"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.

COMMENTI

Per poter commentare i post devi esser registrato.
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.

TBRADIO

00:00

DONNE

STRADE BIANCHE E SANREMO WOMEN: ECCO TUTTE LE SQUADRE INVITATE

RCS Sport comunica l'elenco delle squadre che prenderanno il via alle seguenti corse UCI Women's World Tour di primavera: Strade Bianche Women Elite e Sanremo Women presented by Crédit Agricole. Le squadre partecipanti alle altre corse di RCS Sport verranno...

PROFESSIONISTI

TOUR DU RWANDA. ANCORA UN TEDESCO ALLA RIBALTA: STOCCATA DI ZEMKE

Rubavu, anche detta Gisenyi, diventa punto d'arrivo per Il secondo giorno consecutivo. Il pubblico festeggia vincitore, Jermaine Zemke (Rembe) che allo sprint non da' scampo a Einhoen, vincitore della frazione inaugurale, e Mulubrham. All'ultimo giro c'era stato l'allungo del già...

PROFESSIONISTI

GIRO DI SARDEGNA. LA SECONDA TAPPA E' DI DONATI: GAROFOLI BATTUTO IN VOLATA

Il bresciano Davide Donati mette la firma sulla Oristano/Carbonia, seconda frazione del Giro di Sardegna 2026 corsa sulla distanza di 136 chilometri e costellata da tre GPM. Il 20enne della Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe Rookies, già vincitore lo scorso...

PROFESSIONISTI

MALEDIZIONE BELGA, ANCHE STUYVEN RINUNCIA AL WEEKEND D'APERTURA

Poche ore dopo l'annuncio del ritiro di Wout van Aert, anche Jasper Stuyven ha dichiarato forfait al fine settimana di apertura delle Classiche in Belgio. Il trentatreenne di Leuven non si è ripreso dai problemi di salute che si erano...

PROFESSIONISTI

FEBBRE PER VAN AERT, NIENTE OMLOOP HET NIEUWSBLAD

Niente Omloop Het Nieuwsblad per Wout Van Aert. Il belga della Visma | Lease a Bike, che aveva vinto questa corsa nel 2022, è febbricitante e la squadra ha preferito rimandare il suo esordio stagionale. «Ovviamente è un brutto colpo...

RAISPORT, STASERA ALLE 19 TORNA RADIOCORSA CON PELLIZZARI, SCARONI, GHIOTTO...

Terminate le Olimpiadi torna Radiocorsa alle 19 su Raisport. E un po’ di Olimpiadi ci saranno anche a Radiocorsa con, protagonista, l’ex pro Federico Ghiotto che parlerà della sua esperienza in bici, ma anche di suo figlio Davide, medaglia d’oro...

PROFESSIONISTI

A INNSBRUCK IL TOUR OF THE ALPS SVENTOLA LE SUE BANDIERE

Il carattere distintivo di una prestigiosa corsa a tappe come il Tour of the Alps – ovvero coinvolgere ogni anno due Paesi, Italia e Austria, in uno stesso evento – trova ancora di più un senso compiuto nella presenza all’edizione...

NEWS

EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST, DISDETTA POWLESS: OPERAZIONE AL GINOCCHIO E NIENTE CLASSICHE

È durata appena tre giorni la prima parte di stagione di Neilson Powless. Il ventinovenne statunitense infatti, dopo non esser riuscito a portare a termine il Tour de la Provence, lunedì ha deciso di sottoporsi a un’operazione chirurgica per...

DONNE

SD WORX-PROTIME, DALLA OMLOOP ALLA VUELTA: GLI APPUNTAMENTI DI KOPECKY FINO A MAGGIO

Nove corse World Tour, una gara del calendario élite e la seconda tappa, quella di Hong Kong, della UCI Track World Cup: sono questi, in sintesi, gli impegni che Lotte Lopecky ha messo in calendario per la prima parte...

INIZIATIVE

«PEDALA A PONENTE», PRESENTATA UFFICIALMENTE LA PRIMA RETE DI CICLOTURISMO LENTO IN LIGURIA

È nata ufficialmente “Pedala a Ponente”: la prima rete cicloturistica di percorsi per un turismo lento e desideroso di conoscere bellezze delle aree interne di Savona e Imperia, con il coinvolgimento di alcuni Comuni anche in Provincia di Cuneo. Più...