"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.
Visto come si stava mettendo la tappa sembrava impossibile tenere la maglia rosa, addirittura un miraggio poter vincere, ma Elisa Balsamo è riuscita in qualcosa di incredibie calando il tris sul traguardo di Buja . Sulla salita di Montenars la piemontese...
Jonas Vingegaard è il 72° vincitore del Giro d’Italia, il 30° corridore straniero a scrivere il proprio nome nell’albo d’oro e il primo danese a conquistare la Corsa Rosa. È soprattutto l'8° ciclista della storia ad aggiudicarsi almeno una volta...
Patrik Pezzo Rosola torna a graffiare e si prende per distacco la seconda tappa del Giro del Friuli juniores, la Cordenons–Piancavallo. Sullo stesso arrivo che ha esaltato Vingegaard al recente Giro d’Italia, il portacolori della Nordest Petrucci Assali Stefen ha...
Dalla Coppa Adriana alla carbonara di mare, dalla maglia azzurra alla maglia azzurra. Tiziano Brichese, classe ’62, è oggi uno chef in piena corsa per la stella che fa da mangiare alle stelle: del ciclismo. Da Filippo Ganna ad Antonio...
Italia in primo piano al Trofeo Centre Morbihan, prova di Coppa delle Nazioni juniores, che si è chiusa con il successo finale del francese Lancelot Gayant.La selezione azzurra ha offerto una prestazione di alto livello, sfiorando il colpo grosso con...
ll campione olimpico e General Manager di XDS Astana Team, Alexandr Vinokurov, ha consegnato al capo dello Stato della Città del Vaticano, Papa Leone XIV, la maglia della squadra kazaka. In risposta, Papa Leone XIV si è congratulato con il...
La Unbound Gravel rappresenta per molti la gara gravel per antonomasia ed anche un benchmark per le aziende, sempre pronte ad innovare per dare ai propri atleti importanti marginalità per andare più forte e impiegarci di meno. In Kansas le condizioni di questa...
Lorenzo Soldarini firma un prestigioso doppio colpo nel Torinese. Il verbanese del Pool Cantù Sovico GB Junior si è infatti imposto nel Trofeo Enzo Migliore a Calea di Lessolo, conquistando contestualmente anche il titolo di campione piemontese allievi. Secondo posto...
Si è concluso ieri a Roma il Giro d'Italia, il 44° della storia della Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber. Ancora una volta la formazione della famiglia Reverberi ha saputo recitare un ruolo da protagonista lungo le tre settimane della Corsa...
La rinascita di Jonas Vingegaard, tornato a fare suo un Grande Giro ed a conquistare l’esclusiva tripla corona, coincide con le emozioni da parte del campione danese, già prima della premiazione. Anche i robot hanno un anima? Di certo, il...
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.