"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.
Può avere inizio il lungo processo di riabilitazione post-operatorio per Nils Eekhoff. Il ventisettenne olandese, tornato tra le proprie mura dopo esser finito sotto i ferri negli scorsi giorni per risolvere i problemi riscontratigli a tutte e due le...
La 52ª Volta ao Algarve è stata presentata ufficialmente questo martedì presso la sede della Regione Turistica dell'Algarve a Faro, durante una conferenza stampa alla quale hanno partecipato i principali partner e sponsor dell'unica corsa a tappe portoghese integrata nel...
Prima uscita internazionale in Italia per la AIOCC – Association Internationale des Organisateurs de Courses Cyclistes, che nelle giornate di lunedì e martedì si è riunita a Milano. L’iniziativa, promossa dalla Lega del Ciclismo Professionistico, presieduta dal Presidente Roberto Pella,...
È la Li Ning Star ad esultare al termine della prima frazione del Bajaj Pune Grand Tour. Presentatasi al via della breve corsa a tappe indiana con soli cinque elementi, la formazione Continental cinese è riuscita infatti subito a...
La Volta a Catalunya 2026, che riunirà ancora una volta le stelle del ciclismo tra il 23 e il 29 marzo, vedrà la partecipazione di ventitré squadre, diciassette delle quali provenienti dalla massima categoria mondiale, con ciclisti del calibro di...
Un prologo velocissimo, 3.600 metri nel cuore di Adelaide, per dare il via al Santos Tour Down Under e alla stagione agonistica del WorldTour. Ad imporsi è stato il britannico Samuel Watson della Ineos Grenadiers, al sesto successo in carriera....
L’anno scorso è stato uno dei velocisti che ha attirato maggiormente la nostra attenzione, Pavel Bittner, 23 anni, è uno dei nomi relativamente nuovi del gruppo, non ha paura di confrontarsi con i grandi dello sprint e si diverte davanti...
Keo, lo standard stradale creato da LOOK nel 2004 come lo standard per offrire ai ciclisti su strada un’interfaccia tacchetta/pedale più leggera, compatta, efficiente e sicura in circolazione, presenta oggi le nuove tacchetta LOOK Leo Grip caratterizzate da un’ampia superficie...
L’UAE Tour è stato presentato e dal 16 al 22 febbraio anche Remco Evenepoel farà rotta verso il Medio Oriente. Con quattro tappe veloci, due tappe con arrivi in salita e una cronometro individuale, la corsa a tappe negli Emirati...
E siamo qui, domenica 28 dicembre spartiacque dell’anno, con una singolare certezza che ci è appena stata ribadita. Via mail, cortese e garbata, granitica e celeste, appena giunta con gli auguri che arrivano primi al cuore, il “W Napoli W...
1
1
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.