Felice Gimondi

Felice Gimondi (29 September 1942 – 16 August 2019) was an Italian professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist (after Jacques Anquetil) to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France (1965, his first year as a pro), Giro d'Italia (1967, 1969 and 1976), and Vuelta a España (1968). He is one of only seven cyclists to have done so.

Gimondi also won three of the five Cycling monuments, winning the Giro di Lombardia twice, and finished on the podium of a grand tour twelve times.

He accomplished all of these major victories despite his career coinciding with that of Eddy Merckx.

Biography
Gimondi was born on 29 September 1942 in Sedrina in the Province of Bergamo. He was the son of a transport manager and a post mistress. In his youth, he frequently took his mother's post bicycle and later helped to deliver mail on it. In 1964, Gimondi rode the road race at the 1964 Olympic Games, where he finished in 33rd place. After winning the Tour de l'Avenir, he was signed, in 1965, as a professional to the Salvarani team. With the withdrawal of another cyclist from Salvarani's 1965 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 captain Vittorio Adorni. Adorni later dropped out, leaving Gimondi to fight out the overall victory with Raymond Poulidor, securing the Tour in the final time trial.

His early successes led to him being regarded as a successor to well-renowned fellow Italian Fausto Coppi, nicknamed campionissimo. Gimondi's career coincided for the most part with that of highly-successful Eddy Merckx. However, Gimondi was able to build up a respectable palmarès himself, even through the era of Merckx' dominance.

After winning the 1967 Giro d'Italia and the 1968 Vuelta a España, Gimondi had become the second-ever rider to have won all three Grand Tours after Jacques Anquetil. He won the Giro a further two times, first in 1969. In 1976, Gimondi was not counted among the favourites, being regarded as past his prime, but overcame a deficit on race leader Johan De Muynck in the final time trial to take his third victory in the race. His success was subsequently called the "miracle in Milan".

His other successes include four victories in the so-called "monument classics", winning Paris–Roubaix in 1966, Milan–San Remo in 1974 and the Giro di Lombardia twice (1966 and 1973). In the 1973 World Championship road race, he formed a group with Luis Ocaña and Freddy Maertens to bridge a gap to Merckx, who had attacked earlier. At the finish, he outsprinted Maertens to clinch the title. He had already placed third in 1970 and second in 1971. Gimondi also won Paris–Brussels twice, in 1966 and 1976.

He failed twice to pass doping controls, first in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and then at the 1975 Tour de France. His positive test at the 1968 Giro was for the stimulant Fencamfamin, but since the substance was not on the prohibited list at the time, he kept his third place overall at the race. At the 1975 Tour, he received a 10-minute time penalty.

A major cyclosportive event is named in his honour, the Gran Fondo Felice Gimondi, held annually around Bergamo. Since 2019, it honours all seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours.

Throughout his career and after it, Gimondi was closely associated with the bicycle manufacturer Bianchi. In the late 1980s, Gimondi was briefly directeur sportif at the Gewiss–Bianchi team. He served as manager for Bianchi's mountain-bike team for a long period of time. Between 2000 and 2001, Gimondi briefly worked as president of the team and as an advisor to Marco Pantani. At the end of the 1998 Tour de France, race organiser Jean-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. In 2008, Gimondi was the president of the TX Active – Bianchi cycling team which specializes in MTB races.

In 1968, Gimondi married Tiziana Bersano, with whom he had two daughters, Norma and Federica.

Gimondi died on 16 August 2019 after suffering a heart attack while swimming on vacation in Sicily. He was 76. His funeral was held on 20 August in Paladina 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.

Major results
Source:


 * 1963
 * 1st Giro del Friuli


 * 1964
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de l'Avenir
 * 1st Stage 1


 * 1965
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 3, 18 (ITT) & 22 (ITT)
 * 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 3rd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie


 * 1966
 * 1st Paris–Roubaix
 * 1st Giro di Lombardia
 * 1st Paris–Brussels
 * 1st Coppa Agostoni
 * 1st Coppa Placci
 * 1st GP Valsassina
 * 2nd Trofeo Matteotti
 * 2nd Critérium des As
 * 2nd Grand Prix des Nations
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 2nd Boucles de l'Aulne
 * 3rd Giro di Toscana
 * 5th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 20
 * 8th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 9th Overall Tour of Belgium
 * 10th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 3b (ITT)
 * 10th Tour of Flanders
 * 10th La Flèche Wallonne


 * 1967
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Grand Prix des Nations
 * 1st Giro del Lazio
 * 1st Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 1st GP Forlì
 * 2nd Giro di Lombardia
 * 2nd Ronde de Seignelay
 * 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 3rd Critérium des As
 * 3rd Coppa Bernocchi
 * 4th Road race, National Road Championships
 * 4th Tour of Flanders
 * 4th Milan–San Remo
 * 4th À travers Lausanne
 * 7th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 10 & 20
 * 10th Trofeo Laigueglia


 * 1968
 * 1st MaillotItalia.svg Road race, National Road Championships (Giro di Romagna)
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stage 17 (ITT)
 * 1st Trofeo Baracchi
 * 1st Grand Prix des Nations
 * 1st Critérium des As
 * 1st Flèche Enghiennoise
 * 2nd Volta a Catalunya
 * 2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
 * 2nd Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 16 (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Paris–Luxembourg
 * 3rd Gent–Wevelgem
 * 3rd Boucles de l'Aulne
 * 4th La Flèche Wallonne
 * 6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 7th Giro di Lombardia
 * 8th Overall Giro di Sardegna
 * 8th Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 10th Tirreno–Adriatico


 * 1969
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Giro dell'Appennino
 * 2nd Overall Paris–Luxembourg
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 2nd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 1st Stage 1a
 * 2nd Tour of Flanders
 * 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 4th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 12
 * 4th Paris–Roubaix
 * 4th Barcelona-Andorra
 * 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 8th Trofeo Dicen


 * 1970
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall (TTT) Cronostaffetta
 * 1st Trofeo Matteotti
 * 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 2nd Giro di Lombardia
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Giro del Veneto
 * 2nd Genoa–Nice
 * 2nd Mont Faron hill climb
 * 3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 1st Stage 5b (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Giro di Sardegna
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 3rd Tre Valli Varesine
 * 5th Overall À travers Lausanne
 * 8th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 6
 * 9th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 9th Coppa Placci


 * 1971
 * 1st Giro del Piemonte
 * 1st Grand Prix de Wallonie
 * 1st Prologue Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 2b (ITT) Cronostaffetta
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Milan–San Remo
 * 2nd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 2nd GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
 * 4th Coppa Placci
 * 4th Coppa Bernocchi
 * 5th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 7th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stages 7 & 18
 * 8th Paris–Roubaix
 * 9th Overall Giro di Sardegna
 * 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 9th Giro di Lombardia
 * 9th Tre Valli Varesine


 * 1972
 * 1st MaillotItalia.svg Road race, National Road Championships (Giro dell'Appennino)
 * 1st MaillotVolta.png Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Stage 5b (ITT)
 * 1st Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 2nd Gent–Wevelgem
 * 2nd Giro del Piemonte
 * 2nd Trofeo Baracchi
 * 3rd Giro di Lombardia
 * 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th Giro della Romagna
 * 6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 8th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 9th Giro di Toscana
 * 10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships


 * 1973
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI World Road Championships
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Giro di Puglia
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 1st Giro di Lombardia
 * 1st Giro del Piemonte
 * 1st Trofeo Baracchi
 * 1st Coppa Bernocchi
 * 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 16 (ITT)
 * 2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
 * 2nd Critérium des As
 * 3rd Milan–San Remo
 * 5th Giro della Romagna
 * 6th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
 * 7th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 10th Paris–Brussels


 * 1974
 * 1st Milan–San Remo
 * 1st Coppa Agostoni
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Overall À travers Lausanne
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 3rd Trofeo Laigueglia
 * 3rd Giro dell'Umbria
 * 6th Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 6th Giro di Campania
 * 7th Paris–Brussels


 * 1975
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Cronostaffetta
 * 1st Stage 1b (ITT)
 * 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
 * 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 3rd Coppa Placci
 * 4th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
 * 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 6th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 10
 * 6th Overall À travers Lausanne
 * 7th Overall Giro di Puglia
 * 7th Milano–Torino
 * 7th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore
 * 9th Coppa Sabatini


 * 1976
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 21
 * 1st Paris–Brussels
 * 5th Giro del Lazio
 * 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 8th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 8th Coppa Placci


 * 1977
 * 2nd Giro del Lazio
 * 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 5th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 6th Giro di Toscana
 * 10th Overall Giro di Puglia


 * 1978
 * 2nd Châteauroux Classic
 * 10th Critérium des As

Grand Tour results timeline
Source: