Rodolfo Massi (Italian pronunciation: [roˈdɔlfo ˈmassi]; born 17 September 1965) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He won a stage in 1996 Giro d'Italia and 1998 Tour de France, but was expelled from the 1998 Tour de France after illegal doping was found in his hotel room. In the 1990 Tour de France, Massi was the Lanterne rouge.

Biography

As an amateur, Massi won many races, and when he became a professional cyclist in 1987, much was expected from him.^[1] In 1988, he broke a leg, and after the operation, one of his legs was a few centimeters shorter than the other. Massi often complained that he was not able to cycle in a regular way, and became a domestique for many different teams.^[1]

In 1998, he had his best year. He won the Tour Méditerranéen and the Giro di Calabria.^[1] In the Tour de France, he won a mountain stage, and after the 16th stage was in seventh place in the general classification, and leading the mountains classification, when corticoids were found in his hotel room.^[2] He was questioned by the police, and was not able to start the next stage. Massi was the first rider in history to be arrested for breaking doping laws.^[3] Later, all legal charges against him were dropped,^[4] but the Italian Olympic Committee banned him for six months.^[5]

Major results

Source:^[6]

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
/ Vuelta a España	—	36	—	—	—	—	—	56	—	—	20	DNF	DNF	34	—	—	—
Giro d'Italia	24	—	85	35	—	94	DNF	37	48	35	—	—	—	—	—	—	67
Tour de France	—	—	—	156	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	—	—	—	—	—