Rodolfo Massi

Rodolfo Massi (Italian pronunciation: [roˈdolfo ˈmassi]; born 17 September 1965 in Corinaldo) 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.

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.

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