Alessandro Ballan (born 6 November 1979 in

Castelfranco Veneto Castelfranco Veneto ( vec, Casteło) is a town and ''comune'' of Veneto, northern Italy, in the province of Treviso, by rail from the town of Treviso. It is approximately inland from Venice. History The town originates from a castle built here ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

) is an Italian former professional

road bicycle racer 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 ...

who most recently rode for

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

team . He is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in 2008. Although he possessed a frame that was usually more associated with climbing, Ballan established himself as a leading

spring classics The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

contender. His nickname, ''Bontempino'', is a diminutive reference to

Guido Bontempi Guido Bontempi (born 12 January 1960 in Gussago) is an Italian former road bicycle racer. Bontempi's career highlights include winning the spring's classic Gent–Wevelgem two times (1984 and 1986) and a total of 16 stages in the Giro d'Italia ...

, to whom he bears a resemblance.

Career

Ballan turned professional in 2004 with the team. Despite a decent amateur career, Ballan was not sought after by professional teams, and required a little bit of help to secure a professional contract. In his first season, Ballan worked as a

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 I ...

for

Romāns Vainšteins Romāns Vainšteins (born 3 March 1973, in Talsi) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Latvia. He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship in Plouay, France. At the end of the race, he won the sprint for the line ...

and

Gianluca Bortolami Gianluca Bortolami (born 28 August 1968) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. Bortolami's greatest feats was capturing the monumental classic Tour of Flanders in 2001 and winning the 1994 UCI Road World Cup season championship. ...

2005

In 2005, Ballan was given the opportunity to aim for high placings in the

and achieved a stage victory and second overall in the

Three Days of De Panne 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

, along with sixth place in the

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 ...

, having attacked the leading group with 37 km to go. Later in the season, he achieved his first

ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ea ...

victory in taking stage 4 of the Eneco Tour of Benelux.

2006

In 2006, Ballan started his spring classics campaign as a highly rated contender, given his performances in 2005 and his success in the warm-up races in winning the

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 G ...

, a second place to

Tom Boonen Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...

in the

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 ki ...

and third overall at the

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 ...

. Ballan was a leading protagonist in the classics: he took fifth at the

and followed this with third at

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 ...

, following the disqualifications of

Peter Van Petegem Peter van Petegem (born 18 January 1970 in Brakel, Belgium) is a former professional road racing cyclist. Van Petegem last rode for Quick Step-Innergetic, in 2007. He lived in Horebeke. He was a specialist in spring classics, one of ten riders to ...

, Vladimir Gusev and

Leif Hoste Leif Hoste (born 17 July 1977) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team team . Born in Kortrijk, Hoste's career highlights included winning two stages and the overall title at the ...

. Later in the season, Ballan further proved his talent with a second placing in stage 12 of the

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 ...

and a third place overall in the

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

. Ballan finished in sixth place in the individual rankings of the 2006 UCI ProTour.

2007

In 2007 Ballan suffered a broken collarbone during

. Despite this injury, Ballan worked hard in

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 ...

, although Ballan's teamleader

Daniele Bennati Daniele Bennati (born 24 September 1980) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the , , , , , , and squads. Specialising in fast sprint finishes, Bennati turned professional in 2002, when ...

did not win the race. Nearly two weeks later, Ballan won the

after an escape during stage 1. Ballan did not win the stage, but beat his nearest opponent

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 ...

during the closing time trial, in which Ballan finished 10. On 8 April, Ballan took a prestigious win at the

in a close sprint finish ahead of local favourite

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 ...

. Ballan is the first Italian to win the

and the

in the same season. On 19 August he won the

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 ...

with an attack in the final kilometer, holding off all of the sprinters, including former winner

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 ...

and promising young German sprinter

Gerald Ciolek Gerald Michael Ciolek (born 19 September 1986) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2016. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . Career Ciolek started racin ...

, to take his second one-day classic of the season.

2008

His spring of 2008 wasn't as prolific as 2007 although he was involved in the decisive break of

and rode hard to a third place behind past winners

and

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began r ...

together with whom he entered the

Roubaix Velodrome The Roubaix Velodrome (officially Vélodrome André-Pétrieux) is a velodrome in Roubaix, Nord, France. It was opened in 1936 and has hosted the finish of the one-day " monument classic" cycling race Paris–Roubaix since 1943. The race moved to ...

losing out in a sprint to the line. This came a week after a fourth place in defence of his

crown. He again opted to skip his home tour – the Giro d'Italia, but raced in both the other grand tours – the

and 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 ...

, winning a mountain stage and wearing the leader's jersey in the latter. In September 2008 Ballan won the UCI Road Race World Championships. In a race in which 2007 champion and Italian team mate

Paolo Bettini Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974 in Cecina, Tuscany, Cecina, Province of Livorno, Livorno, Tuscany) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle ra ...

was favourite, Ballan was again involved in the decisive break on the final lap of the undulating Varese circuit. From a group of 12 riders, including 2 Italian team mates

Damiano Cunego Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams. Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, ...

and

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 classics specialists of his generation with more than fifty top t ...

, Ballan attacked from 1500 metres out and held off the sprint to win by 3 seconds in front of his home crowd.

2009

As if suffering from the curse of the rainbow jersey, Ballan was diagnosed with

cytomegalovirus ''Cytomegalovirus'' (''CMV'') (from ''cyto-'' 'cell' via Greek - 'container' + 'big, megalo-' + -''virus'' via Latin 'poison') is a genus of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'', in the family ''Herpesviridae'', in the subfamily ''Betaherpe ...

in March 2009 and as a result was unable to contest that year's Spring Classics and Giro. During the

he had an average performance, only coming into the picture in the 19th stage as part of a breakaway which was caught before the finish line. In August 2009, he won the Tour of Poland. Ballan signed with for the 2010 season.

2012

At the

in April, Ballan placed third after initiating a break with 25 km to go. Boonen and Pozzato took up the chase and placed ahead of Ballan in the final sprint. In December, Ballan suffered a severe training crash during a descent as he was riding with his team in Spain. He fractured his left

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

, broke a rib and ruptured his

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

, which had to be removed. He spent a little more than a week in intensive care.

Doping sanction

Ballan is one of 27 people indicted in Italy as part of the Mantova doping investigation. In 2010 when the enquiry was announced he was subsequently suspended by the BMC cycling team. He was later cleared by BMC and allowed to race again on 28 May 2010. In November 2013 it was reported that CONI were seeking a 2-year ban for violation of article 2.2 of the WADA code. In January 2014, CONI handed Ballan a two-year suspension. His contract with was subsequently terminated. Late 2015, his suspension was overturned in court, and Ballan was cleared of any wrongdoing. In 2016, Ballan had attempted to get a contract as professional cyclist, but was unable to do so and thus retired.

Career achievements

Major results

;2005 : 1st Stage 1

: 1st Stage 4 Eneco Tour of Benelux : 6th

;2006 : 1st

: 2nd

: 3rd

: 3rd Overall

: 5th

: 8th

;2007 : 1st Jersey white

Overall

: 1st

: 4th

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 m ...

: 5th Overall

;2008 : 1st Jersey rainbow

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 ...

: 1st Stage 7

: 2nd

Monte Paschi Eroica The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

: 3rd

: 4th

;2009 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 5 ;2010 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 5th Overall

;2011 : 2nd Montepaschi Strade Bianche : 4th

: 6th

;2012 : 1st

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 ...

: 1st Stage 7

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the orig ...

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino ( en, Tour of Trentino) until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

: 3rd Paris-Roubaix : 3rd

: 4th

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

: 8th

: 9th

E3 Harelbeke 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 ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

References

External links

Interview Alessandro Ballan (2013)Team Profile

Eurosport Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballan, Alessandro 1979 births Living people People from Castelfranco Veneto Italian male cyclists Italian sportspeople in doping cases Italian Vuelta a España stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Cyclists from the Province of Treviso Doping cases in cycling