Franco Pellizotti

Franco Pellizotti
	Pellizotti in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Franco Pellizotti
Nickname	Pello, Il Delfino
Born	15 January 1978 (age 46); Latisana, Italy
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
Team information
Current team	Team Bahrain Victorious
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider (retired); Directeur sportif;
Rider type	Climber
Professional teams
2001–2004	Alessio
2005–2010	Liquigas–Bianchi
2012–2016	Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela
2017–2018	Bahrain–Merida
Managerial team
2019–	Bahrain–Merida (directeur sportif)
Major wins
	Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 2 individual stages (2006, 2008) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2012)

Franco Pellizotti (born 15 January 1978) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the Alessio, Liquigas–Doimo, Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec and Bahrain–Merida teams. Pellizotti now works as a directeur sportif for the Team Bahrain Victorious team.^[1]

Career

Early career

Pellizotti was born in Latisana, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. During his career, Pellizotti was known as a climbing specialist and won Stage 10 in the 2006 Giro d'Italia, Stage 16 in the 2008 Giro d'Italia and Stage 17 in the 2009 Giro d'Italia.

After finishing third overall in the 2009 Giro, he won the polka dot jersey in Paris as the best climber of the 2009 Tour de France (which has been cancelled), as well as named the Most Combative (Aggressive) Rider on Stages 9 and 17. At the start of each race, Pellizotti was seen making the sign of the cross and kissing a crucifix around his neck.

Doping ban

On 3 May 2010, Pellizotti's name was released by La Gazzetta dello Sport as being one of several riders under investigation by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for "irregular blood values". Pellizotti was reported to have had "suspicious values" on the eve of the 2009 Tour de France and request has been made by the UCI for investigation.^[2] This was confirmed later that day in a UCI press release.^[3] He was due to be one of Liquigas–Doimo' team leaders at the 2010 Giro d'Italia, but was immediately pulled from the squad and replaced with Vincenzo Nibali. His team said they have faith in the explanation put forward by Pellizotti and are conducting a further investigation.^[4] Shortly after the end of the season, the suspension was lifted on the grounds of lack of evidence, and Pellizotti declared a wish to seek financial redress from the UCI.^[5] Liquigas–Doimo declined to re-sign Pellizotti after the 2010 season. Pellizotti's case reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2011. After asking the court for a speedy verdict, he was suspended for two years after it upheld the UCI's appeal. His ban lasted until May 2012. The Court also annulled all results from 17 May 2009, meaning that Pellizotti lost a stage win and third place overall in the Giro d'Italia and a stage win and overall victory in the mountains and combativity classifications in the Tour de France.^[6]

Return

Following the conclusion of his ban, Pellizotti signed with the Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela team.^[7]^[8]

In August 2013, it was announced that after two years with Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela, Pellizotti was to join Astana for the 2014 season.^[9] However, Pellizotti would have only been able to compete from May 2014 due to Astana being a member of the Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible (MPCC),^[10] and that Pellizotti had previously served a two-year ban for a UCI biological passport violation.^[11] Further talks between Pellizotti and Astana resulted in his contract with the squad being nullified,^[12] and Pellizotti was able to return to Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela for a third season, in 2014.^[13]

Major results

2000

1st Coppa Città di Asti

2nd Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia

1st Stage 6

2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto

2nd Trofeo Alcide Degasperi

3rd Trofeo Zsšdi

5th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell

2001

1st Points classification Tour of Austria

8th Giro di Campania

10th Overall Deutschland Tour

10th Giro dell'Appennino

2002

1st Giro del Friuli

1st Stage 4 Tour of the Basque Country

1st Stage 5 Tour de Pologne

5th Trofeo Melinda

6th Giro dell'Emilia

9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

1st Stage 6

2003

3rd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

6th Trofeo Melinda

8th Overall Giro d'Italia

2004

1st Gran Premio di Chiasso

2nd Giro del Friuli

2nd Coppa Sabatini

3rd Overall Tour de Pologne

5th Giro del Veneto

6th Giro dell'Emilia

7th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

9th Giro di Lombardia

2005

1st

Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

1st Stage 2

2nd Trofeo Laigueglia

2nd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore

3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen

4th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

6th Overall Paris–Nice

8th Giro del Veneto

9th Milan–San Remo

2006

2nd Milano–Torino

3rd GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano

3rd Coppa Ugo Agostoni

5th Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie

7th Trofeo Sóller

8th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 10

10th Clásica de San Sebastián

2007

1st Memorial Marco Pantani

2nd GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano

5th Overall Paris–Nice

1st

Points classification

1st Stage 3

5th Overall Giro del Trentino

6th Giro di Toscana

9th Overall Tour of California

9th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 1 (TTT)

2008

2nd Overall Tour of Slovenia

3rd Overall Tour de Pologne

3rd Giro d'Oro

4th Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 16 (ITT)

5th Clásica de San Sebastián

2009

7th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano

Voided results from 9 May 2009 to April 2012.

2009

~~Tour de France~~

~~1st Mountains classification~~

~~Combativity award Overall~~

~~3rd Overall Giro d'Italia~~

~~1st Stage 17~~

2010: ~~3rd GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano~~

2012: 1st Road race, National Road Championships; 3rd Overall Giro di Padania; 3rd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore; 3rd Giro dell'Emilia; 4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos; 5th Trofeo Melinda; 5th Circuito de Getxo; 9th Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie; 10th Milano–Torino
2013: 2nd Overall Route du Sud; 4th Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda; 4th Coppa Sabatini; 4th Giro dell'Emilia; 5th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato; 6th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano; 6th Tre Valli Varesine; 8th Giro di Lombardia; 8th Coppa Ugo Agostoni; 10th Milano–Torino
2014: 3rd Coppa Sabatini; 3rd Giro dell'Emilia; 6th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali; 9th Overall Giro del Trentino; 10th Trofeo Laigueglia
2015: 4th Giro dell'Appennino; 6th Gran Premio di Lugano; 7th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali; 7th Giro dell'Emilia; 9th Overall Herald Sun Tour
2016: 7th Coppa Sabatini; 10th Overall Tour of Slovenia
2018: 6th Memorial Marco Pantani

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Giro d'Italia	—	16	8	11	—	8	9	4	3	—	—	—	11	12	24	—	21	—
Tour de France	—	—	75	—	47	—	—	—	37	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	60
Vuelta a España	20	—	—	—	—	—	37	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	50

Legend
—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish
~~No.~~	Results expunged

References

^ Farrand, Stephen (28 November 2018). "Pellizotti swaps the saddle for directeur sportif role at Bahrain-Merida". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
^ "Pellizoti Out of the giro due to biological passport findings". 3 May 2010.
^ "UCI Confirm Pellizoti investigation". Archived from the original on 5 March 2012.
^ "Liquigas put faith in Pellizotti". 4 May 2010.
^ Franco Pellizotti cleared to race Cycling News October 2010
^ "Pellizotti banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport". 8 March 2011.
^ Brown, Gregor (1 May 2012). "Savio defends Pellizotti's Androni signing after ban". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
^ "Pellizotti signs for Androni-Venezuela". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
^ "New riders at Astana Pro Team". Astana. Abacanto SA. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
^ Farrand, Stephen (1 August 2013). "Astana's decision to sign Pellizotti goes against MPCC rules". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
^ Farrand, Stephen (28 October 2013). "Astana accept Pellizotti cannot race until May 2014". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
^ "Astana and Franco Pellizotti part ways". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
^ "Pellizotti to remain part of Androni Venezuela after Astana deal fell through". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

External links

Franco Pellizotti at Cycling Archives (archive)

[1] Farrand, Stephen (28 November 2018). "Pellizotti swaps the saddle for directeur sportif role at Bahrain-Merida". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 1 January 2019.

[2] "Pellizoti Out of the giro due to biological passport findings". 3 May 2010.

[3] "UCI Confirm Pellizoti investigation". Archived from the original on 5 March 2012.

[4] "Liquigas put faith in Pellizotti". 4 May 2010.

[5] Franco Pellizotti cleared to race Cycling News October 2010

[6] "Pellizotti banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport". 8 March 2011.

[7] Brown, Gregor (1 May 2012). "Savio defends Pellizotti's Androni signing after ban". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 8 May 2012.

[8] "Pellizotti signs for Androni-Venezuela". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.

[9] "New riders at Astana Pro Team". Astana. Abacanto SA. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.

[10] Farrand, Stephen (1 August 2013). "Astana's decision to sign Pellizotti goes against MPCC rules". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

[11] Farrand, Stephen (28 October 2013). "Astana accept Pellizotti cannot race until May 2014". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

[12] "Astana and Franco Pellizotti part ways". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

[13] "Pellizotti to remain part of Androni Venezuela after Astana deal fell through". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

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v t e Italian National Road Race Champion (men)
1880–1899	Giuseppe Loretz (1885) Geo Davidson (1886) Gilberto Marley (1887–1889) Carlo Braida (1890) Ambrogio Robecchi (1891) Luigi Cantu (1892) Giuseppe Moreschi (1893) Giovanni Da Montelatico (1896)
1900–1919	Giovanni Cuniolo (1906–1908) Dario Beni (1909) Emilio Petiva (1910) Dario Beni (1911) Not attributed (1912) Costante Girardengo (1913–1914, 1919)
1920–1939	Costante Girardengo (1920–1925) Alfredo Binda (1926–1929) Learco Guerra (1930–1934) Gino Bartali (1935) Giuseppe Olmo (1936) Gino Bartali (1937) Olimpio Bizzi (1938) Mario Vicini (1939)
1940–1959	Gino Bartali (1940) Adolfo Leoni (1941) Fausto Coppi (1942) Mario Ricci (1943) Severino Canavesi (1945) Aldo Ronconi (1946) Fausto Coppi (1947) Vito Ortelli (1948) Fausto Coppi (1949) Antonio Bevilacqua (1950) Fiorenzo Magni (1951) Gino Bartali (1952) Fiorenzo Magni (1953–1954) Fausto Coppi (1955) Giorgio Albani (1956) Ercole Baldini (1957–1958) Diego Ronchini (1959)
1960–1979	Nino Defilippis (1960) Arturo Sabbadin (1961) Nino Defilippis (1962) Bruno Mealli (1963) Guido De Rosso (1964) Michele Dancelli (1965–1966) Franco Balmamion (1967) Felice Gimondi (1968) Vittorio Adorni (1969) Franco Bitossi (1970–1971) Felice Gimondi (1972) Enrico Paolini (1973–1974) Francesco Moser (1975) Franco Bitossi (1976) Enrico Paolini (1977) Pierino Gavazzi (1978) Francesco Moser (1979)
1980–1999	Giuseppe Saronni (1980) Francesco Moser (1981) Pierino Gavazzi (1982) Moreno Argentin (1983) Vittorio Algeri (1984) Claudio Corti (1985–1986) Bruno Leali (1987) Pierino Gavazzi (1988) Moreno Argentin (1989) Giorgio Furlan (1990) Gianni Bugno (1991) Marco Giovannetti (1992) Massimo Podenzana (1993–1994) Gianni Bugno (1995) Mario Cipollini (1996) Gianni Faresin (1997) Andrea Tafi (1998) Salvatore Commesso (1999)
2000–2019	Michele Bartoli (2000) Daniele Nardello (2001) Salvatore Commesso (2002) Paolo Bettini (2003) Cristian Moreni (2004) Enrico Gasparotto (2005) Paolo Bettini (2006) Giovanni Visconti (2007) Filippo Simeoni (2008) Filippo Pozzato (2009) Giovanni Visconti (2010–2011) Franco Pellizotti (2012) Ivan Santaromita (2013) Vincenzo Nibali (2014–2015) Giacomo Nizzolo (2016) Fabio Aru (2017) Elia Viviani (2018) Davide Formolo (2019)
2020–2039	Giacomo Nizzolo (2020) Sonny Colbrelli (2021) Filippo Zana (2022) Simone Velasco (2023) Alberto Bettiol (2024)