Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Italy coach Franco Ballerini killed in rally accident

Tributes pour in for two-time Paris-Roubaix winner who coached Azzurri to four world championships and an Olympic gold

The world of cycling is today mourning the death at 45 years of age of Italy’s national coach, Franco Ballerini, who has died from injuries sustained in a crash this morning during a rally in Larciano, Tuscany, where he was acting as navigator in a car driven by Alessandro Ciardi.

Ballerini died in hospital in Pistoia, where he had been taken after the pair’s Renault Clio came off the road. Ciardi is in serious condition, although his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Born in Florence, Ballerini won Paris-Roubaix twice, his first victory coming in 1995, two years after he had been beaten on the line in the Roubaix velodrome by Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. His other victories during a career in which he rode for teams such as Del Tongo, Mapei and Lampre-Daikin included the Giro del Piemonte and the Giro della Romagna as well as Paris Brussels.

In 2001, Ballerini became coach of the Italian national cycling team. Under his tutelage, the azzurri enjoyed a string of successes, with Mario Cipollini, Alessandro Ballan and Paolo Bettini all winning the World Road Race Championship, the latter twice, and Bettini also taking gold in that event at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Bettini had been due to take part in the Rally Ronde del Larciano with Ballerini – the close friends participated in six rallies together, with Bettini as driver and Ballerini as navigator – but was unable to do so as a result being busy organising yesterday’s Gran Premio Costa degli Etruschi bike race.

The newspaper said that Ballerini had wanted to compete in the rally, held on his home roads, at all costs, and as news of his death spread, a clearly upset Bettini was reported to have arrived in tears at the hospital in Pistoia, where he comforted Ballerini’s wife.

The sports daily said that the accident happened as the car passed through a forested section of the rally’s route between Casa al Vento and Larciano, the car coming off the road and hitting a wall head-on, with most of the damage done to the side of the car that Ballerini was in. Although first-aid was provided on the spot, there was little that could be done.

Tributes have flooded in for Ballerini, many from people connected to the sport of cycling who use the social networking website, Twitter. Lance Armstrong said: “So sad to hear of passing of Franco Ballerini. Raced many years w/ him. Cool guy and great champ. Leaves behind a wife and 2 kids. RIP, FB,” while Bradley Wiggins stated that Team Sky’s win in the opening team time trial of the Tour of Qatar had been “overshadowed by the death of a great champion.”
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Latest Comments