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news
Giro underpants guyGiro underpants guy nabs ultimate roadside schwag - a Farnese Vini Cipollini team bike (+ video)
If you’ve been to a big bike race, you’ve almost certainly come away with the odd souvenir – a Skoda cap, T-Mobile inflatable hand, Cofidis keyring and postcards of the entire Riso Scotti 1998 team are among the must-have items we’ve nabbed at the roadside over the years. One Giro d’Italia fan clad only in underpants claimed the ultimate schwag at the weekend, however, when he found himself temporarily in possession of a Farnese Vini team bike, a Cipollini RB1000, the frame alone worth upwards of £4,000.
The incident happened on Stage 19 to Cervinia when Matteo Rabottini – who 24 hours later would ride solo for 90 kilometres and see off Joaquin Rodriguez in the closing metres to win at Pian dei Resinelli – needed to change bikes. Team manager Luca Scinto and a mechanic jumped out of the team car to help the rider, who had handed the bike to the fan to hold.
The car then sped off without the bike, the bemused fan brandishing it as it headed off up the road, as seen in the following clip from SBS Cycling Central.
In a report on its website, Farnese Vini said that Scinto had turned round as soon as he realised what had happened but found no trace of the bike, and muttering darkly about “theft,” promised to study video footage would in an attempt to bring the alleged thief to justice – whether that might involve an ID parade with individuals dressed only in underpants sadly isn’t known.
As it turned out, the bike wasn’t stolen at all, and was back with the team as Rabottini rode off to that stunning win in the mountains above Lake Como, although whether he was riding that specific frame is unclear.
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.
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8 comments
Remember being on the side of the 2003 TT course in Paris when a T Mobile bike slid off the roof to land near me .
Just back from Giro and survived the Italian drivers who are running second to the careless driving of those accredited by the Giro ! Asked Mc Quack last year to organise the UCIless to setup a mandatory test program for those seeking " Acreditation at UCI Tours " in the hope lives would be saved !
Found ALL those that the " tifosi " would regard as important but wonder if Mc Quack was ever at the Giro since i did not sight him ?
What a tussle this year's Giro was , and happy that Canadian Cycling will get a boost from Ryder's Victory .
Roll on the TDF where i predict that the favourites will also get shoved aside !
Remember being on the side of the 2003 TT course in Paris when a T Mobile bike slid off the roof to land near me .
Just back from Giro and survived the Italian drivers who are running second to the careless driving of those accredited by the Giro ! Asked Mc Quack last year to organise the UCIless to setup a mandatory test program for those seeking " Acreditation at UCI Tours " in the hope lives would be saved !
Found ALL those that the " tifosi " would regard as important but wonder if Mc Quack was ever at the Giro since i did not sight him ?
What a tussle this year's Giro was , and happy that Canadian Cycling will get a boost from Ryder's Victory .
Roll on the TDF where i predict that the favourites will also get shoved aside !
give the underpants man the bike @ the end of the season,
its nice to be nice
I think it very unfair of road.cc to accuse someone of theft without proof. the guy in the underpants may have not taken it. there was a group there and anyone could have 'nabbed' it.
Goodluck to the chap who was left a gift.
Um, as it says in the article, it was the team that was talking about "theft," not us. And they got the bike back, so all's well.
I must have missed that bit.
If Farnese Vini couldn't leave him the bike, at least they could've chipped in for a new pair of strides.
At least we now know why Farnese Vini have chosen that thermonuclear hi-viz colour scheme - if they keep misplacing things.