Luca Paolini (born 17 January 1977) is an Italian former

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2015. He started his sports career in the early 2000s by joining (2000–2002), UCI ProTeam directed by Patrick Lefevere. Within Mapei-Quick Step and then its successor team (2003–2005), Luca Paolini achieved several victories. Among them were first places at Gran Premio di Lugano, Giro del Piemonte and Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli. He has also won stages at Tour of Britain and

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

Career

Paolini was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Seasons 2006–2007 and 2008–2010 Luca Paolini spent in two Italian cycling team – and respectively. As their member, he triumphed at certain stages of

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 Three Days of De Panne, won one-day races

Gran Premio Città di Camaiore The Gran Premio Città di Camaiore was a road bicycle race held in Camaiore, Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital cit ...

, Trofeo Laigueglia, Coppa Placci as well as

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before joining the UCI ProSeries in 2020. In 1 ...

. Meanwhile, his bright victories attracted a particular attention from anti-doping bodies. As his name appeared in taped phone conversations together with Ivan Basso and his sister Elisa, he was suspected in illegal drugs usage. In September 2006 Paolini's home was searched in a doping investigation which was called ''Operazione Athena'' – however it appears that no evidence was found that led to any conviction of Paolini's fault, so Team Liquigas refused to suspend him. In 2011, he was signed by Russian to be a domestique for Filippo Pozzato both at classics and Grand Tours. However, due to Pozzato's poor performance and traumas in season 2011, he switched to other co-riders and pursued his personal goals in the peloton. In autumn 2011 he finished third at Giro del Piemonte having taken his first podium for Team Katusha. In 2013, Paolini took the after breaking away from the leading group with 's Stijn Vandenbergh. The pair resisted and Paolini won the sprint after Vandenburgh took long pulls in the final kilometers. In Milan – San Remo, Paolini finished in the lead group in fifth position, as 's Gerald Ciolek won the race. In 2015, Paolini won a very windy and difficult edition of

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

, as only 39 riders out of 160 finished the race. Paolini attacked his breakaway companions with five kilometers to go and benefited from a disorganized chase to win solo. In May, it was announced that Paolini's contract with Katusha had been extended by a year, finishing at the end of 2016.

Doping case

In the 2015 Tour de France, Paolini tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and was thrown out of the race after Stage 7. His contract with Katusha was nullified. He revealed that he had been suffering from an addiction to the sleeping drug benzodiazepine and claimed to have taken cocaine "at a low point in his life". In April 2016, he was banned from competition for 18 months, with the UCI judging that he had not intended to breach the anti-doping rules, as they do not prohibit the use of cocaine outside competition. Katusha confirmed that he would not be able to return to the team. Paolini's ban expired in January 2017, however in an interview that month he said that he had retired from racing after being unable to find a team, and had invested in a coffee bar in Como. He also stated that he had overcome his addiction to benzodiazepine.

Major results

;1999 : 1st Trofeo Città di Brescia : 1st Gran Premio di Poggiana : 2nd Silver medal uci

Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships : 2nd Giro del Mendrisiotto ;2000 : Tour de l'Avenir ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 3 Tour de Normandie : 1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification, Danmark Rundt : 5th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi ;2001 : 1st Gran Premio di Lugano : 4th Giro del Piemonte : 5th

;2002 : 1st Giro del Piemonte : 2nd Overall Tour de la Région Wallonne : 4th

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

: 8th

: 8th Coppa Placci : 9th Criterium d'Abruzzo : 9th Tre Valli Varesine : 10th Gran Premio di Chiasso : 10th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli ;2003 : 1st Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli : 2nd Coppa Sabatini : 3rd

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

: 3rd Brabantse Pijl : 6th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía : 7th Paris–Brussels : 8th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 8th Paris–Tours : 9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico ;2004 : 1st Brabantse Pijl : 3rd Bronze medal uci

Road race,

: 3rd

: 5th Trofeo Laigueglia ;2005 : Tour of Britain ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 6 : 1st Stage 3 Tour de la Région Wallonne : 2nd

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur road bicycle race, cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is alw ...

: 8th GP Ouest–France ;2006 : 1st

: 1st Stage 12

: 3rd

: 4th Trofeo Matteotti :

Vuelta a Mallorca The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (, ) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparato ...

::6th Trofeo Cala Millor ::10th Trofeo Mallorca : 7th

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

;2007 : 3rd Giro della Romagna : 3rd Tour of Flanders : 4th

: 10th Overall Three Days of De Panne ::1st Stage 1 ;2008 : 1st Trofeo Laigueglia : 1st Coppa Placci : 2nd Giro del Piemonte : 3rd Paris–Brussels : 4th Giro della Romagna : 5th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese : 6th

: 7th Overall Giro della Provincia di Grosseto : 7th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano : 10th Overall Three Days of De Panne ;2009 : 1st

: 1st Stage 6 Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda : 2nd Memorial Cimurri : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato : 3rd Giro del Veneto : 4th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli : 4th Giro del Piemonte : 4th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 6th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi : 9th

;2010 : 3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne ::1st Jersey green

Points classification : 3rd Coppa Ugo Agostoni : 4th : 4th Giro del Veneto : 6th Trofeo Laigueglia : 6th Giro del Friuli : 6th Dwars door Vlaanderen : 6th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato : 10th

: 10th

: 10th Grand Prix de Wallonie ;2011 : 2nd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato : 3rd Giro del Piemonte : 4th Coppa Ugo Agostoni : 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad : 10th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli ;2012 : 2nd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato : 2nd Gran Piemonte : 4th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec : 4th Grand Prix de Wallonie : 7th Tour of Flanders : 9th Road race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 9th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal : 10th GP Ouest–France ;2013 : 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad :

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 ...

::1st Stage 3 ::Held Jersey pink

after Stage 3–6 : 5th

: 8th E3 Harelbeke ;2015 : 1st

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Major championships results timeline

References

External links

Palmares at Cycling Base
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paolini, Luca 1977 births Living people Doping cases in cycling Cyclists from Milan Italian male cyclists Italian sportspeople in doping cases Italian Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Italy Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners