Franco Ballerini dies after rally crash
Italian national team coach and two-time Paris-Roubaix winner Franco Ballerini has died after being involved in a crash during a rallying event in Tuscany. The 45-year-old Ballerini was acting as navigator in a car driven by Alessandro Ciardi when the vehicle crashed in the municipality of Larciano.
Both men were taken to hospital in Pistoia, but Ballerini died of his injuries soon after reaching hospital. Ciardi is said to be in a serious condition but it is reported that his injuries are not life-threatening.
Ballerini had long been one of the most popular men in professional cycling. His racing career was indelibly linked to Paris-Roubaix. In 1993 he lost out in that race to France’s Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle by just a tyre’s width. Two years later, however, the Italian, riding for the Colnago-backed Mapei team took a memorable solo victory in the race known by its fans as “The Hell of the North”. In 1998, he took a second victory at Roubaix, leading in a clean sweep of the podium places by the Mapei team.
Ballerini retired from racing in 2001 after riding Roubaix one final time. Within months he had been appointed Italian national team coach and the following season he oversaw the first Italian victory at the world championships since 1992 when Mario Cipollini romped home in Zolder, Belgium. It was the start of an impressive reign for Ballerini as further world titles came in 2006 and 2007 for Paolo Bettini, and in 2008 for Alessandro Ballan. In 2004, Ballerini was in charge of the Italian team that helped Bettini claim the Olympic road race gold medal in Athens.
Colnago would like to express its sincere condolences to the family of Franco Ballerini.