Rodolfo Massi (; born 17 September 1965) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage in 1996 Giro d'Italia and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room. In the 1990 Tour de France, Massi was the Lanterne rouge.
Biography As an amateur, Massi won many races, and when he became a professional cyclist in 1987, much was expected from him. In 1988, he broke a leg, and after the operation, one of his legs was a few centimeters shorter than the other. Massi often complained that he was not able to cycle in a regular way, and became a domestique for many different teams.
In 1998, he had his best year. He won the Tour Méditerranéen and the Giro di Calabria. In the Tour de France, he won a mountain stage, and after the 16th stage was in seventh place in the general classification, and leading the mountains classification, when corticoids were found in his hotel room. He was questioned by the police, and was not able to start the next stage. Massi was the first rider in history to be arrested for breaking doping laws. Later, all legal charges against him were dropped, but the Italian Olympic Committee banned him for six months.
Major results Source:
1987 9th Giro di Toscana 1988 2nd Trofeo Pantalica 7th Trofeo Laigueglia 1989 3rd Gran Premio Città di Camaiore 1990 5th Gran Premio Città di Camaiore 8th Trofeo Laigueglia 9th Giro dell'Appennino 1991 4th Trofeo Laigueglia 1992 7th Overall Giro del Trentino 1993 10th Giro di Toscana 1994 1st Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 1st Stage 1 5th Overall Tour de Suisse 8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 1995 3rd Giro del Friuli 6th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano 1996 1st Stage 10 Giro d'Italia 2nd Trofeo Laigueglia 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia 4th Giro dell'Appennino 6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 6th Overall Giro del Trentino 1st Stage 5 8th Trofeo Pantalica 10th Trofeo Melinda 1997 1st Tour du Haut Var 1st Stage 4 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges 6th Trofeo Laigueglia 9th Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 10th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre 10th Overall Tour Méditerranéen 1998 1st Overall Tour Méditerranéen Tour de France 1st Stage 10 Held after Stages 10–17 1st Stage 2 Critérium International 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège 3rd Paris–Camembert 4th Tour du Haut Var 5th Overall Paris–Nice 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 10th La Flèche Wallonne 2000 1st Stage 6 Grand Prix du Midi Libre 3rd Giro di Campania 8th Tre Valli Varesine 2001 8th Giro della Provincia di Siracusa 2002 7th Gran Premio di Chiasso 10th Overall Giro Riviera Ligure Ponente
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 / Vuelta a España — 36 — — — — — 56 — — 20 DNF DNF 34 — — — Giro d'Italia 24 — 85 35 — 94 DNF 37 48 35 — — — — — — 67 Tour de France — — — 156 — — — — — — — DNF — — — — —
+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish
See also List of doping cases in cycling
References
External links
Official Tour de France results for Rodolfo Massi