"To this day, I still evade him" - Mario Cipollini's former teammate still holds a three-decades-old grudge
Cycling
Eros Poli had a successful professional career in 1990s as a lead-out man for one of the fastest man of that era - Mario Cipollini. And just as he was famous, the Italian was also controversial which eventually led to his fall out with Poli in 1997. To this day, the relationship between the two is battered.
"At the end of 1996, there was suddenly no place for me," Poli looks back in an interview with Bahamontes. "Everyone knew that Cipollini decided who rode in the team. So he dropped me. Today I still evade him, especially after what he did to his ex-wife."
Now, we mainly remember Eros Poli's famous victory in a 1994 Tour de France stage 15 that crossed the Mont Ventoux. Such an unlikely victory for the big man who usually worked a lead-out man. His moment of glory was only made possible thanks to Cipollini's absence that year, he knows:
"But it also remains ambiguous. If Cipollini had ridden that 1994 Tour, I would never have attacked (in the Tour stage over the Mont Ventoux, ed.) and you would not have been here."
On the other hand Poli had a good relationship with another iconic Italian from the turn of millenium: Marco Pantani. When Il Pirata won on Mont Ventoux in 2000 ahead of Lance Armstrong, Poli drove VIP guests in a race car. "Maybe Armstrong let him win, but you never give away a stage with a finish on Mont Ventoux?"
To this day, there are still speculations about whether the American "let" Pantani have that victory as a disrespectful gesture: "He was pretty pissed off at Armstrong. 'Who does he think he is? A few years ago he was still riding in the grupetto with you, and now he thinks he can outride me up here? I'm going to finish him off.'"
"He did that on the stage to Courchevel and he wanted to repeat the feat on the final mountain stage to Morzine." When Jan Ullrich's team started chasing him, something snapped in Pantani, Poli said. "He was so affected by it that he dropped out of the Tour."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- You despise him because he calls out the truth....OK clown !frieders303-11-2026
- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
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