RIP Franco Ballerini
by Jens on Feb 7, 2010 5:44 AM EST
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Vale Ballerini. Italy and the cycling world will notice your passing.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
this is terrible
rip franco
"well...you live in england so: you love the rain. loves the queen. hates cycling. based on mr bean had a tremendous amount of humour. all ride in a mini cooper. all getting drunk before the age of 12. getting drunk at least 3 times a day."- frinking, 7/9/09
This is horrible
I enjoyed him very much as a rider, but I think I liked him even better as National DS
"Woof, woof, woof! That's my other dog imitation."
+1
"well...you live in england so: you love the rain. loves the queen. hates cycling. based on mr bean had a tremendous amount of humour. all ride in a mini cooper. all getting drunk before the age of 12. getting drunk at least 3 times a day."- frinking, 7/9/09
Very sad. Way too young
"Here the high school level of immaturity will be left to hottitude columns and people like myself." Der Phil. H
Horrible news
And a life well lived. If you watch him in Roubaix, especially 2001 where he ended his career, you see how much joy he brought and how much he loved the races and appreciated the opportunites. He was also fun to watch because he had such a round body for a cyclist…truly everyman on a bike.
Few racers have the pesonality to move the cynics like that. RIP.
In english.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vale-franco-ballerini-1964-2010 He was co piloting a rally car. no mention is made of the driver or the circumstances of the accident. A great loss for the entire cycling community and Squadra Azzuri.
by Christopher See on Feb 7, 2010 12:12 PM EST reply actions
totally sucks.
gazzetta says bettini was supposed to be there as well, but couldn’t make it because of his involvement with the gp costa degli etruschi ….
Very sad news
This is a great loss to Italian cycling, and another tragic loss for Ballerini’s good friend Paolo Bettini, just a few years after his brother’s death.
Here’s a picture I took of Ballerini and Bettini at this year’s Giro:
great photo
how i’ll remember him.
"well...you live in england so: you love the rain. loves the queen. hates cycling. based on mr bean had a tremendous amount of humour. all ride in a mini cooper. all getting drunk before the age of 12. getting drunk at least 3 times a day."- frinking, 7/9/09
This is horrible news
There are some people who you can tell just love everything about the sport, the community, and their fellow riders. Franco was one and it’s a huge loss for the community and his friends and family that he is now gone.
Perhaps his most memorable photo.
Picture courtesy of www.ucpontesangiovanni.com
"…I saw bloody Cavendish coming, really fast…"
HH
by ELVISGOAT on Feb 7, 2010 2:45 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Great photo!
Rec.
"Let’s plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will- it’s only action that can make a man" Faust, Goethe
I like it at matches when fans sigal their respect to one who has passed with a minutes applause in place of a minutes silence
In that vein
Cycling News report of Paris-Roubaix 1998
From a fan Inside the Velodrome Paris-Roubaix 1998
RIP Franco Ballerini
I aspire to his passion for this great sport…but I am not Italian.
errrr....am i supposed to sign this??
by Flatbagger on Feb 7, 2010 5:38 PM EST via mobile reply actions
RIP Franco
It’s always sad to see someone die so young, but cycling and its fans will surely miss him in particular for what he gave to the sport
sempre sei campione
Devastating
For me FB represented one of the cycling’s “old guard”, a member the hairnet-helmet era that spawned the true hard men of the sport. For me, and undoubtedly countless others here, it was from this gritty niche that my fascination and inspiration was born. As a consolation, it’s fitting that his dear friend Paolo Bettini will be his replacement as DS for the Italian national squad at the worlds (and olympics), where he was so monumentally effective.
"He looked pretty good until he went over the side of that cliff." PdC's own thevaro, on why he's betting on Oscar Periero's "BIG COMEBACK" in 2010
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