Felice Gimondi, one of only seven cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours, has died. He was 76.
The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) says efforts to resuscitate Gimondi failed after the Italian suffered a heart attack while swimming on vacation in Sicily on Friday and died the same day.
Gimondi won the Tour de France in 1965 as a 22-year-old in his first year as a professional. He went on to win the Giro d'Italia in 1967, 1969 and 1976, and the Spanish Vuelta in 1968.
FILE - In this, Oct. 28, 1967 file photo, French cycling ace Jacques Anquetil, left, leads the speed trial against Italian champion Felice Gimondi at the Velodrome in Rome. Gimondi died in Giardini Naxos, Sicily, southern Italy, Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, he was 76, Italian ANSA news agency said. (AP PhotoClaudio Luffoli)
"Felice was one of the greatest champions to win great tours, a world championship and important classics while contesting, he alone, Eddy Merckx," FCI president Renato Di Rocco said. "A great man who marked an era. Italian cycling mourns the passing of one of its pillars."
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