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Cipo' heads home

By VeloNews Interactive, With wire services
Published: Sep. 7, 2003
After the fall: Cipollini at the Giro
After the fall: Cipollini at the Giro
Photo: AFP (file photo)

Well, that was fast.

World champion Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) has pulled out of the Vuelta a España, missing the start of the race’s second stage Sunday and catching an early flight back to Italy.

Cipollini abandoned the race after having completed only one stage, Saturday’s opening 28-kilometer team time trial. Cipollini rode poorly during the stage, having to be pushed by teammates on several occasions, leading to Domina Vacanze receiving a fine from race officials.

In a statement given to Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the Vuelta’s race director, Victor Cordero characterized Cipollini’s decision as annoying.

“We have not received an official communication, but we know that Mario Cipollini will not be taking the start of the second stage,” Cordero said. “This is a problem between the cyclist and his team, given that we decided 48 hours before the start of the Vuelta that the Domina Vacanze team could participate in the race without Cipollini. We did this after Cipollini’s confirming that he had not trained since June 30th. For this reason, we were both surprised by Cipollini’s appearance in Gijón and annoyed by his retirement.”

Cipollini has not seriously raced since crashing in the final meters of the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia on May 21. Days earlier he had set the all-time Giro d’Italia stage win record soon after learning that Domina Vacanze would not be invited to the 2003 Tour de France.

While Cipollini had not been expected to ride the entire Vuelta this year, there had been some speculation that he might stay through the first week, challenging for wins in some of the flatter stages.

The 36-year-old Tuscan ace known as 'Super Mario' has won 12 stages in the Tour de France and a record 42 stages in the Tour of Italy and would have been a major attraction for the Vuelta.

But during his six participations in the Vuelta the sprinter, who is also known as "The Lion King", has never crossed the finish line in Madrid.

Last year, he retired before the first mountain stage after winning three stages, saying that he wanted to concentrate on the world championships.

In the same way Cipollini has never completed the Tour de France. He has, however, finished the Giro d’Italia, even winning the final stage into Milan in 2002.

Cipollini was forced to compete in this year's Vuelta after he found himself embroiled in a row between race organizers and his team Domina Vacanze, who had been given a wild card on condition that they field Cipollini.

"I'm here so that my teammates can start," Cipollini told journalists.

Cordero said that they would not be taking legal action nor would they be forcing Domina Vacanze out of the Vuelta but they would be putting the matter before world cycling's governing body the UCI

"It's sad for cycling, the spectators and organisers and I'd even say Cipollini who doesn't come out well from this affair," said Cordero.

"We're not going to take legal action because it's a sporting affair but we're going to put the filed before the UCI and hope the UCI study this type of problem."
(Reuters and AFP contributed to this report)