Eros Poli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Men’s Cycling
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	Men's Team Road Race

Eros Poli (born August 6, 1963 in Isola della Scala, Veneto) was a popular Italian cyclist of the 1990s, notably employed as Mario Cipollini's lead-out man in bunch sprints.

Following Cipollini's retirement in the 1994 Tour de France, Poli won Montpellier to Carpentras stage which featured an ascent of the fabled Mont Ventoux. With an amazing lone break he lost nearly 20 minutes on the climb, due to his heavy 6'4" frame, but he was so far ahead that he won anyway.

When asked by Cycle Sport magazine what he would like his epitaph to be, he said "Here lies Eros Poli, famous for being tall and coming last in the Giro [d'Italia]".

Poli won the golden medal in the Team Time Trial at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, together with Claudio Vandelli, Marcello Bartalini and Marco Giovannetti.