Claudio Chiappucci

Claudio Chiappucci

Chiappucci at the 1993 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name	Claudio Chiappucci
Nickname	El Diablo
Born	(1963-02-28) 28 February 1963 (age 63) Uboldo, Italy
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)[2]
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional teams
1985–1996	Carrera–Inoxpran
1997	Asics–CGA
1998–1999	Ros Mary–Amica Chips
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France Mountains classification (1991, 1992) Combativity award (1991, 1992) 3 individual stages (1991, 1992, 1993) Giro d'Italia Points classification (1991) Mountains classification (1990, 1992, 1993) 1 individual stage (1993) Stage Races Tour of the Basque Country (1991) Volta a Catalunya (1994) Giro del Trentino (1992) One-Day Races and Classics Milan–San Remo (1991) Clásica de San Sebastián (1993) Giro del Piemonte (1989, 1995) Tre Valli Varesine (1994)
Medal record Representing  Italy Men's road bicycle racing World Championships 1994 Agrigento Elite Men's Road Race

Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 1992.

Although his family came from Tuscany, Chiappucci was born in Varese. He won the mountains classification at the 1990 Giro d'Italia and had made the decision to also aim for mountain points at the 1990 Tour de France; He would go on to win the polka dot jersey at three consecutive editions 1990-1992.^[3]

Competing in the 1990 Tour de France however, Chiappucci initially began having designs on wearing the yellow jersey after initiating a stage one attack saw him gain a 10-minute time advantage alongside companions Steve Bauer, Ronan Pensec and Frans Maassen. In subsequent stages, Bauer, Pensec and Chiappucci (from stage 12) took the overall lead, with Chiappucci the first Italian to wear the yellow jersey since Francesco Moser 15 years before. He resisted the defending champion Greg LeMond, only losing the lead of the race after stage 20, the final time trial. In the end, LeMond won the Tour by 2' 16", Chiappucci came home with a surprising second place and, moreover, the status of a cycling star.^[4] He was the first Italian cyclist to arrive on the podium at the Tour since Felice Gimondi in 1972.^[5] This first successful campaign highlighted Chiappucci's main weakness, the time trial. Although vowing to return the following year as a better racer against the clock, Chiappucci was never able to master this discipline.

The year 1991 confirmed to the cycling community that Chiappucci was able to perform consistently. Beginning with a win in the opening classic of the season, the 1991 Milan–San Remo on 23 March, his sixth professional win, clinched by 45 seconds from Dane Rolf Sørensen after riding away from him on the Poggio. It was a win he prepared for, training for twelve days in the new year across the five climbs that populate the final 60 km of the race, and on which he used a series of attacks to whittle away a leading group of eleven.^[6] Chiappucci rode the 1991 Giro d'Italia, placing second overall behind Franco Chioccioli, and winning the points Classification having placed in the top-ten in fifteen of the twenty one stages.^[7] In July, he stood on to the podium at the 1991 Tour de France in Paris, placing third overall and winning the king of the mountains competition. He also won Stage 13 to Val Louron in the Pyrenees, following attacks by Lemond and then Miguel Induráin, out-sprinting the Spaniard at the finish.^[8]

Chiappucci animated the 1992 Tour de France on multiple stages, winning the combativity award for the second consecutive year.^[9] In the first week, he was part of a breakaway with Greg Lemond that gained time on the Peleton in Brussels.^[10] He earned a famous victory on stage 13 of the Tour, when he attacked on the first climb of the day, 245 km from the finish, and arrived in Sestriere after holding off a thrilling chase by Miguel Induráin and Gianni Bugno. On that occasion, Pascal Lino was holding the yellow jersey, but it was one of the first major mountain stages and was anticipated to lose it to the GC contenders. Induráin, Roche, LeMond, Delgado, Bugno and Induráin were all ahead of Chiappucci, who was in 7th overall.^[11] Chiappucci risked everything by joining the early breakaway that no other GC riders were willing to enter. He dropped the other breakaway riders before the first summit and rode on a solo attack for 125 kilometres. He was alone on top of all five main climbs, of which 3 were "première catégorie" and 1 "hors catégorie".^[12] The attack was later described as "brave, to the point of insanity".^[13] By the end of the stage he had jumped to 2nd place overall about ninety seconds behind Induráin. His performance was redolent of the accomplishment of compatriot Fausto Coppi who had won on the mountain 40 years earlier in 1952, and who had served in the Italian army with Chiappucci's father in Africa.^[14][3]

After riding a solid Giro in 1993, it looked like his 1993 Tour de France was to be a big showdown with Miguel Induráin. But from the first mountain stage, Chiappucci was obviously struggling. Although he had a revival later on in the race, Chiappucci finished sixth overall. He won the Clásica de San Sebastián a few weeks after the Tour de France.

At the 1994 Tour de France, his hopes for a fourth podium finish ended when he lost 24 minutes on a single stage in the Pyrenees, having fallen sick. He finished the stage surrounded by five teammates who had escorted him up the mountain.^[15] Later that year, Chiappucci won the silver medal sandwiched between Frenchmen Luc Leblanc and Richard Virenque in the road race at the 1994 World Championship in Sicily.^[16]

Chiappucci rode his last race at the International Criterium of the Valencian Community on 7 November 1999, finishing second behind Abraham Olano.^[17]

Chiappucci was distinguished by a combative style, bringing flair and drama to races, initiating attacks and participating during breakaways, regardless of the specific terrain. Due to his attacking style he was nicknamed El Diablo. His time at the Carrera cycling team coincided with both Stephen Roche and Marco Pantani.^[3][13]

Claudio Chiappucci used the services of doctor Francesco Conconi,^[18] who is accused of applying EPO to cyclists.^[19][20] Conconi was found 'morally guilty', but not convicted, because the statute of limitations had expired.^[21] The judge had looked at medical reports of 33 cyclists in the period from 1993 to 1995, including Chiappucci's, and all blood tests showed largely fluctuating hematocrit-values, indicative for EPO-use.^[22] In 1997, Chiappucci failed the UCI's haematocrit test twice.^[13] That year, he told prosecutor Vincenzo Scolastico that he had been using EPO since 1993, but later he retracted that statement.^[23]

Grand Tour	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Giro d'Italia	64	—	48	24	46	12	2	2	3	5	4	DNF	—	60
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	81	2	3	2	6	DNF	11	37	—	—
Vuelta a España	—	—	—	26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	11	—

Legend

—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

• List of doping cases in cycling

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