| Gilberto Simoni |
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Gilberto Simoni (born August 25 , 1971 , Palù Di Giovo , Province Of Trento ) is an Italian Cyclist . He is a two-times winner of the Giro D'Italia Cycling Race ( 2001 and 2003 ). Simoni is a native of Palu di Giovo, and is a Climbing Specialist . For the 2006 season he rides for Saunier Duval-Prodir . EARLY CAREER Simoni started cycling in the amateur ranks having set his sights on someday winning the Giro d'Italia. In 1993 he won the Baby Giro d'Italia (Giro d'Italia for amatures) and the amateur Italian Road Cycling Championship. He turned professional in 1994 with Jolly Componibili. He had a difficult first year during which his father and then his brother passed away. It was only three years later that he won his first professional race while riding for the M&G Technogym of Giancarlo Ferretti , which was a stage of the Giro del Tretino. Another difficult spell plagued him while riding for Cantina Tollo in 1998 in which he had very poor results. He briefly quit cycling and worked as a bicycle mechanic for Francesco Moser . However, he joined the Ballan team in 1999 and finished third on the General Classification of that year's Giro d'Italia. It was also that edition of the race that saw Marco Pantani get disqualified for allegedly doping. Simoni was criticized that he hadn't earned his placing. He proved his critics wrong by winning a stage in the Tour De Suisse and again finishing on the final podium. FIRST GIRO D'ITALIA VICTORY The 2000 season started well for Simoni: he joined the top-ranked Lampre-Dankin team of Giuseppe Saronni and finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia again. He proved his climbing prowess by winning the dramatic Alto De El Angliru stage of the Vuelta A Espana that year. In the 2001 Giro d'Italia he was the undisputed team leader for the general classification, which he won with a comfortable margin. SECOND GIRO D'ITALIA VICTORY Following his Giro victory Simoni moved to the Saeco team with the goal of repeating his Giro success of the previous year. However, traces of Cocaine were found in his blood and he was disqualified despite his protestations of innocence. It was later determined that the cocaine in his blood came from candies that his aunt had bought for him from Colombia . In 2003 the Saeco team came to the Giro d'Italia with the sole purpose of supporting Simoni. After epic battles with a resurgent Stefano Garzelli , Yaroslav Popovych and Marco Pantani in the high mountains in a hailstorm, Simoni cemented his second Giro d'Italia victory. His pursuit was documented in the film ''The Quest''. Following his dominant showing in the Giro, he set his aims on the Tour De France and in several interviews challenged the incumbent Lance Armstrong to a battle in the mountains. Unfortunately his performance was lacking, although he was able to gain a stage win. RECENT NEWS Simoni failed to defend his title in the 2004 Giro D'Italia with the emergence of his teammate Damiano Cunego . After some public dispute, Simoni reconciled with Cunego and agreed to continue on the same team, which became Lampre-Caffita . In the 2005 Giro D'Italia the team took advantage of the publicity and played up the rivalry between Simoni and Cunego, boasting their strength for the Giro. The early part of the Giro saw Cunego lose significant time in the early mountain stages - later diagnosed with Epstein-Barr viral infection - firmly establishing Simoni as the team leader for the Giro. However, Simoni failed to dislodge Paolo Savoldelli in the last mountain stage, even with an epic performance which saw him and Danilo Di Luca work together to gain time on Savoldelli. Suffering from cramps, he also failed to win that stage. Simoni was slated to join Giancarlo Ferretti's Sony-Ericsson team, which was supposed to be the continuation of the Fassa Bortolo team. However, it later turned out that Ferretti had fallen victim to a fraud, and the team did not in fact exist. After a strong performance in which he finished second in the Giro Di Lombardia (which was won by Cunego in the previous edition), Simoni signed a contract to join Saunier Duval-Prodir . Simoni is again aiming for a third Giro d'Italia title, in May. The 2006 Giro route suits him a lot and he will have the full support of his new team, Saunier Duval-Prodir. There also hints he will be trying to win the Classics San Sebastian, and the Vuelta e Espana.
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