{"id":9495,"date":"2026-03-02T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gravelchallenge.gr\/?p=9495"},"modified":"2026-03-02T06:10:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:10:40","slug":"paolo-bettini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gravelchallenge.gr\/en\/paolo-bettini\/","title":{"rendered":"Paolo Bettini, a living legend of cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brief look at Paolo Bettini and his remarkable cycling career. The Olympic \u201csummit\u201d of 2004, the two consecutive World Championships, the \u201cMonuments\u201d and the Grand Tours stage wins trilogy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Thanasis Gkrekoukias
\n<\/strong>Main photo \u00a9 Chiara Redaschi<\/p>\n

Paolo Bettini<\/strong> will take part this year in the Megalopolis Gravel Classic<\/strong> (April 25\u201326 in Megalopolis). The Italian rider, founder and organizer of the GeoGravel Tuscany-Le Strade Grigie<\/a>,<\/strong> is a true living legend of world cycling. \u201cPaolino\u201d was born on April 1, 1974, in Cecina, a small coastal town in Tuscany. His first bicycle was a used frame onto which his father assembled all the remaining parts, also taken from old bikes.<\/p>\n

Success came quickly, first at local level and then nationally, and in 1997, at the age of 23, Bettini turned professional, signing with the Italian team MG Maglificio-Technogym as a domestique for Michele Bartoli. In 1998 he moved to Asics-CGA and shortly after, in 1999, to Mapei-Quick-Step, again as a teammate of Bartoli. One year later, in 2000, came Bettini\u2019s first major victories: Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge followed by a stage win in the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Athens Olympic Games podium in the endurance event (14\/8\/2004). From left, Portugal's Sergio Paulinho (2nd), Italy's Paolo Bettini (1st) and Belgium's Axel Merckx (3rd). \u00a9 AP Photo\/Eric Reisberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the 2001 World Championships in Lisbon, he won the silver medal behind \u00d3scar Freire, after Bartoli refused to support him in the sprint lead-out, highlighting the tense relationship between the two Italians. In 2002 he claimed a second victory at Li\u00e8ge\u2013Bastogne\u2013Li\u00e8ge and won the UCI Road World Cup, a competition created in 1989 that ranked riders based on results in the ten most important one-day Classics of the season, and which was discontinued in 2005.<\/p>\n

In 2003 Bettini secured his third \u201cMonument\u201d, Milano\u2013Sanremo, as well as the Cl\u00e1sica de San Sebasti\u00e1n, the Italian National Road Race Championship and his second consecutive UCI Road World Cup title. Then came 2004, one of the defining moments of his career, at the Athens Olympic Games. In the 211-kilometre road race, Bettini broke away with S\u00e9rgio Paulinho and, overtaking the Portuguese rider in the final meters of the sprint, was crowned Olympic champion.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paolo Bettini on a dirt road in Tuscany with his 3T bike. \u00a9 Chiara Redaschi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having secured his third straight UCI Road World Cup title in its final edition in 2004, as well as Tirreno\u2013Adriatico that same year, the only week-long stage race victory of his career, \u201cPaolino\u201d continued his string of major successes in 2005. He completed the Grand Tour stage-win trilogy with victories in the Giro d\u2019Italia, where he also claimed the maglia ciclamino points classification, and the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. That same year he became Italian national champion again and finished the season with another \u201cMonument\u201d victory at Il Lombardia.<\/p>\n

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\"\"
Paolo Bettini on the top step of the podium at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany (30\/9\/2007). \u00a9 AP Photo\/Daniel Maurer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2006 Bettini added two more Grand Tour stage wins, one in the Giro d\u2019Italia, again taking the maglia ciclamino, and one in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. He reclaimed the Italian national title and won Il Lombardia for a second consecutive year. The highlight of the season came on September 24 at the World Championships in Salzburg, Austria. After 265 kilometres in the road race, Bettini outsprinted Erik Zabel and Alejandro Valverde to become world champion.<\/p>\n

His outstanding performances throughout 2006 earned him the V\u00e9lo d\u2019Or award as the world\u2019s best cyclist of the year. In 2007 he added another Vuelta stage win and, a week later, on September 30 at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, he delivered another spectacular performance in the road race, winning with a powerful final sprint ahead of Alexandr Kolobnev (Russia) and Stefan Schumacher (Germany) to claim his second consecutive world title.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paolo Bettini in Athens, Athens, 5\/9\/2024. \u00a9 2024 Nassos Triantafyllou \/ www.nassostriantafyllou.gr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In June 2010 he became head coach of the Italian national team, succeeding Franco Ballerini. In 2014 he resigned in order to take on the role of general manager for the new professional team being prepared by Fernando Alonso, a project that ultimately never materialized. In 2023 he launched GeoGravel Tuscany \u2013 Le Strade Grigie, now one of Italy\u2019s most renowned gravel events, combining cycling with tourism, gastronomy and local culture.<\/p>\n

In summary, Paolo Bettini was the leading Classics specialist of his generation, an exceptional puncheur, equally adept at explosive sprints and repeated sharp attacks, with a distinctive personal style that earned him the nickname \u201cIl Grillo\u201d \u2013 the Cricket. His Olympic gold medal in 2004, the two World Championship titles in 2006 and 2007, five \u201cMonument\u201d victories and eight Grand Tour stage wins stand out among his 61 professional victories.<\/p>\n

His participation in this year\u2019s Megalopolis Gravel Classic<\/a> <\/strong>is therefore a great honor and a special source of excitement for all participants, who will have the opportunity to meet him and ride alongside him on the beautiful gravel roads of Arcadia.<\/p>\n

An experience not to be missed.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A brief look at Paolo Bettini and his remarkable cycling career. The Olympic \u201csummit\u201d of 2004, the two consecutive World Championships, the \u201cMonuments\u201d and the Grand Tours stage wins trilogy.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[88,159,163,164,165,166,158],"class_list":["post-9495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press","tag-gravel","tag-megalopolis-gravel-classic","tag-news","tag-paolo-bettini","tag-165","tag-166","tag-158"],"yoast_head":"\n\u03a0\u03ac\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf \u039c\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03af\u03bd\u03b9, \u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b6\u03c9\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03cc\u03c2 \u03b8\u03c1\u03cd\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c0\u03b1\u03b3\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03b7\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 - GravelChallenge.gr<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gravelchallenge.gr\/en\/paolo-bettini\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u03a0\u03ac\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf \u039c\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03af\u03bd\u03b9, \u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b6\u03c9\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03cc\u03c2 \u03b8\u03c1\u03cd\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c0\u03b1\u03b3\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03b7\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 - 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