Roberta Bonanomi

A versatile cyclist in both time trial and stage races, Roberta Bonanomi had a long cycling career and competed in five Olympics between 1984 and 2000. She always competed in the road race, with a best finish of 23rd at Los Angeles in her first Games. She won over 80 races in her career, the first being the 1981 Città di Schio Grand Prix. Her major successes were in capturing the women’s Giro d’Italia in 1989, and the previous year when, along with Monica Bandini, Francesca Galli and Maria Canins, she won the team time trial at the World Road Championships in Belgium. Bonanomi had won the silver medal the previous year. Other achievements included two times winning the Queen of the Mountains in the Giro and a third place in the women’s Tour de France in 1991. She retired from the sport after her fifth Olympic appearance in 2000.