Maurizio FONDRIEST

Maurizio Fondriest turned professional in 1987 and won the 1988 World Championship road race, although in a controversial finish in which Steve Bauer fouled Claude Criquelion in the sprint, causing Criquelion to crash, Bauer to be disqualified, and allowing Fondriest to come through for victory. Fondriest’s greatest year by far was 1993, in which he won Milano-Sanremo, La Flèche Wallonne, Züri-Metzgete, Giro dell’Emilia, Tirreno-Adriatico (with two stages), Midi-Libre (with three stages), a stage in the Giro d'Italia and the overall World Cup. He would never again approach that level although in 1994 he won the Tour of Britain and the Tour of Poland, and in 1995 he finished second in four major races – Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, Gent-Wevelgem, and La Flèche Wallonne. Fondriest retired after the 1998 season, having ridden most of his career with Cofidis, and started a company making carbon fiber bikes, called appropriately Fondriest.