"EL PIPA" BERNARDO RUIZ: 100 YEARS OF THE CHAMPION WHO MADE HISTORY AND HAD COPPI IN HIS HEART
EVENTS | 10/01/2025 | 08:10 di Francesca Monzone Bernardo Ruiz, known to everyone as El Pipa, is considered the first professional Spanish cyclist in history and last Tuesday turned 100 years old. Born in 1925, El Pipa was the first Spaniard to stand on the Tour de France podium in 1952 and won the Vuelta in 1948. Spain celebrated him as they do with great heroes and he, with great emotion and humility, accepted meeting journalists, the city council, and many fans and sports personalities who came to Orihuela. Bernardo Ruiz made Spanish sports history and in 100 years, the former cyclist from Alicante province has seen everything happen in his life, but he will always be remembered for being the first Spaniard to stand on the Tour de France podium in 1952, behind Fausto Coppi and Belgian Stan Ockers. He also had success in Italy and, although he never made the podium of the Giro, he won a stage in Rome in 1955. In his homeland, he was the best cyclist for a long time, after winning the Vuelta in 1948 and having three National Championships to his credit. For Bernardo Ruiz, like most people born before the Great War, sport was a necessity for survival and he started cycling after the Civil War. At 11 years old, he went to the black market and regularly covered the distance between Orihuela, his hometown, and Cartagena, over 80 kilometers, carrying 50 kilos of food, drinks, and all kinds of goods. Moreover, he did this on roads in terrible condition. What he did to survive transformed into experience and helped him win an amateur race and understand he could have a future in cycling. El Pipa, who was one of the cycling greats in his Spain, had an idol who was not from his land, but was Italian. It was Fausto Coppi, the Heron to everyone, with whom he loved to race. "The best rider I ever saw was Fausto Coppi" – Ruiz recalled during his 100-year celebration - "I appreciated him both on and off the road. He was a gentleman, a humble guy. But when he started shooting with his bike, no one could follow him". Bernardo's merit, according to all those close to him who could tell his story, was maintaining the humility that always characterized him. Every time he went to France to race the Tour, he returned home loaded with tires, sprockets, and other spare parts. Even the pharmacists in his town asked him to bring penicillin because at that time there was none.Everything was for his friends, for his family. He was always willing to help because he knew there was little money for cycling in Spain. The government during the years he raced was not very supportive of him, but El Pipa never stopped, proving he could compete with Italians, French, and Belgians. In his hometown of Orihuela, Bernardo Ruiz crossed the entrance of the municipal theater in his wheelchair and many people were waiting for him. In difficult moments, when roads were rough, Bernardo Ruiz paved the way for subsequent generations. But the true success that Spain recognized in this champion of another era was not the multitude of trophies won, but the ability to achieve his dream of becoming a cyclist in those years when Spain was going through true poverty and he, with his bike, had the strength to race for himself and for all those Spanish cyclists who would arrive in the following years and who today, a hundred years after his birth, have come to say thank you.
La seconda prova del Superprestige di Ciclocross, disputata in notturna a Middelkerke, in Belgio, ha visto il predominio dei padroni di casa nella gara maschile elite. A conquistare il successo è stato il belga Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon), autore di...
La squadra che, ancora fino a fine anno, si chiama Team Polti VisitMalta, in attesa di capire il nuovo assetto e la nuova veste dopo l'ingresso in società di Ukyo Katayama al fianco di Ivan Basso e i fratelli Contador,...
Sono 21 gli atleti convocati dal Commissario Tecnico Daniele Pontoni per i Campionati Europei di Ciclocross, in programma sabato 7 e domenica 8 novembre a Zeddam, nei Paesi Bassi. La Nazionale italiana si presenta all'appuntamento continentale forte degli ottimi risultati...
Un oro olimpico, uno iridato e due europei, i primi titoli tricolore nel 2014, un decennio abbondante nel quale ha vissuto dall'interno la spettacolare escalation della pista azzurra, sempre presente nei nostri magici quartetti: alle soglie dei 33 anni, Francesco...
Roberto Capello nel 2027 correrà nel WorldTour con la EF Education – EasyPost. La formazione statunitense ha promosso il giovane ciclista astigiano in “prima squadra”, facendogli siglare un accordo biennale. Classe 2007, Capello ha militato quest’anno nella EF Education –...
Sostengono che “una bicicletta può cambiare una giornata, tante biciclette possono cambiare una comunità”. Spiegano che “se per molti di noi andare in bicicletta è un passatempo, per qualcun altro può essere un’opportunità: raggiungere la scuola, incontrare gli amici, spostarsi...
BEKING continua ad ampliare la lista dei partecipanti per il 2026 con l'ingresso di Michael Matthews e Victor Langellotti, due corridori con origini diverse, ma accomunati dal legame con questo sport e dalla sua capacità di unire le persone. Tornando...
Riccardo Longo e Tommaso Cingolani vestiranno la maglia della formazione Juniores della Lidl Trek nella prossima stagione. I due promettenti ragazzi italiani, insieme ad altri tredici giovani atleti provenienti da Germania, Francia, Spagna, Norvegia e Danimarca, formeranno il gruppo su...
Grande cambiamento all’interno del mondo gravel per la prossima stagione: a partire dal 2027, infatti, l’apprezzato circuito delle Gravel Earth Series (di cui fino a quest’anno faceva parte anche la prova italiana organizzata da Mattia De Marchi The Hills Gravel...
Nel week-end sono in programma i Campionati d’Europa di ciclocross a Zeddam, in Olanda. Zeddam è una frazione del Comune di Montferland dove il cuore batte per il ciclocross e qui si svolsero i Mondiali di cross 2006. I titoli...
TBRADIO
-
00:00
00:00
SONDAGGIO
OSCAR TUTTOBICI 2026. SCEGLIETE IL MIGLIOR TECNICO ITALIANO DELL'ANNO
2
2
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.