Paolo Bettini (born April 1, 1974 in Cecina , Italy) is an Italian road cyclist with the Belgian Quick.Step professional cycling team. He is the gold medal winner of the 2004 Athens Olympics road race, and 3-time champion of the Union Cycliste Internationale World Cup series consecutively in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He has also won stages of the Tour de France. He finished in 9th place at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.
Paolo Bettini is nicknamed "Il Grillo" or "The Cricket" for his propensity to attack again and again, and for his sprinting style. He first gained prominence by winning the prestigious Liège-Bastogne-Liège race for the now-defunct Mapei team in 2000 and again in 2002. He set the record for the most number of World Cup race wins in a single season in 2003, by winning the Milan-San Remo, HEW Cyclassics and Classica San Sebastian , and is widely considered to be the best one-day road racer in the world.
2002 World Cup and race season
After his 1-2 win with Stefano Garzelli in Liege-Bastogne-Liege where both riders displayed brilliant tactical riding for their team Mapei, Paolo ran neck-to-neck against contender Johan Museeuw, who won the Paris-Roubaix in a 50-km solo breakaway, and the HEW Cyclassics . A tactical ride in Giro di Lombardia earned Bettini the World Cup.
Paolo Bettini played a strong support role in Mario Cipollini's victory in the UCI Road Cycling World Championship in Zolder, Belgium.
2003 World Cup and race season
The 2003 World Cup series started with Bettini's daredevil ride in winning the opener Milan-San Remo. Attacking twice in the last hills leading down to the Primavera, Bettini had the excellent help of his super-domestique Luca Paolini, who attacked down the tricky descent towards the finish.
However, injury sustained in the Ghent-Wevelgem forced Bettini to miss several races until the Tour de France in July. He then followed through with a charismatic win in the HEW Cyclassics in front of Tour de France runner-up Jan Ullrich, and a win in the Classica San Sebastian .
Unfortunately Paolo Bettini failed to win the UCI Road Cycling World Championship despite being the overall favorite, due to a tactical mistake at the end of the race.
2004 World Cup and race season
The 2004 season started well with his performance in the Milan-San Remo, but saw an emergent Davide Rebellin win the triplet of Fleche Wallone (not in the World Cup), Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Amstel Gold race. Bettini's disappointments only continue with second-place finishes in the HEW Cyclassics which he had won previously, and again in the Classica San Sebastian , again which he had won only last year. The points gained in Paris-Tours -- usually a pure sprinters race -- was enough to put him in the World Cup leader's jersey, but with the last race the Giro di Lombardia better suited to Rebellin's riding style, the World Cup is not yet safe.
However, despite the loss of Luca Paolini to injury -- which meant the loss of a native of the race circuit -- Bettini managed to follow Rebellin throughout the race and control his climbing, resulting in Rebellin quitting in frustration.
Paolo's most important victory was in the 2004 Summer Olympics which saw him break away with only one other rider in the final laps and sprinting for a comfortable margin of victory. Unfortunately, he yet again failed to win the UCI Road Cycling World Championship due to a knee injury when he banged his knee against the team car at the beginning of the race.
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