Felice Gimondi Photo Gallery
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Felice Gimondi (September 29, 1942 - August 16, 2019) was the finest Italian cyclist of the modern era, having won all three Grand Tours, three classics and the World Championships. He won his only Tour de France in 1965 with stunning ease. He was a complete rider, able to, sprint, climb and time trial and on any given day he could win any race.
His career ran into Eddy Merckx, who usually got the better of the Italian. When Gimondi won the 1973 World Championships in a spectacular four-up sprint finish, Merckx bellowed for decades that his teammate Freddy Maertens had betrayed him. It wasn't true and Gimondi was enjoying spectacular form that day. A look at his major wins posted below shows he went into decline in the early 1970s and came roaring back in 1973.
Felice Gimondi died on Friday, August 16, 2019 at the age of 76. The 1973 world champion suffered a heart attack while swimming in the sea at Giardini Naxos, a village in Sicily.
BikeRaceInfo.com interview with Felice Gimondi
Professional career: 1965 - 1979
Nicknames: The Aristocrat, The Buzzard of Bergamo
Major Career victories:
143 amateur and professional wins, 56 seconds, 38 third places
1965: Tour de France with 3 stage wins
1966: Paris Roubaix, Giro di Lombardia, Paris-Brussels, Coppa Agostini, Coppa Placci
1967: Giro d'Italia, Grand Prix de Nations, Giro del Lazio
1968: Vuelta a España, Grand Prix de Nations, Giro di Romagna (which was also the Italian road race championship), Criterium des As
1969: Giro d'Italia, Tour de Romandie, Giro dell'Appennino
1970: Trofeo Matteotti
1971: Tour de Romandie, Giro del Piemonte
1972 Gran Premio di Lugano, Volta a Catalunya, Geio dell'Appennino (which was also the Italian road race championship)
1973: World Road Championship, Giro del Piemonte, Giro di Lombardia, Trofeo Baracchi, Coppa Bernocchi, Giro di Puglia
1974: Milano-San Remo, Coppa Agostini
1976: Giro d'Italia, Paris-Brussels
Professional teams:
1965 - 1972: Salvarani
1973 - 1979: Bianchi
Photos:
Gimondi in the 1965 Giro d'Italia
1965 Tour de France, stage 9, on the Tourmalet. From left: Gianni Motta, Raymond Poulidor and Felice Gimondi
1965 Tour de France: Gimondo ascends the Izoard
Gimondi's 1965 Tour de France winning bike
Salvarani had a wonderful 1965 with Vittorio Adorni winning the Giro and Gimondi taking the Tour.
Gimondi in 1966
1967 Giro d'Italia: Gimondi and Franco Bitossi finish a stage.
Gimondi with Franco Bitossi in stage 14 of the 1967 Giro d'Italia.
Gimondi wins the 1967 Giro d'Italia
Gimondi wins the 1969 Giro d'Italia
Gimondi leads Merckx in stage 18 of the 1970 Giro d'Italia
1971 Giro d'Italia, left to right: Franco Bitossi, Felice Gimondi and Italo Zilioli
Princess Paola of Belgium with Marino Basso (rainbow jersey) and Felice Gimondi (Italian champion's tricolor) at the start of the 1973 Giro d'Italia in Verviers, Belgium
1973: Gimondi races in the Rainbow Jersey.
Probably 1973
Eddy Merckx and Gimondi at the start of the 1973 Circuito di Santamonica
1975 Tour de France: Gimondi wins stage 10.
Looking at the rear derailleur, which is Super Record, this should be Gimondi in the 1976 Giro wearing the pink jersey.
1976 Giro d'Italia, stage 19: Gimondi ascents Torri del Vajolet
1976 Giro d'Italia, Gimondi in pink.
Gimondi, the last Italian winner of the Tour de France, raises Marco Pantani's arm at the end of the 1998 Tour.
2000 Giro d'Italia. Gimondi holds up the arm of the overall winner, Stefano Garzelli.
2004: Gimondi in his office in Bergamo. Valeria Paoletti photo
2004: Another shot of Gimondi in the office of his insurance agency. Valeria Paoletti photo
Gimondi's yellow jersey signed by nearly all living Tour winners. Valeria Paoletti photo
Gimondi's 1965 Tour de France yellow jersey and Gianni Motta's 1966 Giro d'Italia pink jersey, both hanging in the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel near Milano.