Tragic news : Ballerini dies

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited October 2010 in Pro race
Italian national selector Franco Ballerini has died in a car rally accident.

RIP
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

Comments

  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,711
    First thing mentioned on ES's coverage of Qatar......Just before Armstrong.
    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian ... ally-crash
    Awful news.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Beatmaker
    Beatmaker Posts: 1,092
    RIP Franco. Very sad news.
  • andyxm
    andyxm Posts: 132
    Sad news, who can forget his part in the 1993 Paris Roubaix, as well as the 2 wins he had
  • Chip \'oyler
    Chip \'oyler Posts: 2,323
    RIP Franco. A great classics rider
    Expertly coached by http://www.vitessecyclecoaching.co.uk/

    http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    RIP Franco. One of the great hardmen and some someone who could actually get the azurri to work together.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    He could ride on the cobbles but look as if he was on rollers, he had the smoothest of pedalling styles.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    RIP Franco

    Ballerini_F4%20cut.jpg
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,811
    heard about it on the road today from a passing rider

    the man was an animal... class rider


    strangely the most reoccurring memory was him trash talking Bartoli at flanders
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    Timoid. wrote:
    RIP Franco. One of the great hardmen and some someone who could actually get the azurri to work together.

    Yep a real classics hard man

    sad news.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • markwalker
    markwalker Posts: 953
    quality career, hard rider for the worlds best race.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,473
    Terrible news. He was a very classy rider, always looked stylish off the bike and somehow managed to unite the Italian national team.

    A sad loss. RIP.
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    He turned a team full of chiefs into a winning unit.
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    You idiots, you didn't put *spoiler* in the thread title!

    Poor family. Hope it was quick for him. I think he has a couple of kids.

    It's been a tough few months for cycling and "real life". 3 belgian suicides and 2 accidents. Just shows it's a microcosm of real life.

    Rest in peace Franco, you were a huge inspriation when I was a kid - I have a bunch of posters and full colour VeloNews with him plastered all over it. Hugely emotional to see them rides those C40s over cobbles at incredible speed. I tried so hard always to emulate Ballerini, Bortolami, Tafi, Peeter. But especially Ballerini.
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • Murr X
    Murr X Posts: 258
    Sad news. I was a big fan of his, he was a true hardman and I always loved watching him racing the Classics.

    R.I.P. Franco
  • micron
    micron Posts: 1,843
    LangerDan love that photo - really captures what he was about. And then to go on to such success with the Italian team - a class act.
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,716
    RIP franco.
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
    My blog and pod...
    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,221
    RIP Franco. That 93 Roubaix was probably the greatest bike race I've seen, I was so pleased when he went on to win 2 years later.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    RIP Franco. Just seen this now and am genuinely shocked. Really sad news.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fulls ... ame=Latest News
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Franco Ballerini Memorial BMC SLR01

    ib101motorexbmc.jpg
    Contador is the Greatest

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