Name Luigi Cecchini | ||
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Luigi Cecchini (born 1944) is an Italian sports doctor that is active in road bicycle racing. He is well known as maker of training schemes that he writes for his clients as well as use of the SRM cycle computer.
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Cecchini is a former motor-racing pilot and the son of a millionaire shirt manufacturer, who had specialized as a sports scientist under Francesco Conconi. In an interview in May 1997 Cecchini was referred to as Bjarne Riis’s coach, medic, and personal advisor who he started to work with in 1992. With Cecchini at his side Riis won the 1996 Tour de France.
Involvement with cycling
Cecchini has worked with many of the most successful cyclists of the late 1990s including Tour de France winners Riis and Jan Ullrich, Classic specialists Michele Bartoli, Olympic time trial gold medallists Tyler Hamilton and the super sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. In 1996 three of his clients Pascal Richard, Rolf Sørensen and Max Sciandri took the podium at the Olympics road race. Cecchini was a coach to Jan Ullrich since the winter of 2002/2003. David Millar trained under Cecchini’s guidance in May and June 2006. Damiano Cunego was also a client of Cecchini. Thomas Dekker started working with Cecchini in January 2006 but only on training programs. Dekker was under pressure and broke his association with Cecchini. Linus Gerdemann trained with Cecchini until May, 2006. In 1996 Cecchini’s clients were very successful with Riis winning the Tour and his other clients dominating the first professional Olympic road race. In 2002 many of his clients obtained success. Bartoli won the Amstel Gold Race and the Giro di Lombardia. Andrea Tafi won the Tour of Flanders. Mario Cipollini won Milan–San Remo, Gent–Wevelgem and the World Championship road race.
Team CSC
When Riis moved into team management with Team CSC, he took Cecchini with him. Tyler Hamilton joined CSC in 2002 and Riis introduced Hamilton to Cecchini in 2002. Hamilton worked with him until his positive doping test for blood doping. After winning the gold at the Olympics time trial event, Hamilton thanked Cecchini
When Ivan Basso joined Team CSC in 2004, Team Manager Riis employed Luigi Cecchini as Basso's personal trainer. Basso parted ways with Cecchini in April 2006. Basso maintained a private relationship with Dr Luigi Cecchini, who was also Riis' coach in 1996 and involved with CSC until 2004. Cecchini had not been his team's doctor for some years and that he acted as the sporting adviser and trainer to just four CSC riders: Fabian Cancellara, Matti Breschel, Michael Blaudzun and Nicki Sorensen during the 2006 season.