Francesco Casagrande

Francesco Casagrande (born 14 September 1970 in Florence) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. Casagrande was a professional cyclist between 1992 and 2005.

Francesco Casagrande
Personal information
Full nameFrancesco Casagrande
Born (1970-09-14) 14 September 1970
Florence, Italy
Height1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb; 10 st 1 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Professional teams
1992–1995Mercatone Uno–Medeghini–Zucchini
1996–1997Saeco–AS Juvenes San Marino
1998Cofidis
1999-2000Vini Caldirola
2001–2002Fassa Bortolo
2003–2004Lampre
2004Vini Caldirola–Nobili Rubinetterie
2005Naturino–Sapore di Mare
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
Mountains classification (2000)
1 individual stage

Stage Races

Tirreno–Adriatico (1996)
Tour of the Basque Country (1996)
Tour de Suisse (1999)
Giro del Trentino (2001, 2002)

One-Day Races and Classics

La Flèche Wallonne (2000)
Clásica de San Sebastián (1998, 1999)
Milano–Torino (1994)
Giro dell'Emilia (1994)

Biography

He was a proven performer in the Grand Tours and the major one-day races. He wore the leader’s jersey into the penultimate stage of the 2000 Giro d'Italia, but faltered badly and wound up 2nd to fellow Italian Stefano Garzelli. Casagrande did, however, win the mountains classification, wearing the corresponding green jersey on the podium.

In major one-day races, he has won the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1998 and 1999, followed by the 2000 editions of the La Flèche Wallonne and Subida a Urkiola. Also in 1999, he placed 4th in the World Cycling Championships Road Race behind Óscar Freire, Markus Zberg, and Jean-Cyril Robin.

In his early career, Casagrande won the 1996 Tirreno–Adriatico and Tour of the Basque Country — both one-week stage races. In 1998, Casagrande tested positive for doping with testosterone during the Tour de Romandie, and consequently was fired by his team Cofidis.[1] He was originally given a six-month sentence, later extended to nine months by the UCI. He returned to racing at the 1999 Tour de Suisse, a race that he won, taking the leader's jersey away from Laurent Jalabert on stage 9.[2] Casagrande also scored victories at the 2001 and 2002 Giro del Trentino and the 2002 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali. In the 2002 Giro d'Italia, Casagrande was expelled from the race, after knocking down another cyclist.[3] In 2003, Casagrande won two mountain stages in the Tour de Suisse, but lost the leader's jersey in the penultimate day's time trial to Alexander Vinokourov. He was unable to start the last stage due to urethritis.[4] Casagrande was barred from competing in the 2004 Vuelta a España a day before its start due to a high hematocrit level, indicating the use of erythropoietin (EPO), a popular doping product.[5] In 2005, Casagrande retired.[6]

Major results

52 career victories including:

Major wins

Runner-up

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Giro d'Italia 40 22 10 31 — — — 2 DNF DSQ DNF —
Tour de France — — — — 6 DNF — — DNF — — —
Vuelta a España — — — — — — — — — 7 — DNS
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
DSQ Disqualified
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See also

References
  1. Cofidis bids farewell, CNN, 1998
  2. "63rd Tour de Suisse, Cat HC". cyclingnews.cpm. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  3. Giro gets downright weird: Casagrande sent packing, Velonews, 2002
  4. "Alexander Winokurow gewinnt die Tour de Suisse 2003". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 25 June 2003. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  5. "Rennen der Enttäuschten". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 4 September 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. Casagrande stops, Cyclingnews, 2005
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