Stefano Garzelli

Stefano Garzelli (born July 16, 1973 in Varese ) is a sports director of a cycling team and former Italian cyclist . His greatest success as an active player was the overall victory at the Giro d'Italia 2000 .

Career

Garzelli began his professional career in 1997 with the cycling team Mercatone Uno as a helper for Marco Pantani . At the Giro d'Italia 1997 he took over the role of the class driver after Pantani retired and finished ninth overall. His first big success was the 1998 Tour de Suisse victory with a lead of 53 seconds over Swiss Beat Zberg .

His greatest career success was the overall victory of the Giro d'Italia 2000 . In Prato Nevoso , the goal of the 18th stage, he won the stage. On the penultimate stage, a mountain time trial from Briancon over the Col de Montgenèvre to Sestriere , he finally took over a minute from Francesco Casagrande, who had been leading up to that point , and took over the pink jersey .

At the Giro d'Italia 2002 , Garzelli won the second and fifth stages and wore the pink jersey for four days. For the 10th stage he was no longer allowed to compete because he tested positive for the masking agent probenecid and was banned for six months for doping . He also had to pay a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs, half of which were suspended for five years.

At the Giro d'Italia 2003 he won the third stage. After his second success on Monte Terminillo , the goal of the seventh stage, he also took over the overall lead for three days before it was taken from him by the eventual overall winner Gilberto Simoni . Garzelli finished second overall, over seven minutes behind.

In the following years Garzelli was unable to repeat his podium finishes at the Giro d'Italia , but continued to drive successfully: In 2004 he won the penultimate stage and finished sixth, five and a half minutes behind. In 2007 , the Varese won two stages, but played no role in the overall classification. In 2009 and 2011 he won the mountain classification , the Maglia Verde . At the Giro 2009, he also achieved his last top placement in seventh place. He achieved another stage win at the Giro d'Italia 2010 .

His other significant successes include winning the Tirreno – Adriatico 2010 stage race . He benefited from the better stage placements compared to his fellow compatriot Michele Scarponi , whom he was only able to replace as a leader in the final stage due to the bonus seconds he had earned in intermediate sprints.

After the Giro d'Italia 2013 , where he finished 108th, he ended his career as a professional cyclist and at the end of the year switched to the sporting direction of his last team, Vini Fantini-Selle Italia .