Click through: The sporting career of Mario Cipollini
Mario Cipollini aka "Supermario" became world champion on the road in 2002, won the sprinter's jersey three times at the Giro d'Italia and secured 57 stage wins in Grand Tours. The darker side of his professional career includes his involvement in the Fuentes doping scandal, EPO in his post-test from the Tour de France 1998 and his notorious penchant for violence. In 2020, he had to undergo heart surgery for the second time. With his performances and escapades, "Re Leone" (The Lion King) repeatedly made it into the limelight.
Mario Cipollini in the spotlight
1999: Mario Cipollini appears dressed as Julius Caesar at the Tour de France enrolment ceremony.
2000: Because he beats up the Spanish rider Francisco Cerezo at the start of stage 5, he is excluded from the Vuelta a Espana excluded. Cerezo needs three stitches in his forehead.
2001: Cipollini rides the Giro prologue in a non-authorised time trial suit with muscles and tendons printed on it.
2002: Another banned time trial suit at the Giro prologue: this time with a tiger pattern.
2004: A conversation with sports journalist Beppe Conti in the Domina Vacanze team bus escalates - the journalist narrowly escapes the threatened beatings.
2013: Following reports about his doping past, Mario Cipollini declares that journalists are now on "a black and white list".
2016: Because users had criticised him for not wearing a cycling helmet in a photo of a road bike ride, he posted a photo on Facebook showing him naked with a cycling helmet during roller training.
2022: Mario Cipollini is sentenced to three years in prison. A court in his home town of Lucca punished the 55-year-old former world champion for threats and violence against his ex-wife Sabrina Landucci, according to the news agency Ansa reported. Landucci reported the incidents in January 2017. In addition to the prison sentence, the former sprinter must pay a fine of 85,000 euros.
