1. Alessandro Ballan was born on 6 November 1979 and is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team BMC Racing Team.
15 Facts About Alessandro Ballan
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Alessandro Ballan is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in 2008.
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Alessandro Ballan's nickname, Bontempino, is a diminutive reference to Guido Bontempi, to whom he bears a resemblance.
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Later in the season, Alessandro Ballan further proved his talent with a second placing in stage 12 of the Tour de France and a third place overall in the Tour de Pologne.
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Alessandro Ballan finished in sixth place in the individual rankings of the 2006 UCI ProTour.
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Alessandro Ballan did not win the stage, but beat his nearest opponent Luca Paolini during the closing time trial, in which Alessandro Ballan finished 10.
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Alessandro Ballan is the first Italian to win the Tour of Flanders and the Three Days of De Panne in the same season.
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In September 2008 Alessandro Ballan won the UCI Road Race World Championships.
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From a group of 12 riders, including 2 Italian team mates Damiano Cunego and Davide Rebellin, Alessandro Ballan attacked from 1500 metres out and held off the sprint to win by 3 seconds in front of his home crowd.
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Alessandro Ballan signed with BMC Racing Team for the 2010 season.
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Alessandro Ballan spent a little more than a week in intensive care.
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Alessandro Ballan is one of 27 people indicted in Italy as part of the Mantova doping investigation.
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Alessandro Ballan was later cleared by BMC and allowed to race again on 28 May 2010.
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Late 2015, his suspension was overturned in court, and Alessandro Ballan was cleared of any wrongdoing.
15.
In 2016, Alessandro Ballan had attempted to get a contract as professional cyclist, but was unable to do so and thus retired.