Giovanni Battaglin
 Battaglin in 1982 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 July 1951 Marostica, Italy |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional teams | |
| 1973–1977 | Jollj Ceramica |
| 1978 | Fiorella–Mocassini–Citroën |
| 1979–1984 | Inoxpran |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Giovanni Battaglin (born 22 July 1951) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1981 Giro d'Italia and the 1981 Vuelta a España.
Early years
[edit]Battaglin was born in Marostica, province of Vicenza. Battaglin won the 1972 Amateur Giro d'Italia and turned professional the following year with the Jollj Ceramica team.
Professional career
[edit]
The 1973 Giro d'Italia that began in Verviers in Belgium and was Battaglin's debut in a grand tour. Battaglin immediately showed promise when he finished third on stage four ahead of Eddy Merckx and José Manuel Fuente. By halfway through the race, Battaglin was sitting in second place overall behind Merckx but lost that placing to Felice Gimondi. Still at the age of 21, the neo-pro astonished the cycling world by finishing third in the race.[1] Battaglin would wear the maglia rosa for five days in the 1975 Giro d'Italia as well as several stage wins and wins in smaller stage races. He also won the King of the Mountains jersey in the 1979 Tour de France, even after he received a penalty for testing positive for doping.[2] Battaglin finished third in the 1980 Giro d'Italia.
The following year on the tenth stage mountain time trial of the 1981 Vuelta a España which was on the long climb to Sierra Nevada, Battaglin won the stage and took over the leader's jersey. The only threat to Battaglin's lead was Pedro Muñoz.[3] Battaglin and his Inoxpran team withstood the challenge from the Spanish and brought Battaglin to his first grand tour victory.[4] Three days later after Battalin's triumph in Spain on 13 May 1981, he began the 1981 Giro d'Italia. On the 19th stage toward the end of the race, Battaglin won the stage to Mareo and took the maglia rosa from Silvano Contini. He withstood the final test – the final stage's individual time trial to win the race in Verona ahead of Tommy Prim. Battaglin was only the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Vuelta-Giro double. In the space of one and a half months, Battaglin won two of the grand tours.
Retirement
[edit]Battaglin retired after the 1984 season. In 1982 Battaglin started a bicycle manufacturing business with the same name, which he runs from Marostica, Italy. In 2002 the company sponsored the Ceramiche Panaria Fiordo squad.[5][6][7]
Career achievements
[edit]Major results
[edit]- 1971
- 1st Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
- 1972
- 1st
Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia - 8th Overall Trophée Peugeot de l'Avenir
- 1973
- 1st Giro del Lazio
- 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 5th Giro di Toscana
- 10th Giro dell'Appennino
- 10th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 1974
- 1st Giro dell'Appennino
- 3rd Giro del Veneto
- 3rd Trofeo Matteotti
- 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
- 5th Giro del Piemonte
- 6th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 9th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 9th GP Montelupo
- 10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 1975
- 1st
Overall Giro di Puglia
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Coppa Sabatini
- Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 3 & 13 (ITT)
- Held after Stages 3 & 13
- 3rd Giro dell'Umbria
- 3rd Giro del Friuli
- 4th Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stage 5
- 4th Giro dell'Appennino
- Tour de France
- Held
after Stages 11 & 12
- Held
- 1976
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de France
- 2nd Giro dell'Appennino
- 5th Tre Valli Varesine
- 6th Overall Tour de Romandie
- 6th Züri–Metzgete
- 6th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 10th Overall Giro di Puglia
- 1977
- 1st GP Montelupo
- 3rd Coppa Bernocchi
- 6th Giro del Friuli
- 8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 8th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 1978
- 1st Coppa Bernocchi
- Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stages 6, 7 & 8
- 2nd Overall Ruota d'Oro
- 2nd Tre Valli Varesine
- 2nd Trofeo Matteotti
- 2nd Giro dell'Umbria
- 5th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
- 7th Road race, National Road Championships
- 7th Overall Giro di Puglia
- 1979
- 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stages 2 & 5b (ITT)
- 1st Coppa Agostoni
- 1st Coppa Placci
- 1st Trofeo Pantalica
- 1st Trofeo Matteotti
- 1st Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 2nd Giro del Veneto
- 3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 3rd Giro di Lombardia
- 4th Overall À travers Lausanne
- 4th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
- 4th Giro dell'Appennino
- 4th Giro del Friuli
- 5th Coppa Bernocchi
- 5th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
- 6th Road race, UCI World Championships
- 6th Overall Tour de France
- 7th Gran Premio di Lugano
- 9th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 1st
Mountains classification - 1st Stage 7
- 1st
- 1980
- 1st Milano–Torino
- 1st Milano–Vignola
- 1st Coppa Placci
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 3rd Giro del Piemonte
- 3rd Trofeo Matteotti
- 4th Overall Giro del Trentino
- 4th Giro dell'Appennino
- 4th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
- 4th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 6th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
- 8th Giro del Veneto
- 10th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 10th Coppa Sabatini
- 1981
- 1st Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 19
- 1st Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 8b (ITT)
- 6th Giro dell'Appennino
- 7th Trofeo Pantalica
- 8th Tre Valli Varesine
- 9th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria
- 10th Giro del Friuli
- 1983
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 2nd Giro del Friuli
- 9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]| Grand Tour | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vuelta a España
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — |
 Giro d'Italia
|
3 | 6 | 18 | DNF | 46 | DNF | — | 3 | 1 | — | DNF | 50 |
| Tour de France
|
— | — | DNF | DNF | — | — | 6 | — | — | DNF | — | DNF |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ "Interview: Giovanni Battaglin". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ "Battaglin positivo". El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 16 July 1979. p. 32. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "1981 General Information". La Vuelta.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ "Battaglin flies among the nest of eagles". Bellati sport.com. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ Tim Maloney. "Interview: Giovanni Battaglin". CyclingNews. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
Today, Battaglin runs his eponymous bike company in Marostica, Italy. (www.Battaglin.com), sponsoring the Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo squad with Battaglin bikes
- ^ Cycling Plus (26 August 2009). "Battaglin Stealth review". BikeRadar. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
- ^ Warren Rossiter (20 September 2011). "Battaglin C12 Plus review". BikeRadar. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
External links
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- 1951 births
- Living people
- Doping cases in cycling
- Italian sportspeople in doping cases
- People from Marostica
- Italian male cyclists
- Italian Tour de France stage winners
- Giro d'Italia winners
- Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners
- Vuelta a España winners
- Italian Vuelta a España stage winners
- Tour de Suisse stage winners
- Cyclists from the Province of Vicenza
- 20th-century Italian sportsmen