Mario Cipollini, 55, has been sentenced to three years in prison for abusing two of his domestic partners, his ex-wife Sabrina Landucci and more recently her current partner Silvio Giusti, by the Court of Lucca on Monday.
The Italian was charged with domestic abuse, stalking, and injuring the two in a case first brought to the court in March 2019. The Court also required Cipollini to pay €80,000 in damages to Landucci and €5,000 to Giusti.
The sentence goes beyond the two years and six months requested by prosecutor Letizia Cai.
The prosecutor described Cipollini in the indictment as an "extremely violent, extremely threatening and extremely abusive man", who, according to testimony, once threatened Landucci with a gun because she had chosen to wear a skirt that he felt was too short.
The former world champion repeatedly denied abusing his partners, even discounting an episode that happened in court where he grabbed his former wife in front of her lawyer and dozens of witnesses, according to Bicisport.
Cipollini and Landucci were married in 1993 and had two daughters, and divorced in 2005 after he had retired from professional cycling.
Landucci said in the complaint that Cipollini assaulted her at a sports centre where she worked in front of her colleagues and clients in 2017. "He grabbed my neck and then banged my head against the wall. I had injuries, I had to go to the emergency room."
One of cycling's most gregarious personalities, Cipollini provoked the UCI with numerous 'special' race kits, including becoming the first rider to don an all-yellow kit while leading the Tour de France, earning him numerous fines. He provoked race organisers by dropping out of Grand Tours before the mountain stages, and once was ejected from a race for punching a fellow rider in the face.
His legacy was already tainted before the abuse charges by his being named in the Operacion Puerto scandal, charges he continues to deny and for which he was never sanctioned.
"I am happy," Landucci said, according to Corriere Florentino, "even though this sentence comes at the end of a long and difficult path. Above all, it was difficult to hear in the courtroom how I was an inadequate mother: I have fought all my life for my daughters and I hope that this ruling will give courage to so many people who live this condition without finding the courage to take a step forward to get justice."
Cipollini did not appear at the hearing and his attorneys announced they intend to appeal the sentence.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the USA. You can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 for assistance. Learn to recognise the signs of domestic abuse here.
