Paolo Savoldelli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

<tr><td style="padding-right:1em;">Nickname</td><td>Il Falco ("the falcon")</td></tr> <tr><td style="padding-right:1em;">ProTour rank</td><td>26</td></tr> <tr><th style="background: #ADDFAD;" colspan="2">Major wins</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2">

2002, 2005 Giro d'Italia
2001 Tour de Romandie
1998, 1999 Giro del Trentino
2 stages Giro d'Italia
1 stage Tour de France</td></tr>

**Paolo Savoldelli**
Personal information <tr><td>Full name</td><td>Paolo Savoldelli</td></tr>
Date of birth	May 7, 1973
Country	Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Team information
Current team	Discovery Channel
Professional team(s)
1996-1997 1998-2001 2002 2003-2004 2005-2006 2007	Rosslotto Saeco Index-Alexia Aluminio T-Mobile Team Discovery Channel Astana Team

Paolo Savoldelli (born May 7, 1973 in Clusone, Province of Bergamo) is an Italian road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team and winner of the 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia.

Savoldelli is a good climber, but he is especially well known for his fast downhilling. Because of that, he is often nicknamed Il Falco ("the falcon"). His downhill skills were particularly vital to his 2005 Giro win, when his descent down the last mountain of the penultimate stage managed to close a gap between him and the leading group, preserving his lead in the overall classification, and eventually giving him the Giro win.

On July 20th, 2005, Savoldelli won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, becoming only the second teammate of Lance Armstrong to win an individual stage during Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins. He will ride for Astana Team for 2007 to be their leader for the Giro d'Italia.

[edit] Palmarès

2006 – Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

Tour de Romandie – Prologue ITT win
Giro d'Italia – Prologue ITT win; 2 days in maglia rosa 5th overall

2005 – Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

Giro d'Italia – 1st Overall; Stage 11 win; 8 days in maglia rosa
Tour de France – Stage 17 win

2002 – Index-Alexia Aluminio

Giro d'Italia – 1st Overall; 4 days in maglia rosa

2001 – Saeco

Tour de Romandie – 2 stage wins

2000 – Saeco

Tour de Romandie – 1st Overall; 1 stage win
Giro del Trentino – 1 stage win

1999 – Saeco

Giro d'Italia – 2nd Overall; 1 stage win
Giro del Trentino – 1st Overall; 1 stage win
Trofeo Lagueglia – 1st Overall

1998 – Saeco

Giro del Trentino – 1st Overall; 1 stage win

1997 – Rosslotto

Hofbrau cup

Preceded by: Gilberto Simoni	Winner of the Giro d'Italia 2002	Succeeded by: Gilberto Simoni
Preceded by: Damiano Cunego	Winner of the Giro d'Italia 2005	Succeeded by: Ivan Basso