Gimondi was born on 29 September 1942 inSedrina in theProvince of Bergamo.[5] He was the son of a transport manager and a post mistress.[6] In his youth, he frequently took his mother's post bicycle and later helped to deliver mail on it.[7] In 1964, Gimondi rode theroad race at the1964 Olympic Games, where he finished in 33rd place.[8] After winning theTour de l'Avenir, he was signed, in 1965, as a professional to theSalvarani team.[5] With the withdrawal of another cyclist from Salvarani's1965 Tour de France team, Gimondi was added at the last minute and later recalled that he had to ask his mother for permission to start the race. He took the yellow jersey on stage 3, but lost the race lead later when he waited for his nominal team captainVittorio Adorni. Adorni later dropped out, leaving Gimondi to fight out the overall victory withRaymond Poulidor, securing the Tour in the finaltime trial.[9][10]
His early successes led to him being regarded as a successor to well-renowned fellow ItalianFausto Coppi, nicknamedcampionissimo. Gimondi's career coincided for the most part with that of highly-successfulEddy Merckx. However, Gimondi was able to build up a respectablepalmarès himself, even through the era of Merckx' dominance.[9]
After winning the1967 Giro d'Italia and the1968 Vuelta a España, Gimondi had become the second-ever rider to have won all threeGrand Tours afterJacques Anquetil. He won the Giro a further two times, first in1969.[11] In1976, Gimondi was not counted among the favourites, being regarded as past his prime, but overcame a deficit on race leaderJohan De Muynck in the finaltime trial to take his third victory in the race. His success was subsequently called the "miracle in Milan".[10]
He failed twice to pass doping controls, first in the1968 Giro d'Italia[12] and then at the1975 Tour de France.[13] His positive test at the 1968 Giro was for the stimulantFencamfamin, but since the substance was not on the prohibited list at the time, he kept his third place overall at the race.[14] At the 1975 Tour, he received a 10-minute time penalty.[7]
Gimondi in 2009
A majorcyclosportive event is named in his honour, the Gran Fondo Felice Gimondi, held annually aroundBergamo. Since 2019, it honours all seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours.[15]
Throughout his career and after it, Gimondi was closely associated with the bicycle manufacturerBianchi.[16] In the late 1980s, Gimondi was brieflydirecteur sportif at theGewiss–Bianchi team.[10] He served as manager for Bianchi's mountain-bike team for a long period of time.[16] Between 2000 and 2001, Gimondi briefly worked as president of theMercatone Uno–Albacom team[10] and as an advisor toMarco Pantani. At the end of the1998 Tour de France, race organiserJean-Marie Leblanc invited Gimondi onto the stage during the podium celebration, when Pantani became the first Italian winner of the race since he had himself won the event in 1965.[17] In 2008, Gimondi was the president of the TX Active – Bianchi cycling team which specializes in MTB races.[18]
In 1968, Gimondi married Tiziana Bersano, with whom he had two daughters, Norma and Federica.[9]
Gimondi died on 16 August 2019 after suffering a heart attack while swimming on vacation inSicily. He was 76.[10] His funeral was held on 20 August inPaladina near Bergamo, attended by thousands of people. His long-time rival Eddy Merckx did not attend, stating that he was "too saddened" by the loss of his friend.[16]
.JPG)
OverallTour de l'Avenir
OverallGiro d'Italia
Road race, National Road Championships (Giro di Romagna)
OverallTour de Romandie
Road race,UCI Road World Championships
Road race,UCI Road World Championships
OverallVolta a Catalunya
Road race,UCI World Road Championships
Vuelta a España
Giro d'Italia
