inPisa) is a retired Italianroad racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional cyclist from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successfulsingle-day classics specialists of his generation, especially in the Italian and Belgian races.^[1] On his palmarès are three of the fivemonuments of cycling—five in total: the1996 Tour of Flanders, the1997 and1998 Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the 2002 and 2003Giro di Lombardia. He won theUCI Road World Cup in1997 and1998. From 10 October 1998 until 6 June 1999, Bartoli was number one on theUCI Road World Rankings.^[2]

Michele Bartoli

Bartoli at the2009 Tour of Flanders
Personal information
Full name	Michele Bartoli
Nickname	Il Leoncino delle Fiandre(in Italian) (The Little Lion of Flanders)(in English)
Born	(1970-05-27)27 May 1970 (age 55) Pisa,Italy
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Classics specialist
Professional teams
1992–1995	Mercatone Uno–Medeghini–Zucchini
1996–1997	MG–Technogym
1998	Asics–CGA
1999–2001	Mapei-Quick Step
2002–2003	Fassa Bortolo
2004	Team CSC
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 2 individual stages (1994,1998) Stage races Three Days of De Panne (1995, 1998) Tirreno–Adriatico (1999) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2000) Giro di Lombardia (2002,2003) Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1997,1998) Tour of Flanders (1996) La Flèche Wallonne (1999) Amstel Gold Race (2002) Rund um den Henninger Turm (1997) Brabantse Pijl (1994, 1999) Giro dell'Emilia (1996, 2002) Züri-Metzgete (1998) GP Ouest-France (2000) Omloop Het Volk (2001) Milano–Torino (2002) Giro del Lazio (2003) Other UCI Road World Cup (1997,1998)
Medal record Representing Italy Men'sroad bicycle racing World Championships 1996 Lugano Elite Men's Road Race 1998 Valkenburg Elite Men's Road Race

Considered one of the most versatile riders of his generation, Bartoli won a variety of classics. He won most of the major Italian one-day races—apart fromMilan–San Remo—and wasItalian national champion in 2000. In Belgium, he excelled in both thecobbled classics of Flanders and the hilly races in theArdennes, which earned him the nicknameIl Leoncino delle Fiandre ("The Little Lion of Flanders").^[3] In addition to the classics, Bartoli has also won stage races, such asTirreno–Adriatico and theThree Days of De Panne, and won two stages in theGiro d'Italia. He finished third in theworld championships of1996 and1998.^[4]

Bartoli joinedMercatone Uno–Medeghini–Zucchini as an amateur stagiaire in late 1992, signing his first professional contract starting in January 1993. He was competitive immediately, winning the overall and 3 stages at the first stage race he started, the 1993Settimana Siciliana.

His breakthrough year was 1994, when he won theBrabantse Pijl, his first semi-classic win, and the thirteenth stage in theGiro d'Italia. In 1995, his star rose to prominence in the one-day classics, with fifth place inMilan–San Remo, seventh in theTour of Flanders and third places inLiège–Bastogne–Liège and theGiro di Lombardia. He won theThree Days of De Panne and placed ninth overall in theVuelta a España.^[5]

In 1996, he joined theMG–Technogym team of managerGiancarlo Ferretti. He became a specialist of the classic races and claimed his first careermonument win in the1996 Tour of Flanders after an attack on theMuur van Geraardsbergen and a 16 km solo to the finish.^[6] In summer, he was 19th overall in theTour de France, before winning the Italian summer classicsGiro del Veneto,GP di Larciano andGiro dell'Emilia. He finished third at theWorld Championships in Lugano behindJohan Museeuw andMauro Gianetti.^[7][8]

In 1997, Bartoli won hisfirst Liège–Bastogne–Liège, after distancing his last breakaway companion,Laurent Jalabert, in the final kilometre.^[9] His slender build (179 cm and 65 kg), combined with his feline ability to accelerate on steep climbs, made him the quintessential contender for the hillyArdennes classics.^[10] At the end of 1997, he won theUCI World Cup, confirming his status as the most regular classic race specialist.^[11]

In 1998, he transferred to theAsics team and had the most successful season of his career. He won hissecond Liège–Bastogne–Liège, again before Laurent Jalabert, after a long solo attack.^[12] In May, he won theGP of Aargau Canton in Switzerland and the thirteenth stage in theGiro d'Italia. Later in the year, he wonZüri-Metzgete, his second World Cup race of 1998,^[13] as well as theGiro di Romagna, and finished third in theWorld Championships in Valkenburg behindOscar Camenzind andPeter Van Petegem.^[4] He ended the season as world number one on theUCI Road World Rankings and won his second consecutiveUCI World Cup.^[14] During his years with MG and Asics, Bartoli was helped by his friend and team matePaolo Bettini, who became Bartoli's primelieutenant in the races.

In 1999, Bartoli and Bettini joinedMapei, the most successful classics team of the 1990s.^[15] He wonTirreno–Adriatico, theBrabantse Pijl and theFlèche Wallonne in the spring of 1999, but failed to win a monument race. In the1999 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Bartoli, seeking his third consecutive win, was distanced by rising starFrank Vandenbroucke and finished fourth behind his helper Bettini.^[16] In May 1999, Bartoli broke his kneecap in a crash in theTour of Germany, which ended his season.

He returned to racing in 2000, but his Mapei team mate Paolo Bettini demanded a leading role, eventually leading to a feud between the two friends. In the summer of 2000, he won theItalian National Championship inTrieste and theGrand Prix de Plouay, before entering theOlympic road race inSydney. Helped by his Italian team mates Bettini andDanilo Di Luca, he won the sprint for fourth place, finishing just outside the medals. He repeated his fourth place at theWorld championships.^[17]

In 2001, Bartoli wonOmloop Het Volk early in the season, but failed to win another major spring classic. He left Mapei—exceptionally mid-season—to re-join Ferretti at the newFassa Bortolo team. In October 2001, Bartoli and Bettini's rivalry culminated during theworld championship road race during which Bartoli refused to work for Bettini. Bettini finished second in the sprint behind SpaniardÓscar Freire; Bartoli was 23rd.^[18]

WithFassa Bortolo, he re-lived some of his former successes by winning the2002 Amstel Gold Race and the 2002 and 2003Giro di Lombardia.

In 2004, he moved toTeam CSC but failed to claim a victory.^[19] In the2004 Tour de France, he abandoned during the 18th stage after being called back by managerBjarne Riis from a break to protect his captainIvan Basso.^[20]Bartoli ended his professional career at the end of the 2004 season, suffering minor injuries.^[21] He stated: "I just wasn't motivated to continue... I can't be a top-level rider any more and that was a major influence on my decision, rather than my recent physical problems."^[22]

In 2005 Bartoli gave his name to the Granfondo Michele Bartoli in the province ofLucca, with the start and finish in his hometownMontecarlo, Tuscany.^[23] Bartoli is, with former cyclistsFrancesco Casagrande andMaximilian Sciandri, instructor of the Campagnolo Passion 2 Ride.^[24]

In May 2007, Italian newspaperLa Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Bartoli was linked with theOperación Puerto doping investigation into the practices ofEufemiano Fuentes. According to the report, it was alleged that Bartoli was the rider behind the nickname "Sansone". The report continued that Bartoli received two blood transfusions from Fuentes in 2003.^[25]

• "Official website (under construction)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2006. Retrieved10 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• "Passion 2 Ride". Archived fromthe original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved5 July 2007.
• "Palmares". Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved5 July 2007.
• Tour de France results
• Palmares by cyclingbase.comArchived 24 December 2007 at theWayback Machine