Rodolfo Massi (; born 17 September 1965) is an Italian former professional

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 common ...

. He won a stage in

1996 Giro d'Italia The 1996 Giro d'Italia was the 79th edition of the Giro. It began on May 18 with a mass-start stage that began and ended in the Greek capital Athens. The race came to a close on June 9 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city o ...

and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room. In the 1990 Tour de France, Massi was the

Lanterne rouge The ''lanterne rouge'' is the competitor in last place in the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French for "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the rear vehicle of a passenger railway train or the brake van of a freight ...

Biography

As an amateur, Massi won many races, and when he became a professional cyclist in 1987, much was expected from him. In 1988, he broke a leg, and after the operation, one of his legs was a few centimeters shorter than the other. Massi often complained that he was not able to cycle in a regular way, and became a domestique for many different teams. In 1998, he had his best year. He won the Tour Méditerranéen and the Giro di Calabria. In the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

, he won a mountain stage, and after the 16th stage was in seventh place in the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...

, and leading the

mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

, when corticoids were found in his hotel room. He was questioned by the police, and was not able to start the next stage. Massi was the first rider in history to be arrested for breaking doping laws. Later, all legal charges against him were dropped, but the Italian Olympic Committee banned him for six months.

Major results

Source: ;1987 : 9th Giro di Toscana ;1988 : 2nd Trofeo Pantalica : 7th Trofeo Laigueglia ;1989 : 3rd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore ;1990 : 5th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore : 8th Trofeo Laigueglia : 9th

Giro dell'Appennino The Giro dell'Appennino is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in th ...

;1991 : 4th Trofeo Laigueglia ;1992 : 7th Overall

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino ( en, Tour of Trentino) until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

;1993 : 10th Giro di Toscana ;1994 : 1st Jersey red

Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ::1st Stage 1 : 5th Overall Tour de Suisse : 8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico ;1995 : 3rd Giro del Friuli : 6th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano ;1996 : 1st Stage 10 Giro d'Italia : 2nd Trofeo Laigueglia : 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia : 4th

: 6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico : 6th Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 8th Trofeo Pantalica : 10th

Trofeo Melinda Trofeo Melinda was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was created after the disappearance of Giro dell'Umbria, held b ...

;1997 : 1st Tour du Haut Var : 1st Stage 4

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is ofte ...

: 5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges : 6th Trofeo Laigueglia : 9th

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event ...

: 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico : 10th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 10th Overall Tour Méditerranéen ;1998 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour Méditerranéen :

::1st Stage 10 ::Held Jersey polkadot

after Stages 10–17 : 1st Stage 2 Critérium International : 3rd

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional ...

: 3rd Paris–Camembert : 4th Tour du Haut Var : 5th Overall

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlook ...

: 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country : 7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme : 10th La Flèche Wallonne ;2000 : 1st Stage 6 Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 3rd Giro di Campania : 8th Tre Valli Varesine ;2001 : 8th Giro della Provincia di Siracusa ;2002 : 7th Gran Premio di Chiasso : 10th Overall Giro Riviera Ligure Ponente

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Rodolfo Massi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massi, Rodolfo 1965 births Living people Italian male cyclists Italian Tour de France stage winners Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners Doping cases in cycling Sportspeople from the Province of Ancona Cyclists from Marche

Biography

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

See also

References

External links