Claudio Chiappucci

Claudio Chiappucci

Personal information
Full name	Claudio Chiappucci
Nickname	El Diablo
Date of birth	February 28, 1963 (1963-02-28) (age 46)
Country	Italy
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)1
1985–1996 1997 1998–1999	Carrera Asics Amica Chips
Major wins
Tour de France, 3 stage wins, KoM 1991, 1992 Giro d'Italia, KoM 1990, 1993 Points Competition 1991, 1 stage win Milan San Remo (1991) Classica San Sebastian (1993) Vuelta al País Vasco (1991)
Infobox last updated on:
February 9, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Medal record
Competitor for  Italy
Road bicycle racing
World Championships
Silver	1994 Agrigento	Elite Men's Road Race

Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is an Italian former professional cyclist. He was three times on the podium of the Tour de France general classification - 2nd in 1990, 3rd in 1991 and 2nd again in 1992.

Career notes

Chiappucci was nicknamed El Diablo, becoming a very popular rider for some of his audacious rides in both grand tours and one day classic races.

His first famous Tour de France was in 1990, when he found himself almost casually wearing the Yellow jersey after a stage one attack which the favourites allowed to arrive with a 10 minute time advantage. Chiappucci, however, showed to be far stronger than his fellow attackers, and in the subsequent stages he resisted bravely the return of Greg LeMond, only losing the lead of the race in stage 20, the final time trial. In the end, LeMond won the Tour by 2' 16s: Chiappucci came back home with a surprising second place and, moreover, the status as a cycling star that he was to confirm in the following years. He was the first Italian cyclist to arrive on podium at the Tour since Felice Gimondi in 1972.

His level of performance declined sharply from around 1994/1995, and he retired in 1998 after having been found guilty of doping several times in 1997.

His most famous stage win was stage 13 of the 1992 Tour de France, when he attacked on the first climb of the day, arriving in Sestriere after holding off a thrilling chase by Miguel Indurain and Gianni Bugno.

In his career he had to face another great champion, Miguel Indurain, who declared: "my victories would not have been so beautiful, if I had not had an adversary like Chiappucci".

Among the awards received by Chiappucci there is also a silver medal earned in 1994 at the World Cycling Championship in Sicily.

Not gifted with an exceptional physique, Chiappucci was distinguished by a gritty, combative style, always ready to attack; he did not hold back in the face of any climb or time trial.

He is considered one of the athletes who most contributed to the growth, as a cyclist, of Marco Pantani.

Doping notes

Claudio Chiappucci used the services of doctor Francesco Conconi^[1], who is accused of applying EPO to cyclists.^[2][3] Conconi was found 'morally guilty', but not convicted, because the statute of limitations had expired.^[4] The judge had looked at medical reports of 33 cyclists in the period 1993-1995, including Chiappucci's, and all blood tests showed largely fluctuating hematocrit-values, indicative for EPO-use.^[5] In 1997, Claudio Chiappucci told prosecutor Vincenzo Scolastico that he had been using epo since 1993, but later he retracted that statement.^[6]

Major results

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

External links

• Palmares (French)
• Claudio Chiappucci dans le Tour de France (French)

Notes

v • d • e Tour de France Polka dot jersey winners 1933 Trueba • 1934 Vietto • 1935 Vervaecke • 1936 Berrendero • 1937 Vervaecke • 1938 Bartali • 1939 Maes • 1947 Brambilla • 1948 Bartali • 1949 Coppi • 1950 Bobet • 1951 Géminiani • 1952 Coppi • 1953 Loroño • 1954 Bahamontes • 1955–1956 Gaul • 1957 Nencini • 1958–1959 Bahamontes • 1960–1961 Massignan • 1962–1964 Bahamontes • 1965–1967 Jiménez • 1968 González • 1969–1970 Merckx • 1971–1972 Van Impe • 1973 Torres • 1974 Perurena • 1975 Van Impe • 1976 Bellini • 1977 Van Impe • 1978 Martínez • 1979 Battaglin • 1980 Martin • 1981 Van Impe • 1982 Vallet • 1983 Van Impe • 1984 Millar • 1985 Herrera • 1986 Hinault • 1987 Herrera • 1988 Rooks • 1989 Theunisse • 1990 Claveyrolat • 1991–1992 Chiappucci • 1993 Rominger • 1994–1997 Virenque • 1998 Rinero • 1999 Virenque • 2000 Botero • 2001–2002 Jalabert • 2003–2004 Virenque • 2005–2006 Rasmussen • 2007 Soler • 2008 None • 2009 Pellizotti

v • d • e Tour de France Combativity award winners 1956 Darrigade • 1957 Barone • 1958 Bahamontes • 1959 Saint • 1960 Graczyk • 1961 Team West-Southwest • 1962 Pauwels • 1963 van Looy • 1964 Anglade • 1965 Gimondi • 1966 Altig • 1967 Letort • 1968 Pingeon • 1969–1970 Merckx • 1971 Ocaña • 1972 Guimard • 1973 Ocaña • 1974–1975 Merckx • 1976 Delisle • 1977 Knetemann • 1978 Wellens • 1979 Kuiper • 1980 Levavasseur • 1981 Hinault • 1982 Clère • 1983 Demierre • 1984 Hinault • 1985 Ducrot • 1986 Hinault • 1987 Delgado • 1988 Simon • 1989 Fignon • 1990 Chozas • 1991–1992 Chiappucci • 1993 Ghirotto • 1994 Poli • 1995 Buenahora • 1996–1997 Virenque • 1998–1999 Durand • 2000 Dekker • 2001–2002 Jalabert • 2003 Vinokourov • 2004 Virenque • 2005 Pereiro • 2006 de la Fuente • 2007 Txurruka • 2008 Chavanel • 2009 Pellizotti