Roberto Visentini (born 2 June 1957) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist who won the White Jersey in the 1978 Giro, finished in the top 10 of the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, and 1981 Giro's, made the podium in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, wore the

Maglia Rosa The general classification in the Giro d'Italia is the most important classification of the Giro d'Italia, which determines who is the overall winner. It is therefore considered more important than secondary classifications as the points classif ...

for nine days in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, three days in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and won the 1986 Giro d'Italia. All total he was the victor in 7 Grand Tour stages. Visentini was born in

Gardone Riviera Gardone Riviera ( Gardesano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Garda. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Twin towns Gard ...

, in the

province of Brescia The province of Brescia (; Brescian: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia.With an area of 4,785 km2, it is the ...

, and had a brilliant junior career. In 1975, he was both Junior Italian champion and World Champion. As an amateur he won the 1977 Italian time-trial Championship. He debuted as professional in 1978. In 1980, he won two stages at the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, 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'Ital ...

and was ninth overall in the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. In 1983 Visentini joined the Inoxpran team and was in contention for victory in the Giro with Giuseppe Saronni, but ended up on the podium 2nd place. Riding for the Carrera team in 1984, he won a stage in the 1984 Giro d'Italia and was in a podium position until very late in the race. This race became infamous because French rider

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, as well as the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He held the title of FICP World No. 1 in 1989. Fignon came ...

accused officials of playing favourites by not treating all riders by the same set of rules. Visentini also felt this way making his feelings public. During the 1984 season he also won a stage in

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

and the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

of the Giro del Trentino. In the 1985 edition, he was in good position to win his first Giro being in the lead for 9 stages when he fell ill and was forced to retire, leaving the victory to

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In ...

. He won the 1986 Giro by defeating racers such as Saronni and

Francesco Moser Francesco Moser (, ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition. Moser was dom ...

by about 1:00 and 2:00 respectively, and also

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

who placed 4th. Visentini won stage 6 and took over the Pink Jersey on stage 16 which he would hold for the remainder of the race. In

he played a part in one of the most controversial episodes of 1980s Italian cycle racing: Visentini, who was the racing for , took the pink jersey for the leader of the general classification from his teammate Stephen Roche after winning an individual time trial. Several days later in a mountain stage he was suddenly attacked by his teammate

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational corporation, multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, ...

, who had ignored the team's order not to attack. The Carrera team led the peloton in the chase after Roche until Visentini was left without any teammates. From there Visentini tried to chase him down on his own but finished several minutes behind the Irishman, who took back the pink jersey. Several days later Visentini had to retire from the race because of a broken wrist. Roche left the Carrera team, which kept Visentini, but he was never again able to compete at this elite level. He concluded his career in 1990 with 18 victories, including the 1986 Giro d'Italia, the 1981 Giro del Trentino and the 1983

Career achievements

Major results

;1979 :1st Circuit of Faenza :10th Overall

;1980 :

::1st Prologue & Stage 16b ( ITT) :9th Overall

;1981 :1st Overall Giro del Trentino :6th Overall

;1982 :1st Trofeo Baracchi ;1983 :1 st Overall

:1st Ruota d'Oro :2nd Overall

::1st Stage 22 (ITT) ;1984 :1st Stage 13

:Stage in the

;1986 :1st Jersey pink

Overall

::1st Stage 6 :1st Milan-Vignola :1st Circuit of Florence ;1987 :

::1st Prologue & Stage 13 (ITT)

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visentini, Roberto 1957 births Living people Cyclists from the Province of Brescia Italian male cyclists Giro d'Italia winners Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners Italian Vuelta a España stage winners 20th-century Italian sportsmen