Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974 in

Cecina Cecina may refer to: * Cecina (meat), a Spanish and Mexican culinary specialty made of beef * ''Cecina'' (gastropod), a genus of freshwater snails in the family Pomatiopsidae * Cecina, Tuscany, Italy * Caecinia gens, an ancient Roman family * Far ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

) is an Italian former champion

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

road race and in the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2007 World Road Race Championships. He is nicknamed ''Il Grillo'' ("the cricket") for his repeated sudden attacks and his

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

style. He gained prominence by winning

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional r ...

in 2000 and 2002. He set the record for World Cup wins in a season in 2003, winning the

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur road bicycle race, cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is alw ...

and

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the mo ...

. He won the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cy ...

in 2005 and 2006, the

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until ...

in 2001 and 2005 and

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

in 2004.

Early career

Paolo Bettini lived with his family on the

coast. He began racing when he was seven and won 23 of his first 24 races.''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is a British cycling magazine. It is published by Future and is devoted to the sport and pastime of cycling. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".

'', UK, May 2002 His first bike had a secondhand frame which his father, Giuliano, had painted orange. The components were cannibalised from other bikes. He started racing after the encouragement of his brother.''

Procycling ''Procycling'', or ''ProCycling'', was a bicycling sport magazine owned by Future. First published in April 1999, there were 13 issues a year distributed in all countries where there are English-speaking readers. Andrew Sutcliffe, the former e ...

'', UK, November 2001 He came fourth in the world under-23 road championship in 1996, behind three other Italians, Giuliano Fugeras, Roberti Sgambelluri and Luca Sironi.''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...

'', France, 10 July 2000 He turned professional the following year for the MG-Technogym team. There he rode as

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In Ita ...

Michele Bartoli Michele Bartoli (born 27 May 1970, in Pisa) is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. Bartoli was a professional from 1992 until 2004 and was one of the most successful single-day classics specialists of his generation, especially in the Italia ...

, "a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

cyclist," wrote Stephen Farrand, "destined to work for others to earn his crust." He worked for Bartoli, who in return helped with advice. Bartoli won the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

with Bettini's help. Paolo Bettini cycling

Bartoli fell heavily on a knee in 1999 and Bettini was freed to race for himself.'' Vélo'', France, December 2006 He won

in 2000 – treating himself to a €100,000

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

– and a flat stage of that year's Tour de France, from

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

. He won the 2001

after a few months without wins, beating

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...

in the sprint to the finish. His success led to a feud with Bartoli. It culminated in the 2001 world championship in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where Bartoli refused to lead Bettini to a flying start in the sprint finish and the Spaniard,

Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbe ...

, won instead.

2002 World Cup and race season

The 2002 season was a breakthrough. In the World Cup, Bettini was caught in the final kilometers of Milan–San Remo. After his 1–2 win with

Stefano Garzelli Stefano Garzelli (born 16 July 1973) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2013. The high point of his career was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-wa ...

in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Bettini ran neck-to-neck against Museeuw, who won

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

in a 50 km solo breakaway, and the

. A tactical ride in

earned Bettini the World Cup. Bettini played strong support in

Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...

's victory in the UCI Road Cycling World Championship in Zolder,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

2003 World Cup and race season

The 2003 World Cup series started with

. Attacking twice in the last hills leading down to the Primavera, Bettini had the help of

Luca Paolini Luca Paolini (born 17 January 1977) is an Italian former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2015. He started his sports career in the early 2000s by joining (2000–2002), UCI ProTeam directed by Patrick Lefevere. With ...

, who attacked down the tricky descent towards the finish. However, injury in the

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

forced Bettini to miss several races until the Tour de France in July. He then followed with a win in the

in front of Tour runner-up Jan Ullrich, and a win in the

. Bettini failed to win the UCI Road Cycling World Championship despite being favorite due to a mistake at the end of the race. Having established himself in the winning breakaway, hesitation allowed the Spaniard

Igor Astarloa Igor Astarloa Askasibar (born March 29, 1976 in Ermua, Basque Country) is a retired cyclist from Spain. Career Astarloa turned professional with the Italian cycling team and enjoyed his best season in 2003 with team when he won the Flèche Wa ...

to break away to win. Astarloa claimed that Bettini had offered him money to relinquish the win, which Astarloa said he refused. A feud ensued, and Astarloa attributed his comment to a misunderstanding of Bettini's Italian.

2004 World Cup and race season

The 2004 season started well with Milan–San Remo, but

Davide Rebellin Davide Rebellin (9 August 1971 – 30 November 2022) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI Continental team . He was considered one of the finest classic cycle races, classics specialists of his generation with mo ...

won the

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

(not in the World Cup),

and

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classics r ...

. Bettini's disappointments continued with second places in the

, which he had won previously, and in the

, which he had won the previous year. The points gained in

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m, ...

put him in the leader's jersey, but with the last race the

better suited to Rebellin, the World Cup was not yet safe. Bettini followed Rebellin throughout the race, resulting in Rebellin's quitting in frustration. Bettini's most important victory was the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, where he broke away with Portuguese

Sérgio Paulinho Sérgio Miguel Moreira Paulinho, ComIH (born 26 March 1980) is a Portuguese road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He was a domestique in the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tour de France and won the silver medal for Portugal ...

for a comfortable victory decided on a last moment sprint with both. He again failed to win the world championship due to an injury when he banged his knee against the team car at the beginning of the race.

2005 UCI ProTour and race season

After

, Bettini had an injury-marked start which prevented significant participation in the spring classics, and he had no victories until he got two stage wins at the

2005 Giro d'Italia The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Reggio Calabria with a prologue. The race came to a close with a mass-start road stage that stretched from Albese con Cassano to M ...

, where he wore the pink jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

for several days. After that, no more good results until the

2005 Vuelta a España These are the results for the 2005 edition of the Vuelta a España cycling race. Roberto Heras was the original champion but the win was awarded to Russian Denis Menchov after Heras tested positive in a doping test. Heras made an appeal through t ...

, where he beat

Alessandro Petacchi Alessandro Petacchi (born 3 January 1974) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2015. A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the ...

in an uphill sprint in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. After that, he took part in the world championship in Madrid, where he got into the decisive break but did not get a medal. A week later, he won

for a second time. Two weeks later he won the Giro di Lombardia as well.

2006 UCI ProTour and race season

Bettini won the first race of the season, the ''Trofeo Soller'', which is part of the Challenge Mallorca. He also won the

Gran Premio di Lugano The Gran Premio di Lugano ( en, Grand Prix of Lugano) is a road bicycle race held annually in Lugano, Switzerland. Prior to 1981 it was held as an individual time trial but in recent years it has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe ...

, two stages in the

and the 15th stage in the Giro d'Italia, where he won the

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

. Following the Giro he became the Italian road champion and won a stage at the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

before winning the

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. His brother Sauro died in a car accident a few days after that victory and Bettini was close to abandoning cycling. He changed his mind and won the

in tears. On 2 March 2007, the French magazine ''Velo'' awarded Bettini its Velo d'Or as best rider of 2006.

2007 UCI ProTour and race season

Bettini raced in the second annual 2.HC-rated

2007 Tour of California The Amgen Tour of California 2007 was the second edition of an eight-day, 650-mile (1,045 km) stage race that raced through the California redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast. The road bicycle racing event was held February 18, 2007 ...

and made it worth his while by capturing Stage 4 in a sprint finish. He later won the third stage of the

and finished second in three more stages. Then he won once again the

rainbow jersey The rainbow jersey is the distinctive jersey worn by the reigning world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the c ...

of the Elite Men's Road at Stuttgart.

2008 season

Bettini's start was plagued by injuries, including a fall at the

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season. ...

and a rib broken when he fell on a wet descent in the

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country (autonomous community) ...

. He won the Trofeo Matteoti and stages at the

Tour of Austria The Tour of Austria (german: Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt) is a stage cycling race held in Austria. From 1949 to 1995 it was a race for amateur cyclists, turning into a professional event in 1996. In 2005 and 2006 it was organised as a 2 ...

and

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

. He also won two stages at the

, where he said he was leaving Quick Step after 10 years due to a financial dispute. On September 27 he announced his retirement. On 4 November, he fell during the Milan six-day and was taken to hospital unconscious.

Coaching career

On 17 June 2010, Bettini was named as the new Italian national coach, following the death of

Franco Ballerini Franco Ballerini (11 December 1964 – 7 February 2010) was an Italian road racing cyclist. Born in Florence, his greatest exploits as a rider came with his two victories in the cycling classic Paris–Roubaix, riding for the Mapei cycling ...

in a car accident earlier that year. He left this role in 2014 to work with

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...

on his new cycling team in preparation for its launch in 2015.

Track racing

Bettini followed the path of riders before the 1970s and took up six-day racing in the winter. He rode at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in 2006. "I didn't do it for the money," he said. "I had that already. I did it through my love of racing, to see what it's like to race on a track." The bankings proved trickier than the road, however, and his debut was described as "catastrophic" as he failed to get alongside his partner in the two-man relay race, the

madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, and finished the first night "with fear in his face."

Charly Mottet Charly Mottet (born 16 December 1962 in Valence, Drôme) is a French former professional cyclist (1983 to 1994). He was one of the best French road cyclists of his era. His daughter, Eva Mottet, was also a road racing cyclist. She competed as a ...

said: :I saw him at the start of the evening and he worried me. Two hours later, I can tell you, he had won the respect of the others. He was making proper changes,In a madison race, one rider races as the other circles the track slowly, to rest. The faster rider grabs the slower by the hand and hurls him into the race. It demands not only acrobatic skill and strength but the talent to get near the other rider in the first place, riding at 50kmh on a 250m track with up to 30 riders moving at different speeds. he was taking part in the race and he was going better and better. The others couldn't believe their eyes 'commencaient à ne plus voir le jour''

Personal life

Bettini married Monica Orlandini, a literature teacher, in 2000. They moved into a farmhouse belonging to his wife's family, who have been olive farmers for four generations. They live in Riparbella, 10 km from

, where Bettini was born.

Career achievements

Major results

;1996 : 1st Stage 8

Giro Ciclistico d'Italia Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23, also known as Baby Giro, Girobio or Giro Ciclistico d'Italia, is an Italian road bicycle racing amateur stage race created in 1970. Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23 is the most important race on Italy's U23 calendar, ...

: 3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 4th Road race, UCI Road World Under–23 Championships : 9th Overall

Grand Prix Guillaume Tell The Grand Prix Guillaume Tell (, "William Tell Grand Prize") was a professional cycling race held annually in Switzerland. It was part of UCI Europe Tour in category 2.2U. In 2007, the race was part of the UCI Under 23 Nations' Cup The UCI Unde ...

;1997 : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

Hofbrau Cup The Schwabenbräu Cup (1988–1990), Hofbräu Cup (1992–1997) or Dekra Open (1999–2000) was a short professional multi-day cycling race held annually in Germany. Winners Stage winners 1988 Schwabenbräu Cup 1989 Schwabenb ...

: 8th Overall

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually con ...

;1998 : 1st Stage 4a

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

: 3rd

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gr ...

: 3rd

Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli The Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli (also known as GP Beghelli) is a late season men's road bicycle race held annually in Monteveglio, near the city of Bologna, Italy. From 2005 to 2013, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

: 7th Overall Giro d'Italia : 7th Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as PostN ...

::1st

Mountains classification : 7th

Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria The Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria is a road bicycle race held annually in Province of Reggio Calabria The Province of Reggio Calabria ( it, Provincia di Reggio Calabria) was a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was the souther ...

: 8th Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

: 8th

Coppa Sabatini The Coppa Sabatini is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Province of Pisa, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2020, it was added to the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is t ...

;1999 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Giro della Provincia di Lucca The Giro della Provincia di Lucca was a professional road bicycle race held annually in Province of Lucca, Italy held between 1999 and 2006. From 2005, the race was organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, previous ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 4

: 2nd

Milano–Torino Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ev ...

: 3rd Overall

Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle sport, cycle Road bicycle racing, road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in t ...

::1st Stage 2 : 4th

: 5th

: 6th Overall

Tour of Galicia Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

::1st Stage 1 : 7th GP Ouest–France : 7th

Giro dell'Appennino The Giro dell'Appennino is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Fausto Coppi, Francesco Moser, Felice Gimond ...

: 9th

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton (german: Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau) is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Aargau canton, one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The race consists of fifteen laps around the Swiss town o ...

;2000 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Memorial Cecchi Gori ::1st Stages 2 & 4 : 1st

: 1st

Trofeo Manacor The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

: 1st Stage 9

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

: 2nd

Giro della Romagna The Giro della Romagna was a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Italian region of Romagna. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was discontinued in 2011, and in 2013, it merged with the Me ...

: 4th

: 5th

Coppa Placci The Coppa Placci is a semi classic European bicycle race held between Imola, Italy and San Marino. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race is named after Antonio Placci, a cyclist born in Imola w ...

: 7th

Grand Prix de Fourmies The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. Since 2005 it has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which we ...

: 7th

Giro della Provincia di Siracusa The was a single-day road cycling held annually in the Province of Syracuse in Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demog ...

: 9th Road race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: 9th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 10th

Trofeo Pantalica The Trofeo Pantalica was a professional road bicycle race held annually in Province of Syracuse, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the ...

: 10th

GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano The GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano is a road bicycle race held annually in Larciano, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competit ...

;2001 : 1st Züri–Metzgete : 1st

: 2nd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 11 : 2nd Silver medal blank

Road race,

: 3rd

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 4 : 5th

: 5th

Tre Valli Varesine The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which c ...

: 5th

Giro del Lazio The Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. From 2005 to 2008, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing ...

: 6th

: 9th

Firenze–Pistoia The Firenze–Pistoia was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. It was an individual time trial between Prato and Quarrata, in the Province of Pistoia. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

;2002 : 1st Overall

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. History The competition was inaugurated in 1989, and replaced the Super Prestige Pernod Internati ...

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Giro Riviera Ligure Pomente Giro or GIRO may refer to: Banking and Investments * Giro (banking), a direct payment from one bank account to another instigated by the payer * Girobank, a state owned and later privatised financial institution in the UK * GiroBank, a Danish ba ...

::1st Stage 3 & 4 : 1st

: 1st

: 1st Stage 1

: 1st Stage 3

: 2nd Züri–Metzgete : 2nd

Giro di Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will r ...

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 4th

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kil ...

: 4th

: 5th

Omloop Het Volk Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day Road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Nort ...

: 6th

Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato The Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Prato, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicy ...

: 7th

: 8th

: 10th

;2003 : 1st Overall

: 1st

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

Points classification : 1st

: 1st

: 2nd

: 3rd

: 3rd Züri–Metzgete : 4th Road race,

: 4th

Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi The Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi is a one-day professional cycling race between the towns of San Vincenzo and Donoratico on the Tuscany coast in Italy. The 193 kilometre long race takes place at the beginning of February and has now taken ove ...

: 4th Trofeo Alcúdia : 5th Overall

::1st

Points classification : 5th

Tour du Haut Var The Tour du Haut Var ( en, Tour of the Haut Var) is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Var department region in the south of France. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race transformed ...

: 5th

Gran Premio Città di Camaiore The Gran Premio Città di Camaiore was a road bicycle race held in Camaiore, Tuscany, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitio ...

: 5th

: 8th

Giro dell'Emilia The Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour, and since 2020 it's part of the UCI ProSeries calendar. The ...

;2004 : 1st Overall

: 1st

Road race,

: 1st Overall

::1st Stage 4 & 6 : 1st

: 1st Stage 8

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

: 2nd

: 2nd Züri–Metzgete : 3rd

: 5th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 5th

Trofeo Palma de Mallorca The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or ear ...

: 6th Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 6th

: 8th

Ronde van Midden-Zeeland Delta Profronde was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June in Zeeland, Netherlands. In 2005, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was previously known as Ronde van Midden-Zeeland and it was an amateur race ...

: 9th Overall

Circuit Franco-Belge Circuit may refer to: Science and technology Electrical engineering * Electrical circuit, a complete electrical network with a closed-loop giving a return path for current ** Analog circuit, uses continuous signal levels ** Balanced circu ...

::1st Stage 1 : 9th

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

;2005 : 1st

: 1st Züri–Metzgete : Giro d'Italia ::1st Jersey violet

Points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 16

: 2nd

: 4th

: 7th

;2006 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: 1st

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st

: 1st

Trofeo Sóller The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

: Giro d'Italia ::1st Jersey violet

::1st Stage 15 : 1st Stage 2

::1st Stage 1 & 2 : 2nd

: 3rd

Trofeo Pollença The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

: 3rd

Trofeo Cala Millor The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or ear ...

: 7th

: 8th

: 9th

;2007 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: 1st Stage 3

: 1st Stage 4

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the ...

: 4th

: 6th

: 7th

Vattenfall Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is always around 250 ...

: 7th

;2008 : 1st

Trofeo Matteotti Trofeo Matteotti is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Pescara, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which ...

::1st Stage 6 & 12 : 1st Stage 1

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 4th

: 9th

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Monuments results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettini, Paolo Italian male cyclists Italian Tour de France stage winners Italian Vuelta a España stage winners Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Olympic cyclists of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Sportspeople from the Province of Livorno Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics 1974 births Living people Tour de Suisse stage winners Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics UCI Road World Cup winners UCI Road World Rankings winners People from Cecina, Tuscany Cyclists from Tuscany

Early career

2002 World Cup and race season

2003 World Cup and race season

2004 World Cup and race season

2005 UCI ProTour and race season

2006 UCI ProTour and race season

2007 UCI ProTour and race season

2008 season

Coaching career

Track racing

Personal life

Career achievements

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Monuments results

See also

References

External links