[ posted by Iain Wednesday, January 14, 2004 ]

I just found out who did the great paint jobs on Simoni's and Sacchi's bikes that we saw at this year's Giro d'Italia [
Simoni's "Spider bike" -
Detail of spider bike head tube ].
Her name is Lara Cassanelli and the company is called Artech Design, check out the web site for more pics of her work [
Artech Design ].
So if Simoni's got a spider and Sacchi a leopard, what animals would the other members of the peloton past and present have if they could indulge themselves with these kind of paintjobs? Some names already taken include:
- Mario Cipollini - 'The Lion King'
- Paulo Bettini - 'The Cricket' (now there's a name to strike fear into the hearts of your opponents!)
- Laurent Jalabert - 'The Panda'
- and not forgetting the great Bernard Hinault - 'The Badger'
If anyone can think of more animal based nicknames please
let me know.