Eros Poli (born 6 August 1963 in

Isola della Scala Isola may refer to : Places and jurisdictions France * Isola, Alpes-Maritimes, a municipality in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur * Isola 2000, a village and ski resort of the municipality of Isola, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur * I ...

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

) is an Italian former professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

of the 1990s, notably employed as

Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to Cipo, is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...

's lead-out man in bunch sprints.

Biography

Poli won the gold medal in the

Team Time Trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, together with Claudio Vandelli, Marcello Bartalini and

Marco Giovannetti Marco Giovannetti (born 4 April 1962) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer and Olympic gold medalist who won the Vuelta a España in 1990. He has also won stages at the Tour de Suisse and the Giro d'Italia. Giovannetti was born ...

. He also rode at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Following Cipollini's abandonment of the

1994 Tour de France The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began on 2 July with a prologue around the French city Lille. After 21 more days of racing, the Tour came to a close on the street of the ...

, Poli won the

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

stage (the 15th) which featured an ascent of

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

. Poli calculated that if he broke away from the peloton by a sufficient margin on the flat run to the base of the climb of the Mont Ventoux, he would reach the summit in front in spite of his relatively poor climbing speed due to his heavy 197 cm frame. In the event, his gap of some 20 minutes was nearly closed, but he crested the climb in front and was not caught by the chasing pack on the run down to the finish of the stage in

. In that Tour, Poli won the

Combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, ...

. Poli rode mainly in the days before cycle helmets were compulsory in professional racing, and normally wore a

casquette A casquette () is a peaked cotton cap traditionally worn by road cyclists. With the introduction of compulsory cycle helmets for massed-start racing, casquettes have become less common, but most professional race outfits still have them produce ...

from which he cut out the top part, leaving just the elasticated headband and the peak to shade his eyes from the sun. He was praised for his calculated cycling style and called the "bus driver", by cyclists such

Chris Boardman Christopher Miles Boardman, (born 26 August 1968) is an English former racing cyclist. A time trial and prologue specialist, Boardman won the inaugural men's World time trial championship in 1994, won the individual pursuit gold medal at the 1 ...

, for his ability to lead the gruppetto through tough stages, ensuring they all reached the cut-off time.Ward, T. (2018, Summer). Lead out First person: In praise of... the gruppetto. ''Cyclist (The Thrill of the Ride)'', (76), 47-48. When asked by ''

Cycle Sport Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycli ...

'' magazine what he would like his epitaph to be, he said "Here lies Eros Poli, famous for being tall and coming last 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 ...

Major results

;1984 :1st Olympic Games,

;1987 :1st World Amateur Team Time Trial Championship ;1992 :1st Stage 7 Alpine Tour, Australia ;1994 :

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

::1st Stage 15 :: Jersey red number

Combativity classification :: Jersey red number

Stages 7 & 15 ;1997 :4th Overall

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

;1998 :1st Dun Le Palestel Criterium

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Eros Poli
at Cyclingnews.com

at http://ruedalenticular.blogspot.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poli, Eros 1963 births Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Italian male cyclists Italian Tour de France stage winners Living people Olympic cyclists for Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in cycling Cyclists from the Province of Verona UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics 20th-century Italian sportsmen