"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.
Dopo una stagione sulle strade del ciclismo professionistico, le De Rosa 70 DNA Blu della Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber tornano all'Heartquarter di Cusano Milanino, dove sono state preparate per affrontare le corse. Circa 60 biciclette, utilizzate dai corridori durante il 2026,...
È ormai un tradizionale appuntamento di fine stagione, quello che chiama a raccolta i membri dello staff della ex Saeco. Punto di ritrovo, la Locanda il Boschetto a Volterra, il ristorante di Dario Pieri. Un'occasione per lasciarsi andare ai ricordi,...
Tom Pidcock è sceso dalla bici per qualche giorno e, sul circuito di Nürburgring, in Germania, ha voluto stupire gli appassionati della velocità con la sua auto sportiva: «In Porsche gareggio contro me stesso». Il britannico del Pinarello Q36.5 ha...
Prende progressivamente e rapidamente forma il roster 2027 della Picnic PostNL. Dopo alcune settimane senza annunciare movimenti in entrata, la formazione olandese ha provveduto nel giro di poche ore ad ufficializzare prima i tre ingaggi di Bolle, Leuseur e Kerckhaert...
Dopo il consueto notiziario di Paolo Broggi, ecco la telefonata del nostro Carlo Malvestio a Maurizio Fondriest: una rassegna di temi ad ampio respiro, snocciolati con la consueta profondità di argomenti dal campione iridato del 1988. A partire dal docufilm...
Cominciò con l’atletica, ed eccelleva, dal triathlon passò al ciclismo, e conquistò due ori olimpici, infine venne tentata dal bob, e in un equipaggio a due, con Gerda Weissensteiner (due olimpioniche, Gerda lo era stata nello slittino), fu settima al...
Cinquant’anni fa, nel 1976, Guido Costa concludeva il suo lungo incarico di Commissario tecnico delle Nazionali italiane di ciclismo su pista. Oltre un quarto di secolo alla guida degli azzurri, con qualche breve interruzione, durante il quale contribuì a costruire...
VeloPlus ha appena presentato la Four Seasons 2026/27, una collezione basata su sei capi pensati per affrontare le uscite in bicicletta in tutte le condizioni climatiche dell’anno. A spiccare è la tecnicità dei capi, ma anche lo stile elegante declinato in tre...
Per la prima volta nella sua storia iniziata nel 1974, la cerimonia del Giglio D’Oro patrocinato dalla Regione Toscana, dalla Città Metropolitana di Firenze e dal Gruppo Toscano Giornalisti Sportivi dell’USSI con la collaborazione del Coni e della Federazione Ciclistica...
È Jai Hindley il primo corridore ufficialmente iscritto nella lista partenti del prossimo Santos Tour Down Under 2026. Il corridore australiano tornerà sulle strade di casa per provare l'assalto a una corsa ancora mai conquistata e sarà accompagnato dal neozelandese...
TBRADIO
-
00:00
00:00
SONDAGGIO
OSCAR TUTTOBICI 2026. SCEGLIETE IL MIGLIOR TECNICO ITALIANO DELL'ANNO
1
1
Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
Se sei giá nostro utente esegui il login altrimenti registrati.