The Cycliste Moderne, April 27, 2005

“If you brake, you don’t win.”
Mario Cippolini

Farewell to the Lion King

Mario Cippolini announced his retirement today. This is no surprise, he is older and slower than ever. It is surprising that he is doing it in the weeks leading up to the Giro d’Italia, a race that has defined his career.

The all-time leader in Giro stage wins is the type of cyclist who comes along once in a generation. It is a shame that, except for his trip to the Tour of Georgia last year, most Americans never got to see him race. It is also a shame that his Tour de France glory days came prior to Lance Armstrong’s dominance.

I will always remember 1997 when Cippo rode Tour on a Cannondale, Saeco's bike sponsor. He showed up to the start of Stage 1 in stars-and-stripes shorts. He won that stage and took the yellow jersey. The next day, he showed up in yellow shorts to match the jersey. At one point during the 1997 Tour he turned to the TV motor bike and said “Cannondale is best bike, no?”

He never finished the Tour. His routine was quite regular: Race hard in the spring. Get some early results. Ride an aggressive Giro (as evidenced by his career record of 42 stage wins). Show up at the Tour, get some wins, get some press, get fined for improper clothing. Pack it in the first time the road went up, head home and work on the tan. This clearly annoyed Tour organizers. The past several years his teams were passed over for Tour selection even though he was probably the biggest star in the peleton. Well, except for Armstrong.

During the late 1990’s, Cippo’s red Saeco train would go to the front during the last 10km, keep the pace incredibly high and leave their leader with about 250 meters to go. He was virtually unstoppable under those conditions. Saeco was built for Cippo and Cippo for Saeco.

I really, think however, that his greatest year was 2002. Not just because he won the World Championship and Milan-San Remo that year. What impressed me was Gent-Wevelgem. Having won MSR a few weeks before, Cippo did not need to be racing Gent-Wevelgem. However, late in the race and without any teammates, he bridged up to a four man group with Americans George Hincapie and Fred Rodriguez. He out-sprinted Hincapie and Rodriguez for the win and proved that he could win on his own merits, without his train.

His victory at Worlds in Zolder, Belgium that year was a fitting conclusion to the season. I feel that it would have been a fitting conclusion to his career as well. However, I cannot fault him for racing the next season as the reigning world champion. Unfortunately for Cippolini, the emergence of Alessandro Petacchi, the demise of his lead-out train, and age have all caught up with him. He had two wins this spring and was expected to continue at least through the Giro.

Cippolini will be missed. His panache was evidenced in his promotion of Cannondale, his ads for Northwave and his work for other sponsors. Cippo has more charisma than the rest of the peleton combined. Does any one not like Cippo? There is no replacement in the peleton for the “Lion King.”