"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 regina è sempre lei, Lorena Wiebes, ma questa volta la fenomenale olandese ha dovuto faticare oltremodo ed è riuscita solo al fotofinish ad avere la meglio sull'irlandese Lara Gillespie e a conquistare il titolo mondiale dello scratch. Wiebes, favoritissima...
Il Giro del Veneto Women 2026 parla tedesco: Liane Lippert (Movistar) si è imposta sul traguardo del Monte Berico anticipando Loes Adegeest (Lidl - Trek) e Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L'Imad) che ha concluso terza davanti alla compagna di...
Sandrine Tas, ciclista belga arrivata al mondo delle due ruote dopo una splendida carriera nel pattinaggio di velocità, ha vinto la prima tappa dell'Eneco Tour, disputata con partenza e arrivo a Ede sulla distanza di 79, 5 km. La portacolori...
S'interrompe la serie di sei volate consecutive vincenti al Tour of Guangxi di Paul Magnier. A Jingxi infatti, traguardo di una tappa di 179, 5 chilometri partita da Chingzuo, ad imporsi nello sprint che metteva in palio il successo...
Dal 9 all’11 ottobre Gruppo Euromobil ha partecipato alla 21a edizione di ArtVerona in qualità di Main Sponsor, rinnovando il legame con il mondo dell’arte che accompagna la storia del Gruppo da oltre quarant’anni. Un percorso iniziato nel 1982 dalla...
Per il calendario è l'ultima monumento. Per lui è stata la prima monumento da responsabile area ciclismo di RCS Sports & Events. Abbiamo telefonato a Luca Guercilena per farci raccontare questo primo mese abbondante nel nuovo ruolo ed esplorare, con...
Ultimi scampoli di stagione agonositicache sulle strde italiane: oggi si corre il Giro del Veneto. Partenza dalla splendida Piazza Bra a Verona e traguardo posto dopo 167 chilometri a Vicenza, davanti al Santuario di Monte Berico. per seguire il racconto...
Tadej Pogacar e Demi Vollering sono stati i padroni assoluti di questa stagione. Ma non solo loro hanno appassionato i tifosi e tra i protagonisti del 2026 dobbiamo ricordare Paul Seixas e il ritorno di Van Aert tra i vincitori...
I numeri raccontano meglio di ogni parola una stagione straordinaria: 40 vittorie, 20 secondi posti e 16 terzi posti. È questo il bilancio finale del Team Senaghese Guerrini, protagonista di un 2026 semplicemente memorabile. A trainare il sodalizio di...
Quella che è prossima a concludersi non è stata sicuramente una stagione delle più indimenticabili per Juan David Sierra. Il giovane portacolori azzurro della Tudor Under 23 ha infatti dovuto convivere per buona parte dell’anno con una serie di problemi...
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.