Claudio Chiappucci (born 28 February 1963 in Uboldo, Varese, Lombardy) is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 1992. Career After a quiet start to his career he burst onto the scene in the 1990 Tour de France. Chiappucci found himself almost casually wearing the yellow jersey after a stage one attack which the favourites allowed him to arrive with a 10-minute time advantage. In subsequent stages he resisted the return of Greg LeMond, only losing the lead of the race in stage 20, the final time trial. In the end, LeMond won the Tour by 2' 16", Chiappucci came home with a surprising second place and, moreover, the status of a cycling star. He was the first Italian cyclist to arrive on the podium at the Tour since Felice Gimondi in 1972. This first successful campaign highlighted Chiappucci's main weakness, the time trial. Although vowing to return the following year as a better racer against the clock, Chiappucci never was able to master this discipline. The year of 1991 confirmed to the cycling community that Chiappucci was able to perform consistently. Beginning with a win in the opening classic of the season, the Milan San-Remo, Chiappucci rode the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of France. However, Chiappucci declined quickly. After riding a solid Giro it looked like his 1993 Tour de France was to be a big showdown with Miguel Induráin. But from the first mountain stage Chiappucci was obviously struggling. Although he had a revival later on in the race, Chiappucci finished sixth overall. He won the Clásica de San Sebastián a few weeks after the Tour de France, but this marked the end of his major results. His level of performance declined sharply from around 1994/1995, and he retired in 1998 after suspicions of doping in 1997. His most famous victory was stage 13 of the 1992 Tour de France, when he attacked on the first climb of the day, 245 km from the finish, and arrived in Sestriere after holding off a thrilling chase by Miguel Induráin and Gianni Bugno. On that occasion Pascal Lino was holding the yellow jersey, but it was one of the first major mountain stages and was anticipated to lose it to the GC contenders. Induráin, Roche, LeMond, Delgado,