Paolo Bettini

Paolo Bettini (left) on the Germany tour 2004

Paolo Bettini at the Vuelta 2008

Paolo Bettini (born April 1, 1974 in Cecina , Italy ) is a former Italian cyclist and sports director .

Career

Bettini is considered one of the best racing drivers of his generation for difficult one-day races , who has won numerous races thanks to his qualities as a puncher . He earned his nickname il Grillo , the cricket, through his ability to jump away from a field.

During his career Bettini won five monuments of cycling , namely once Milan – Sanremo and twice each Liège – Bastogne – Liège and the Lombardy Tour . He was Olympic road driving champion at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and world cycling champion in 2006 and 2007 . He underscored his strength in the classics by triple overall victory in the cycling world cup .

Eight days after winning the 2006 World Championships in Salzburg, Bettini's brother Sauro, with whom he had a very close relationship, was killed in a car accident. Bettini thought about the end of his career, but his family persuaded him to keep going. Two weeks later, Bettini started the Lombardy Tour and won the important autumn classic for the second time after 2005. Bettini dedicated this victory to his brother.

In the run-up to the 2007 road cycling world championships, Paolo Bettini refused to sign the declaration of honor required by the UCI , the world cycling association , without reservation. There was the opinion that this was a prerequisite for the start of the World Cup, and the agreement between the UCI and the city of Stuttgart as World Cup organizer provided that racing drivers not start without a signed declaration of honor. After the organizing committee of the World Cup had unsuccessfully applied for an injunction against Paolo Bettini's start at the Stuttgart Regional Court , he was finally able to start.

At the end of the 2008 season, Bettini resigned from professional cycling as an active participant.

In May 2010, Bettini succeeded Franco Ballerini, who died in an accident in February 2010, as the new Commissario Tecnico - sporting director - of the Italian national road team and remained in this position until the end of the 2013 season.