Gilberto Simoni

Gilberto Simoni
	Gilberto Simoni (2007)
To person
Date of birth	25th August 1971 (age 49)
nation	Italy
discipline	Road cycling
doping
2007	Doping suspicions
Most important successes
	Road racing

Gilberto Simoni (born August 25, 1971 in Palù di Giovo ) is a former Italian cyclist .

Simoni is considered to be one of the best pure climbers of the early 2000s. He was able to win the Giro d'Italia twice and finished on the podium five more times, making him one of the three drivers, along with Campionissimi Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali , who finished the Giro seven times in the top three.

Career

Simoni turned professional in 1994 with the Jolly Componibili-Cage cycling team .

Winner of the Giro d'Italia 2001

After being in the years 1999 and 2000 the Giro d'Italia finished in third place, respectively, he was able to host the year 2001 with a lead of 7:31 minutes to Abraham Olano win.

In 2002 Simoni won the mountain finish of the 11th stage in Campitello Matese . However, after a doping test positive for cocaine became known in the previous April , he had to leave the race under pressure from the organizers and other teams. He defended himself by claiming that the finding was based on sweets that his aunt brought for him from Peru. Simoni was acquitted by the Italian Cycling Federation after police found cocaine in the candy.

Winner Giro d'Italia 2003

Simoni won the 2003 Giro d'Italia with a 7:06 minute lead over Stefano Garzelli , three stages and the points classification . In the subsequent Tour de France 2003 , however, he only finished 84th.

Although he could not repeat his overall victories at the Giro in the following years, he was able to place himself in the top ranks of the overall ranking for several years in a row: In 2004 he finished third behind his team-mate Damiano Cunego , with whom there was a great rivalry. He lost the Giro d'Italia 2005 just 28 seconds behind Paolo Savoldelli . He finished third in the 2006 Giro d'Italia , won by Ivan Basso , whom he accused of not keeping an agreement on the stage to Aprica .

Simoni in the first time trial of the Giro d'Italia 2010 in Amsterdam

Mountain bike sport since 2006

Since autumn 2006, Gilberto Simoni drove next to the road cycling and mountain bike races and won the Italian championship mountain bike marathon .

Suspected doping in 2007

The Giro d'Italia in 2007 ended Simoni fourth. He won the mountain finish on Monte Zoncolan , one of the most difficult climbs in Europe. However, the result of the doping sample taken after this stage, as well as the samples from other drivers, aroused further suspicion, as these had abnormally low hormone levels, which can be an indication of the use of drugs that mask drugs.

At the 2008 Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Villabassa / Val di Sole , Italy , he finished 12th, 17:44 minutes behind the winner, Roel Paulissen .

After the Giro d'Italia 2010 , in which he was 69th with 2:40:14 h behind winner Ivan Basso, he ended his active career.