"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.
A Napoli il cielo è rosa. Almeno per una sera amica della notte, a Napoli, città di mare e amori non sempre corrisposti, il cielo diventa rosa per una notte che sorride al mattino, da quando così spesso il Giro...
L’uscita in bici da corsa di prima mattina, poi l’incidente fatale prima di tornare a casa. Un ciclista milanese di 65 anni, Sante M.C., è stato travolto e ucciso da un tir in via Marco Polo a Gaggiano (hinterland...
Vittoria svizzera nella terza tappa dell’AlUla Tour, la Winter Park - Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah di 142, 1 km, la prima con arrivo in salita: ad alzare le braccia al cielo è stato Yannis Voisard della Tudor Pro Cycling. L’elvetico...
Il conto alla rovescia per il Giro d’Italia 109, che prenderà il via l’8 maggio dalla Bulgaria, ha raggiunto ieri il traguardo simbolico dei 100 giorni alla partenza. Per celebrare questo momento, le 40 città che ospiteranno le 21 tappe...
Prima di tutto, cominciamo ad abituarci al suo nuovo nome: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. La denominazione Critérium du Dauphiné va in archivio per scelta degli organizzatori che vogliono così rendere omaggio all'intera regione che ospita la corsa e anche allargarne un po'...
Si annuncia particolarmente spettacolare e partecipato il Tour de Romandie che, dal 28 aprile al 3 maggio prossimi, colorerà le strade della Svizzera orientale. La 79ᵃ edizione della corsa a tappe elvetica, usuale antipasto del Giro d’Italia che prenderà...
Nelle corse di questi giorni si possono scovare diverse novità, alcune presentate da poco, altre ancora “segrete” anche se già ampiamente affidate ai team. Quella che vediamo sulla Cannondale di Marijn Van Der Berg del team EF Education - EasyPost ha forme...
La Red Bull - Bora Hansgrohe è pronta per un importante appuntamento che apre la nuova stagione. Al Trofeo Ses Salines in Spagna, faranno il loro esordio stagionale Remco Evenepoel e Florian Lipowitz. Sarà la loro prima gara insieme come...
Sam Welsford (INEOS Grenadiers), campione nazionale australiano della criterium e vincitore di una tappa del Tour Down Under, conferma la sua predisposizione per le gare veloci e dai continui rilanci e mette la sua firma sul Cadel’S Criterium disputato nel...
Si allunga di altre tre stagioni il matrimonio di Ben Healy con l’EF Education-Easypost. La formazione a stelle e strisce, a cui va il merito di aver avviato nel 2022 la cavalcata tra i grandi del pedale del venticinquenne...
2
2
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.