I suppose everyone's already heard the stories of Cipo sightings lately on the Westside and in Malibu. There's been so many rumors about him floating around that I hesitate to believe this yet, but here it is...
Cipo's back?
By Andrew Hood
VeloNews European correspondent
Filed: January 18, 2008
Former world champion Mario Cipollini could be back in the saddle as a professional at next month's Tour of California as the long-rumored comeback with Rock Racing looks closer to being a done deal.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the 40-year-old colorful Italian has signed a contract to join the U.S. domestic team in a dual role of manager and racer. A formal announcement could come as soon as today at the opening day of the team's training camp in Malibu, California.
The pairing of Cipollini, who retired in 2005, and outspoken team owner Michael Ball has quietly been in the works for months since the pair met at Interbike in Las Vegas last fall.
Cipollini, who will turn 41 in March, traveled to California this week to hammer out a deal after a five-hour meeting late Wednesday, La Gazzetta reported.
Details were sketchy, but it appears the deal includes some race time as well as a managerial role for the upstart American team. The departure of Frankie Andreu in early January left the team without a sport director going into its second season......
Full Story (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13926.0.html)
VanceMac
01-18-08, 08:22 AM
Remember, Joy... the restraining order is still in effect.
Happytime
01-18-08, 08:25 AM
Remember, Joy... the restraining order is still in effect.
Yeah I know. But he's too fast for me to even get within 100 yards.
VanceMac
01-18-08, 08:26 AM
Yeah I know. But he's too fast for me to even get within 100 yards.
I'm guessing you have ways to make him turn around and come running...
Happytime
01-18-08, 08:28 AM
No. He doesn't acknowledge his old friends from the adult film industry. We're just peons to him now.
redal
01-18-08, 08:47 AM
He's here for the Rock camp. Cipo, Hamilton and the other big names are staying at Michael Ball's house while the returning riders are staying at a rented house in Malibu which is equipped with sound and camera equipment for a possible reality show.
BTW Happy, what was your last job in adult film industry?
Surferbruce
01-18-08, 09:08 AM
i was driving north on vista del mar yesterday and passed a R&R rider at 45th. he pulled behind me, and not in any rush, i paced him for a few miles. i was holding a steady 38mph or so and he just tucked in behind and enjoyed a little vacuum. made my commute much more fun after yesterdays 405/105 nightmare.
Scootcore
01-18-08, 10:11 AM
get yer fill of rock racing while you can! before that Ball idiot ticks everyone in pro racig off and his team disappears!
although seeing Cipo woud be cool....
Happytime
01-18-08, 10:33 AM
BTW Happy, what was your last job in adult film industry?
Oh, come on Josh, you've never seen my movies?! :lol:;)
Speedee
01-18-08, 10:36 AM
get yer fill of rock racing while you can! before that Ball idiot ticks everyone in pro racig off and his team disappears!
Not so fast... RR is everything America loves. Ego, controversy, drugs, rehabbed misfits, girls, tattoo's, jeans, hot team cars, etc.
Rock Racing is like the Stones meets the Raiders on bicycles.
:D
Scootcore
01-18-08, 10:39 AM
its only problem is that its a bike team then....
Happytime
01-18-08, 10:40 AM
I can just imagine the drama of a cycling reality show:
"Who dulled my razor?!"
"I dropped you!" "No, I dropped you!" "Uh-uh. I dropped you!"
"Your @ss really does look fat in lycra."
"You carbo-loaded. I can smell it on your breath."
"I found hair in my jar of chamois creme!"
redal
01-18-08, 10:44 AM
I can just imagine the drama of a cycling reality show:
"Who dulled my razor?!"
"I dropped you!" "No, I dropped you!" "Uh-uh. I dropped you!"
"Your @ss really does look fat in lycra."
"You carbo-loaded. I can smell it on your breath."
"I found hair in my jar of chamois creme!"
Yeah I laughed when I heard that. My wife talked to Rahsaan after he arrived at camp last night. Of course her question was, "Where is Cipo staying?" That's when he told her the big names were staying elsewhere. When she got off the phone and told me about the mics and camera equipment, I was like,"Who would watch that?"
redal
01-18-08, 10:46 AM
Oh, come on Josh, you've never seen my movies?! :lol:;)
Well, I've seen a few, I just wanted to make sure I had the whole catalog! lol
redal
01-18-08, 11:54 AM
Since I live Malibu adjacent, how would I know a Rock Racing team member if I saw one out on the roads? Do they wear their team jersey for training? A specific bike? Color?
They'll be wearing the team jersey. The bikes for this season are De Rosa, according to the last I heard, I don't know if they have got them yet. As of last week they were still on their Scotts, but I'm sure they will get the new bikes this week. More than likely they will be in riding in groups once camp starts today.
esammuli
01-18-08, 12:22 PM
They'll be wearing the team jersey. The bikes for this season are De Rosa, according to the last I heard, I don't know if they have got them yet. As of last week they were still on their Scotts, but I'm sure they will get the new bikes this week. More than likely they will be in riding in groups once camp starts today.
They were supposed to be riding Look this season, and even had them custom painted at Interbike. From what I heard Michael Ball demanded a ridiculous number of frames, they got in an argument, and Look backed out of the deal.
They were supposed to be riding Look this season, and even had them custom painted at Interbike. From what I heard Michael Ball demanded a ridiculous number of frames, they got in an argument, and Look backed out of the deal.
Yes. That's my good friend, former teammate and all around nice guy Rudy Napolitano in the top picture. The guy in the bottom picture is a ******bag.
pv0463
01-18-08, 01:40 PM
she hasn't really been in a porn movie, has she?
jamlo21
01-18-08, 01:46 PM
last thing I read said they were riding Scott's. And yes, the guy from Scott said Ball wanted a ridiculous amount of frames and the deal almost fell apart.
redal
01-18-08, 01:53 PM
last thing I read said they were riding Scott's. And yes, the guy from Scott said Ball wanted a ridiculous amount of frames and the deal almost fell apart.
At Interbike the word was Look. After that fell apart, i heard the mens and womens teams will both be on De Rosa. That was what I was told as recently as Sunday.
Ball is on the west coast. Doesn't that technically make him a ******bag?
Indolent58
01-18-08, 05:48 PM
Ball is on the west coast. Doesn't that technically make him a ******bag?
In his case I think he can be both a tool and an ******bag.
redal
01-18-08, 06:07 PM
Ball is on the west coast. Doesn't that technically make him a ******bag?
Hey, are you mking fun of my word? I was going to say dirtbag but I typed ******bag. I don't really ever use that word, it just came to mind.
prendrefeu
01-18-08, 06:22 PM
Redal: do you know Tony Z. ? (new mechanic for Rock Racing (at least that's what he told me))
Scootcore
01-18-08, 08:19 PM
last i read Ball had screwed the pooch on both the frame and wheel endorsement(HED)....and in reference to indolents titling of him i agree.....he is both a tool and a ******
DScott
01-18-08, 10:16 PM
I saw them on PCH today- a mass of them, heading north out of Malibu. Nice kit- all cool rock-n-roll bad boy black and stuff. For a minute there I thought they were Team Bearclaw... :)
Gretzky
01-19-08, 07:40 AM
Cipollini to come back with Rock Racing
Mario Cipollini will return to the peloton this season after a three-year absence. The 40 year-old sprinter has reached an agreement with Rock Racing, managed by fashion label Rock & Republic owner Michael Ball, to become one of the squad's riders, but also a manager.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that "Super Mario" is currently in Santa Monica, California, for technical and administrative meetings. An agreement that he would join the team was reached Wednesday night after a five hour meeting with Ball, and the contract may be signed as early as Friday. The 2002 World champion may make his come-back next month in the Tour of California.
While the Italian has always been known for liking spectacular appearances, he may also have financial motives for the new job. Earlier this week the tax magistrate of the Province of Lucca announced that Cipollini must pay some 1.1 million Euro back in taxes, sanctions and interest.
Drew12
01-19-08, 09:36 AM
No. He doesn't acknowledge his old friends from the adult film industry. We're just peons to him now.
Redal: do you know Tony Z. ? (new mechanic for Rock Racing (at least that's what he told me))
I've known Tony for quite a while. From what I understand he's popular with the fixed gear crowd now. He does the alley cat races and such. I haven't seen him in a long time, but Dennis that rides with my club is related to him somehow and he sees him. Dennis also does the Midnight Ridazz and fixed gear stuff.
prendrefeu
01-19-08, 04:39 PM
hey now, just because there are a few urban riders riding fixed doesn't mean we all do all the time ;)
I can tell him you said hi. I may see him tomorrow, but more than likely will see him this week more than once. Even though I don't know your real name... so...errr....
redal
01-19-08, 05:07 PM
hey now, just because there are a few urban riders riding fixed doesn't mean we all do all the time ;)
I can tell him you said hi. I may see him tomorrow, but more than likely will see him this week more than once. Even though I don't know your real name... so...errr....
My name is Josh. He'll remember racing against me in the early to mid nineties. He was pretty fast. I didn't mean he does it all the time because I know he won the 5s at Manhatten Beach last year. I've just heard some of the fixed riders on this forum refer to Tony Z and I've seen his name on some of the fixie web sites.
Speedee
01-19-08, 06:31 PM
One of my club mates with Cipo out on PCH last week.
Mario Cipollini, winner of 42 Giro d'Italia stages and the 2002 Milano-Sanremo, is biding his time to sign with Mike Ball's Rock Racing team. The 40 year-old Italian who retired in 2005 is pondering a dual-pronged comeback with the USA Continental team – both as a rider and as a team manager. However, he said to the Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport that "if they don't give me a straight response I will return home."
The ex-cyclist, known as "Super Mario" for his sprinting prowess in the nineties and early 2000s, is in Santa Monica, California, to meet with the prospective team and its staff. As previously reported, the idea was that Cipollini could return as a cyclist in the Tour of California next month, however an agreement has not been made between the outspoken executive behind the fashion label Rock & Republic and the charismatic Lucchese.
"You don't have an idea in what kind of conditions I find myself. The project, the programmes, the structure: all of it was shared together with Mike Ball. And now I see there are problems, the scenario is different, his collaborators are bucking," stated Cipollini, who last raced as a professional at the Milano-Sanremo with Team Liquigas-Bianchi in 2005.
"It is better that I vent a little bit on the bicycle before I go and meet them. I have asked for a face-to-face meeting to reach a definitive answer. Either there is a contract, or there is a return home."
Cipollini and Ball first met at the trade show in Las Vegas where the idea of cooperation evolved. With the awareness of the former sprinter in Italy, the team would have better chances of receiving wildcard invites to races like Tirreno-Adriatico, Sanremo or even the Giro d'Italia. However, the team is only registered for 2008 as a Continental team, which prohibits its participation at least for the duration of this year.
The former racer envisions a larger-scaled project (rumoured names include the Schleck brothers and Basso - ed.) that could see Ball's team on top of the world in five years, however he wants to have his way with the team on the other side of the Atlantic. "I have been here since Monday," continued Cipollini, who arrived to the USA with his lawyer Giuseppe Napoleone.
"We have had meetings after meetings. The problem is not Ball, not my money, the use of my image, or investments, but it is the men that are around [Ball] and who are afraid to lose out on this proposed structure in Europe that I would manage. I came here in October, and I started to explain some things about cycling, like how the Giro d'Italia will celebrate 100 years in 2009, and they looked at me with mouths wide open.
"Ball came from nothing in his life. It was him who wanted to know me in Las Vegas. ... The project we created together. I asked for and obtained a carte blanche – not to have intermediaries – and he gave it to me."
Ball has made controversial contracts with riders involved in past doping scandal. Maybe Cipollini, like Frankie Andreu before him, is finding the waters to be rocky. "I was clear with him on [Oscar] Sevilla, [Santiago] Botero and [Tyler] Hamilton, who he has already signed. I said to Ball that it is not the right way to interpret cycling, that these riders would never be able to race in a European team. He gave me his reasoning, that they would only race in America. However, they take from the staff new requests, like 'Cipollini has to be a manager also in the USA, he has to transfer here for some time.' For this reason I no longer understand any of it."
Meetings were expected for later on Saturday. Depending on the outcome Cipollini will either be spreading his wings to fly home for good from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) or to take on the final kilometres of the Tour of California's sprint stages coming up in February.
Groupetto
01-19-08, 09:02 PM
One minute the report is he will be racing for R/R. Next minute he is flying home. There is defintely the need for another pro-team in the US to shake things up. I am just not too sure about Mike Ball as a owner/director. He is quickly pissing off "the man".
I am not sure what kind of shape Cipo is really in ( I know good enough to turn the screws to all of us mortals) . From what i have read about the owner, the team will have some lofty goals and I am not sure what Cipo will be able to do.
I am hoping he signs and enters the tour of california ..so that the announcer can call him a 12 ct dreamer !!!!
Happytime
01-20-08, 09:03 AM
One of my club mates with Cipo out on PCH last week.
She actually mated with him? On PCH??? :eek:
Speedee
01-20-08, 09:57 AM
She actually mated with him? On PCH??? :eek:
Maybe that should be clubmates - if that's a word. Ok, someone from my club... :rolleyes: :p
Gretzky
01-20-08, 06:40 PM
Cipo said to have signed with Rock Racing
The on-again, off-again relationship between Mario Cipollini and Michael Ball's Rock Racing team seems to be on again. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Sunday that the Italian sprinter had signed with the American Continental team and will ride the Tour of California next month.
The 40 year-old former World Champion has 42 stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and 12 in the Tour de France. He also has tax evasion fees of 1.1 million Euros from the Italian government.
"The Lion King" met last week with Rock Racing owner Michael Ball in Santa Monica, California, and it was announced that he would not only ride but manage a European edition of the team. However, on Saturday Cipolini said that he was waiting to get certain issues cleared up, and threatened to return to Europe without signing.
Sunday's announcement of the signing seems to indicate that negotiations for a pre-nuptial agreement were successful for this marriage made in heaven – or elsewhere.
Oh, on another note: the rain this weekend? It sucks my ass. Seriously... I love the rain n'all. the Universe KNOWS we need it out here in So.Cal... but seriously? I'm hoping it's going to come to a dramatic, exciting, early climax this weekend and open up something on Sunday.
Here's hoping.
thedips
01-25-08, 12:14 PM
Not so fast... RR is everything America loves. Ego, controversy, drugs, rehabbed misfits, girls, tattoo's, jeans, hot team cars, etc.
Rock Racing is like the Stones meets the Raiders on bicycles.
:D
actually i have nothing bad to say about RR.... the two i met were great guys.. saw me stranded in marina... looking like alost puppy... lent me and extra tube and tire lever..
would love to support them.. however i would state that i dont actually agree with alot of what BALL has to offer..
Scootcore
01-25-08, 12:59 PM
Ball has something to offer?????!!!!?????
VanceMac
01-25-08, 01:06 PM
Ball has something to offer?????!!!!?????
I was looking for an appropriate image that would convey his level of ******ry... but, well, this is the most unintentionally funny ad I've seen in a long time.
why all the hating on Ball? If you 'normalize' him relative to other LA entrepreneurs, he comes out being pretty standard (compare him to that Jeff guy on the reality tv show Sunset Tan, one of the owners). He's obsessed with self-promotion and exceedingly narrissictic, pisses off USADA etc., but at least he's infusing US pro cycling with some personality, especially if he in fact manages to bring Cipo to the scene. The US pro cycling scene needs a personality transplant if it ever hopes to attract an audience beyond hardcore cyclists. Guys like Levi may be great racers, but they are about as charismatic as wallpaper glue.