Flavio Martini

Flavio Martini emerged as a contender for the Olympic team in 1967 when he was included in the Italian time trial team that won bronze at the World Championships in the Netherlands. He started the 1968 season well by winning the Trofeo Alcide De Gasperi and Trofeo Matteotti races in his native country but was not selected for the team that won a bronze in the 100 km time trial at the Mexico City Olympics. He did however compete at those Games, finishing 6 minutes and 30 places behind his team-mate, Pierfranco Vianelli, who won the road race.

A few weeks later Martini was reinstated to the Italian time trial team and won a second World Championship bronze in front of a home crowd at Imola. Martini followed that with a sixth place in the amateur road race World Championships.

Martini opted to turn professional with the Gris-2000 team for 1969 but his career as a pro failed to match the promise he had shown as an amateur. The highlights were a brace of victories at the Giro del Belvedere in 1970 and 1974 and winning the Circuit of Sant’Urbano in 1977