Mario Cipollini, the controversial champ

The Tour de France is well underway in the mountains. According to many fans, it’s when the race starts to get interesting, as there are no boring stages on rugged terrain. It’s the territory of the thin thighed men, who are more capable of crossing the steep slopes than the sprinters, whose thick upper legs bare enormous explosive powers. They are simply not built to climb.

It was for that reason that one of the world’s greatest riders always squeezed his brakes to return home to Italy, where he could be seen sunbathing in Viareggio, surrounded by some beautiful women. Mario Cipollini was much more than just a fast rider, he is considered to be one of the greatest sprinters of all time, if not the very best.  However, Il Re Leone was also known for his colorful appearances and his fierce temper. It was never a boring moment with Super Mario, and he was fined many a time as well as excluded from the Tour de France by its harsh and illogical board of directors.  After all, during his career, doping had never been an issue, but his conduct, well, that was another story.

“If you brake, you don’t win”

Like any great athlete, young Mario stuck out during his youth cycling career. In his first season in 1974, he was seven; he competed in 19 races, winning 17. On one occasion, he was stripped of his title, as he broke the rules on the gear ratio. He lost only one race that year. However, Mario was somewhat different. one year earlier, he had taken his mother’s car keys, to ride around in the streets of his birthplace Lucca, in Tuscany. 4 years later, a representative of a pro team came to the Cipollini residence to negotiate a contract with his older brother Cesare. The man told the famous story that young Mario was so hyperactive, that he had to be tied up against an olive tree.

It was that same brother, however, who warned the peloton. He advised everybody to rake in as many wins as possible, because once his baby brother dearest would enter the pro ranks, their party would be over. Needless to say that very few took him seriously, as Mario’s erratic behavior was well known. They were about to regret that indifference.

“If I weren’t a professional rider, I’d be a porn star”

After a stunning 125 wins as a youth rider and an amateur, Mario turned pro in 1989. Immediately after his arrivals in the big league he started to fulfill his brother’s promise.  The 6.3” feet tall man with his long, curly hair and his incredible speed  wasn’t easy to be overlooked. He is one of the very few riders who has won at least once in every season he competed, (’89-‘05)

As an Italian should, he participated in the Giro every year. And much to his dismay, he had to ride until the final stage in Milan, as quitting on home soil was unacceptable. However, his hate of the mountains wasn’t just about his incapability to climb. Known to very few who don’t follow cycling, as a race the Giro is tougher than the Tour, because the mountains are steeper and longer. But where the Tour de France always had strived since the early days, to get the best riders at the start, the Giro board kept its focus on Italy, and even today an Italian victory is still very important. That’s why many top riders skip Italy, to be fully prepared for France, as it is too hard to compete in both, if you are interested in the classification, that is.

In 1993, Mario rode his first Tour de France. Being used to the Giro, he was confident that he could compete for the green jersey, that of the best sprinter. But even the hyperactive, big hearted Lion King found out the hard way that there is no such thing during the season as those three weeks in July. The pace is much faster, the press is present in massive forms, and only very few riders enjoy some privileges. He won his first of 12 tour stages that year, but was clearly intimidated by the magnitude of the race.

Two years later, as the peloton was closing in on the Alps, he was sure about one thing. Whatever the cost, he would not be climbing those damn mountains, packed with tens of thousands of crazy fans. As he was quite desperate, he amped up his air-conditioning, reducing the temperature in his room to Antarctic proportions, in the hope of harvesting a nasty fever. Obviously he didn’t, but his roommate was not so fortunate. When he had to give up the next day, Cipollini decided that his only way out was a proof of true friendship, a sacrifice. He declared his solidarity with his roommate, and joined him in the broom car.

   A few days later, pictures of a sunbathing Super Mario, in the company of some women who weren’t his wife reached the suffering peloton. It would be the turning point in many ways. When he was criticized for these pictures, he shrugged his shoulders.  When asked by a reporter about his role as sex symbol, an irritated Cipollini claimed, with much disdain for what he considered to be an inferior specimen, “If I weren’t a professional rider, I’d be a porn star.”

“An orgasm only lasts a few seconds, but a victory is forever”

 Yet his sportily claim to fame came in that same era, when he either invented or perfected the so called sprint train. Great sprinters before him always had had a few helpers in the final of the stage, who would increase the speed, in an effort to tire the competition. It was never a neatly organized thing. Cipollini had studied the work of his predecessors, and came to the conclusion that there was much to gain, once a team would literally line up their fastest riders. The train was born. The tactics are simple, you line up four to five teammates, while you as a sprinter are at the end of the row. Somewhere around the final 2 kilometers, they set the pace at a gruesome speed. They go full fledge, until they are unable to keep up the speed. That is the moment when the teammate behind you takes the lead, and continues the race to the finish line. This train allowed Cipollini to follow his teammates and save energy, as setting the pace is much harder than following. The result was that he could finish the hard work of his team.

In 1997 he won, among others, 5 stages in the Giro, thanks to his formidable train. But by then, his dark side was a visible as his athletic prowess. Cipollini simply said, and says, what he thinks. Cipollini was bored by the press, who always asked the same questions, and in his mind, didn’t appreciate him for his profession. While his lifestyle was considered to be flamboyant, only few reporters realized that he didn’t act. What you see is what you get with the man, and he has two faces.

Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Lance Armstrong, every now and then the peloton has a patron, a boss, who determines what happens. However, Cipo turned out to be one of those, especially in the Giro, as he was obligated to finish that course. However, in a Tour of Spain, he delivered a black eye to a guy who had insulted him in an interview. In one of the Giro’s, he went after an escapee, as he was tired and didn’t want a fast paced day. He put his giant hand on the man's helmet and turned his head, while on the bike. He stared at the man, and simply said “no”. The peloton applauded him, as actually everybody wanted to slow day.

Cipo couldn’t always straddle the Alpha male and bully worlds, and was straight out feared by several riders and reporters alike. Sometimes he would jest, like the day when a Spanish reporter asked him about his status as a women’s idol, he said, “well, don’t exaggerate, an orgasm only lasts a few seconds, but a victory is forever.”

After Milan San Remo in 2003, he almost attacked Berhnard Eisel, as according to Super Mario, the Austrian had cut him off in the final 300 meters.

However, he could be vicious, claiming on one occasion that Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck were a gay couple, as they congratulated each other after a gruesome climbing day, ending on the Tourmalet.

“You can all suck my balls”

As the years went by, Cipo collected a staggering number of Giro stages. With each victory, a magical record was about to come in sight. Alfredo Binda, an Italian crack of the ‘20’s and ‘30’s was the first to win 5 Giro’s, in which he had amassed 41 stage victories. He was also a threefold World Champion. He is in the Cycling Hall of Fame, and one of the sport’s great champs.

In 1999 Cipollini made headlines when he won 4 consecutive stages in the Tour de France. The next day, a resting day, his team was dressed in Roman togas, and paraded on the streets. 

His dominance was unprecedented, even though the last of the quartet was to be determined by a jury. Nevertheless, once the mountains came in sight, he squeezed the brakes, and took off to the sunny beaches of Viareggio. His final words to an angry French reporter were, “you can suck my balls”

He was fined for wearing all kinds of suits, including his appearance in an all yellow outfit, which included his bike. Nowadays it’s common practice. The Tour board got fed up with the defiant Lion King, and decided not to invite him for the 2000 Tour. That suspension lasted three years, upsetting the peloton, as he had already won 12 stages by that time, and was considered the best sprinter, hence the one to beat. It’s like a soccer World Cup without let’s say Germany or Brazil.

In 2002 he won Milan San Remo, a classic 303 km long race in March, and totaled 40 stages in the Giro. That year he also won the World Championship in Belgium, raising his status even further. Yet, the Tour Board still didn’t want him for the 2003 edition, exasperating the peloton and the followers alike.

Hence, the 35-year old had just one goal. Beat Alfredo Binda’s record, exactly 70 years later. On May 18, he tied with Binda, and one day later, he won the stage to Montecatini Terme. When asked if he, the reigning world champion considered himself to be a true champ, his reply was remarkable. “I am not worthy of tying Binda’s shoelaces. Besides, I am just a sprint champ, unlike Binda, Hinault, Merckx and Armstrong.” Even Big Mouthed Mario knew his place in cycling history. After the tragic death of fellow countryman Marco Pantani in 2004, he was genuinely devastated, and had trouble accepting the passing of his close friend.

In 2005 he ended his career with a stunning 189 victories. A short comeback, three years later, failed, but nobody cared. He still was Super Mario for the audience. The inevitable doping allegations in 2013, he was never caught in his career, were answered by his attorney, Giuseppe Napoleone (sic!), and dismissed as slander. Cipo never cared to comment. He remains highly popular to this date, even though he accused Alberto Contador in March 2015 of riding with a small engine in his bike (yes, the technology exists, and rumors about the usage in the peloton are widespread.), but then again, to Cipollini, the modern day rider has become a softy whose respect for his competition has become more important than the sheer will to win.