Cipollini...The Wounded Lion King

[firerescuefin]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mario-cipollini-the-wounded-lion-king


I've never liked him...never found him charming....and am floored when the same people that romanticize him and excuse his behavior bag on guys like Cav and Sagan

This article makes me like him less.

Flame away...

[krismac23]

Well said good sir.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mario-cipollini-the-wounded-lion-king

I'm going to get flamed...but that's fine.

I've never liked him...never found him charming....and am floored when the same people that romanticize him and excuse his behavior bag on guys like Cav and Sagan

This article makes me like him less.

Flame away...

[enr1co]

No fllames here. Not a hater but not a fan either. I will say that was one long boring read.

[velomonkey]

Decent article - here is gem straight from his mouth

"When you used to look at Hinault, you saw a good-looking bloke. Indurain, ····, he was handsome. Strong men. Merckx, bloody hell, he was like an actor… Now, look at Schleck, look at Contador. They’re extraordinary athletes, but come on. They’re small, skinny, light, like a pair of show ponies.”

True dat!!!!!!!!

[rain dogs]

I appreciate the article because there are few people talking about the absurd inconsistencies in cycling's past/sanctions.

I lost a lost of respect for Cipollini/CONI when they did nothing for his Fuentes/Puerto links and yet they (an Italian federation) banned Valverde a Spaniard. (full disclosure Valverde fan)

I believe Valverde deserved his sanction, but he didn't deserve to be the only rider out of 60+ to be sanctioned (with Basso self-sanctioning to be able to say he only "thought about doping", and retired Ullrich being symbolic).

That media/fans rip Valverde because he thought he was being unfairly singled out and fought it, while CONI were letting Cipo off, LUX letting FSchleck off and so many others walked. That was extremely biased selective Justice. The UCI tried stripping his results back to 2003!

Glad some writers are not letting those shady facts slide into the forgotten so easily with some of our other 'bright' stars. Cipo just smiled and raced on into 2008.

[pbarry]

Took a few notes from LA along the way, no?

[CunegoFan]

Decent article - here is gem straight from his mouth

"When you used to look at Hinault, you saw a good-looking bloke. Indurain, ····, he was handsome. Strong men. Merckx, bloody hell, he was like an actor… Now, look at Schleck, look at Contador. They’re extraordinary athletes, but come on. They’re small, skinny, light, like a pair of show ponies.”

True dat!!!!!!!!

Cipo's quote about the lack of machismo in modern cycling is hilarious. This is what he said after Contador and Schleck crossed the line patting each other on the back:

“I read an interview with Umberto Veronesi, a scientist, a reputed oncologist and Minister for Health,” Cipollini continued. “In five hundred years or more, human beings might have both sets of genitalia, male and female. I don’t want this evolution to have started already in cycling…”

[CunegoFan]

I am skeptical about the article. According to the official story of who is reponsible for the doping cycling's problem over at Cycling News' forum, often referred to as The Asylum because of the crazies who post there, everyone was forced into blood transfusions because Armstrong started using them. But this article has Cipo starting as soon as the EPO test began to be used in cycling. How could he have started so early when Armstrong could not have forced him into it? Not believable.

:)

[jlwdm]

I did not read the article but I like Mario. His train controlling the finish of sprints was a thing of beauty. He also brought some entertainment value.

Jeff

[carpediemracing]

He was definitely a showman.

I wasn't a fan of his sprinting style, it is opposite mine. I tend to root for those that do short sprints, not the long drawn out ones like him.

On the other hand he really had the first true sprint train.

There's a story that I heard from the Spinergy folks. Cipollini used to race the Rev-Xs. He complained that the first wheel set he had was too soft. They put the X-braces on them (which help tremendously based on my own experience). Not good enough. They doubled up on the reinforcement layer on the spoke (later sold as the SuperStiff). This, too, helped a lot, at least based on my wheels. He said they were too flexible still.

The engineers had run out of ideas and the Giro or Tour or something was coming up. They painted the X-Brace+SuperStiff wheels red, replaced the spinergy decals with "LION KING", and had someone fly over to Europe with the wheels.

"Perfect!"

I think Cipollini won at least one stage on those wheels. Later I think they gave Cipollini some more interesting looking wheels, perhaps with a later generation hub area (there were 4 generations) and got the red ones back. A racer employed at Spinergy raced those exact red wheels for a while.

I raced on wheel set with X-Braces, SuperStiff (double layup on the spoke reinforcements), ExtraLight (Ti axle, drilled out alum rim bit), 4th gen hub (outboard bearings, alum cylinder around hub). It wasn't a regular wheel set because SS and EL weren't supposed to be on the same wheels, but this was like knowing someone at McDonalds and getting a Big Mac made out of Quarter Pounder parts. I really liked the wheels, I trusted them with my life (because I did), and I even put my then-girlfriend on them (now my wife).

[Llewellyn]

What an arse. I've never been a fan. I loathe sportspeople that are show ponies and he was about the biggest of the lot.

[bcroslin]

He's a cartoon character and a d-bag. But, he's entertaining.

[joosttx]

I hate the game more than I hate the player. Pro cycling, Grand tours in particular, were more akin to pro wrestling for that period of time than to actually sport. I found him playing the role very well.

[maverick_1]

Definitely a showman, a stylish one at that.
This is hilarious..

“I was a leopard. And you don’t ask a leopard to be a cow.”:banana:

[Louis]

IMO taking Cipollini seriously and criticizing him for the character he plays is only a few steps removed from this type of spectacle:

http://scrublife.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/wrestlemania26.jpg

[oldpotatoe]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mario-cipollini-the-wounded-lion-king


I've never liked him...never found him charming....and am floored when the same people that romanticize him and excuse his behavior bag on guys like Cav and Sagan

This article makes me like him less.

Flame away...

Hmmm...no surprise but he is an actor on a world stage, for our entertainment. Some people don't like Russell Crowe either.

But I would say when acting, he did a more impressive job than the two mentioned who seemed like HS actors in their first Hamlet, by comparison.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

How long has it been since he's won anything of merit? Or done anything since he (really) retired? And he is still interviewed and talked about. And isn't that his point? Didn't read the article, but I'm sure his bike line was alluded to.

***Edit, read the article, same old same old. And his bikes are mentioned. Meh.

[Md3000]

He was definitely a showman.

The engineers had run out of ideas and the Giro or Tour or something was coming up. They painted the X-Brace+SuperStiff wheels red, replaced the spinergy decals with "LION KING", and had someone fly over to Europe with the wheels.

"Perfect!"
.

Hahaha brilliant! I loved him and his flamboyance tbh. Everyone doped, so did he, whatever... Rather watch him do something outrageous than be boring.

Cycling journalists must be so bored - just picking any 90s rider and come up with a "revealing" article filled with stuff everyone knows already blah blah blah.. Who's next? Zabel? Omg! He doped too!!! Abdoujaparov? Omg!!! Yawn

Do some real investigative journalism and reveal dopers in the current peloton instead of beating a dead cow that retired after already being beaten to death the last time.

[zap]

I never spent any time with Mario so I have no idea what sort of person he is. I really did enjoy watching him race.

[Gaucho410]

Huge Cipo fan here, all I'll say is doping or no, cycling has never been quite as interesting since he retired. The guy was like the Dennis Rodman of cycling.

[thirdgenbird]

If you made a list of professional athletes in any sport who have never doped, don't have an ego, and make a good role model, you probably wouldn't come up with many names.

As far as the sag and Cav comparison comparison, OP summed that up pretty well.

Hmmm...no surprise but he is an actor on a world stage, for our entertainment. Some people don't like Russell Crowe either.

But I would say when acting, he did a more impressive job than the two mentioned who seemed like HS actors in their first Hamlet, by comparison.

[Little Bill]

His animation has been missed. His absolute arrogance is not.

[harryblack]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mario-cipollini-the-wounded-lion-king


I've never liked him...never found him charming....and am floored when the same people that romanticize him and excuse his behavior bag on guys like Cav and Sagan

This article makes me like him less.

Flame away...

yet you (and not just 'you' singular but all relevant cycling fans) liked or like the inane Tom Danielson... the insufferable Jens Voigt... multi-millionaire one-time 'Tour contender' George Hincapie etc etc...

Not a fan of sprint trains or sprint train stages either but Cipo was fine, better than a snooze like Petacchi; it's part sport, part show biz... did you hate Pantani also?

Cipo was beloved being pushed up the mtns in Tour de Georgia, hah.

Better Cipo staying silent about dopage than Voigt's career of fraud and fake 'heroics.'

[oldpotatoe]

His animation has been missed. His absolute arrogance is not.

?? His arrogance was a huge part of his animation. Look in the dictionary for 'flamboyant, arrogant, in yer face, Italian bike racer'...see a pic of Cipo.

I don't think anybody has come close to the theater he brought to the oftimes conservative, traditional, boring(?) profession peloton.

"cannondale, best bike, eh?"

[firerescuefin]

yet you (and not just 'you' singular but all relevant cycling fans) liked or like the inane Tom Danielson... the insufferable Jens Voigt... multi-millionaire one-time 'Tour contender' George Hincapie etc etc...

Not a fan of sprint trains or sprint train stages either but Cipo was fine, better than a snooze like Petacchi; it's part sport, part show biz... did you hate Pantani also?

Cipo was beloved being pushed up the mtns in Tour de Georgia, hah.

Better Cipo staying silent about dopage than Voigt's career of fraud and fake 'heroics.'

I like Tom, cause I got to know him. I won't sit here and excuse what he has brought upon himself. I think Voigt's act got really tired...have never bought in to GH's "good soldier" act. I don't like Cippo.....didn't like him when he was in his prime. I got why people did. My OP was aimed at the folks that pine over the "good old days" and makes excuses for those guys, yet have no tolerance when Cav runs his mouth or Sagan pops a wheelie.

[oldpotatoe]

I like Tom, cause I got to know him. I won't sit here and excuse what he has brought upon himself. I think Voigt's act got really tired...have never bought in to GH's "good soldier" act. I don't like Cippo.....didn't like him when he was in his prime. I got why people did. My OP was aimed at the folks that pine over the "good old days" and makes excuses for those guys, yet have no tolerance when Cav runs his mouth or Sagan pops a wheelie.

Good article in the latest Rouleur about Cav...seems fatherhood/marriage has moderated him, at least a little.

[CunegoFan]

Without riders like Cipo we'll end up with the bland robots who compete in NASCAR. Imagine the post race interviews.

"The Trek-Shimano-Zipp bike was working great today. As I came into the last kilometer, I leaned the Trek-Shimano-Zipp machine through the last corner then sprinted in a 53x12. I crossed the line with my Trek-Shimano-Zipp and that's all she wrote. I would like the thank everyone at Trek-Shimano-Zipp racing for gettin' 'er done."

[William]

http://superissimo.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mario_smokin_feat.jpg

"Whatever, you go pedal your bicycle, I'll be right behind you. Chiao."


"Haha!!"

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1b/af/f1/1baff12cab5081121a2bddf12433e3c5.jpg




:)

[PQJ]

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1b/af/f1/1baff12cab5081121a2bddf12433e3c5.jpg


And now I know why they invented the bib short.

[spacemen3]

Check out the list of guys who won the Giro d'Italia in the 90's and 2000's. Dopers and bores. Cipo remains awesome. :)