Mario Cipollini

Controversies Cipollini made no secret that he did not like climbing stages, and while he completed all stages of the Giro on many occasions, he infuriated purists by not attempting mountain stages at the Tour or Vuelta. While this was a common practice with sprinters without points jersey aspirations to save themselves for the rest of the season, Cipollini's practice of releasing photos of himself lounging at the beach while the others struggled in the mountains earned him a reputation in this regard.

Cipollini also became famous for extravagant clothing, especially racing uniforms, sporting custom-made skin suits. Some of his memorable kits include a muscle suit, zebra, and tiger prints, and a techno-skinsuit inspired by the 1982 film Tron. Off the course, Cipollini and his Saeco squad dressed as ancient Romans during a rest day at the 1999 Tour de France, to celebrate Julius Caesar's birthday and to commemorate Cipollini's record fourth consecutive Tour de France stage win. He was fined for wearing an all-yellow outfit while leading the Tour de France; this practice to wear more yellow and even have a yellow bike has since become generally accepted.

These antics violated UCI regulations, which resulted in Cipollini and his team being fined thousands of Swiss francs. The muscle suit fetched 100 million lira (US$43,710) in a charity auction, nearly 100 times the fine. Some organisers, especially Jean-Marie Leblanc of the Tour de France, took offence at his hijinks, and he wasn't invited to race in the Tour from 2000 to 2003, despite being the world champion in 2003.

Cipollini was kicked out of the 2000 Vuelta a España after he punched Vitalicio Seguros rider Francisco Cerezo to the ground before the start of a stage. Later in 2003, he drew the ire of the organisers of the Vuelta a España when he quit after the prologue time trial. His team had been invited to compete with the condition that Cipollini participated. He said he was recovering from an injury and should not have been forced to race in the first place.

His name was on the list of doping tests published by the French Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when retested in 2004.

In June 2022, and following allegations of domestic violence and stalking, the public prosecutor of Lucca demanded a two and half years of prison sentence for Cipollini. In October 2022, Cipollini was sentenced by the Lucca court to a suspended 3 years in prison and to compensate the civil party for 85 thousand euros.

Personal life Cipollini's powerful performances sometimes risked being eclipsed by his flamboyant manner and lifestyle. His height, looks and mane of hair earned him the nickname "Lion King", and he adopted other names, including "Super Mario" and "Mario the Magnificent". His wardrobe consisted of hundreds of suits, ties and shoes, many of which he never wore. In 2002, he was arrested for speeding on an Italian autostrada. He commented that it was the only place where he could safely get up to top speed for training. He responded to criticisms by claiming that he helped generate coverage for his sponsors and that it was all part of his showmanship.

Cipollini married Sabrina Landucci in 1993. The couple separated in 2005.

Daniel Coyle's book Lance Armstrong's War says Cipollini's profile was little more than a decoy. The intent was that competitors would find themselves distracted by the constant media coverage of Cipollini and demoralised by the impression that he could party all night and beat them the next morning.

Despite this boisterous public image, Cipollini could often be quite humble regarding his fellow cyclists. After breaking Alfredo Binda's record for Giro stage wins, he remarked he would have been happy "just to polish [Binda's] shoes". Reacting to the 2004 death of Marco Pantani, Cipollini said, "I am devastated. It's a tragedy of enormous proportions for everyone involved in cycling. I'm lost for words."

In 2010, Cipollini started his own brand of bicycles, which were used by the Italian team.

On 18 November 2025, Cipollini underwent heart surgery at the arrhythmology and cardiology department of Torrette hospital in Ancona. Initial signs were that the operation had gone well.

Major results

1987

1988 1st Trofeo Città di Castelfidardo 2nd Gran Premio della Liberazione 1989 1st Stage 12 Giro d'Italia Giro di Puglia 1st Stages 3, 4 & 5 1990 1st Milano–Vignola Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 13 & 20 Giro di Puglia 1st Stages 2 & 5 1st Stage 4a Three Days of De Panne 1991 1st Scheldeprijs 1st Giro dell'Etna Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 3, 7 & 21 Giro di Puglia 1st Stages 2 & 4 Étoile de Bessèges 1st Stages 1 & 3 Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 1st Stages 4 & 5 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 8th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 1992 1st Gent–Wevelgem Giro d'Italia

1st Stages 4, 7, 16 & 20 Paris–Nice 1st Stages 1, 2 & 4 Four Days of Dunkirk

1st Stages 1, 3 & 7 Giro di Puglia 1st Stages 1 & 3 1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne 1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges 9th Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise 1993 1st Gent–Wevelgem 1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 1st Scheldeprijs 1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen Tour de France 1st Stages 1 & 4 (TTT)

Paris–Nice 1st Stages 1, 4 & 5 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 4 & 5 6th Omloop Het Volk 10th Milan–San Remo 1994 Paris–Nice 1st Stages 1 & 6 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 5 & 6 1st Stage 5 Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 2nd Milan–San Remo 4th Paris–Tours 4th Firenze–Pistoia 1995 1st Trofeo Luis Puig 1st Monte Carlo–Alassio Tour de France 1st Stages 2 & 4

Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 1 & 3

Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 2, 3 & 5 Tour de Romandie 1st Stages 2 & 6 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1st Stages 4 & 5 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 3, 4 & 5 4th Gent–Wevelgem 1996

1st Stage 2 Tour de France Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 4, 8, 11 & 18 Tour de Romandie 1st Stages 3, 5 & 7 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 2 & 5 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1st Stages 2 & 5a Vuelta a Aragón

1st Stages 3 & 5 1st Stage 4 Tour Méditerranéen 7th Milan–San Remo 10th Telekom Grand Prix (with Mario Scirea) 1997 Tour de France 1st Stages 1 & 2

Giro d'Italia

1st Stages 1, 2, 4, 10 & 22

Tour de Romandie 1st Stages 2, 3 & 5 Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stages 2 & 4a Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Stage 1 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1998 1st Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi Tour de France 1st Stages 5 & 6 Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 5, 7, 8 & 10 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1a, 2, 3 & 4 1st Stage 3 Tour Méditerranéen 1999 1st Trofeo Luis Puig 1st Trofeo Manacor 1st Trofeo Sóller 1st Peperbus Profspektakel Tour de France 1st Stages 4, 5, 6 & 7 Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 2, 10, 12 & 17

Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Stage 3 Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 5 Tour de Romandie 2000 1st Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 4

Tour de Romandie

1st Stages 1 & 5 1st Stage 5a Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1st Stage 6 Tour Méditerranéen 2001 1st Giro della Provincia di Siracusa Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 6, 9, 19 & 21 1st Azzurri d'Italia classification Vuelta a Aragón 1st Stages 1 & 5 1st Stage 5 Tour de Romandie 1st Stage 4 Giro del Trentino 2nd Milan–San Remo 2002

1st Milan–San Remo 1st Gent–Wevelgem Giro d'Italia

1st Stages 1, 3, 9, 15, 18 & 20 1st Azzurri d'Italia classification

Vuelta a España 1st Stages 3, 4 & 7 1st Stage 7 Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen 4th Trofeo Luis Puig 9th Tour of Flanders 2003 Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 8 & 9

Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stages 1 & 3 4th Milan–San Remo 2004 1st Stage 4 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stage 2 Tour de Georgia 2005 1st Giro della Provincia di Lucca 1st Stage 4 Tour of Qatar 5th International Grand Prix Doha

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline Monument 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Milan–San Remo — 14 41 10 2 27 7 108 81 99 43 2 1 4 109 36 Tour of Flanders — 31 54 45 — 24 31 — — — — 69 9 DNF — — Paris–Roubaix — 34 69 — — — — — — — — — — — — — Liège–Bastogne–LiègeDid not contest during his career Giro di LombardiaClassic 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Omloop Het Volk — — — 6 — — — — — — — — — — — — Dwars door Vlaanderen — — — 21 — — — — — — — — — — — — E3 Harelbeke — 8 29 1 35 21 — — — — — — — — — — Gent–Wevelgem 33 2 1 1 96 4 — 59 26 35 — — 1 DSQ — — Scheldeprijs — 1 — 1 — 17 — — — — — — — — — —

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish DSQ Disqualified