Vale: Franco Ballerini, 1964 - 2010

• 

  Friends and collaborators. The widely popular Ballerini has some fun with Paolo Bettini after the latter claimed Olympic gold in Athens, 2004

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Franco Ballerini and Michele Bartoli in Maastricht at the start of the 1998 Amstel Gold race

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini in the peloton during his professional career

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini (right) with Team Italy teammate Maurizio Fondriest (left)

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini leads the Italian team at the World Championships in 1989

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini on the attack at the World Championships in 1989

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini wins Paris-Roubaix in 1998

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini in rally mode. Motorsport was a passion of the Italian national coach

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  A rallying enthusiast, Ballerini sadly passed when he was involved in a rally accident in February 2010

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Ballerini quickly moved into a coaching role after his professional career ended

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Ballerini says thank you and farewell to Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Franco Ballerini spent two years with Lampre

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Franco Ballerini races for Lampre at the Tour of Flanders

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Franco Ballerini after Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Ballerini gets a pre-race massage during his professional career

  Photo credit © Bettini

• 

  Ballerini led a Mapei 1-2-3 in the 1998 Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini with Mario Cipollini in 1993

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini heads to the podium after finishing second in Paris-Roubaix in 1993

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Vale: Franco Ballerini, 1964-2010

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Franco Ballerini in full flight on the cobbles of Roubaix in 1998

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Franco Ballerini savours the moment as he collects the winners trophy in the 1998 Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Ballerini (centre) celebrates Mapei's 1-2-3 in Paris-Roubaix in 1998 with teammates Andrea Tafi and Wilfried Peeters

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Paolo Bettini and Fraco Ballerini confer during the 2008 World Championship road race in Varese, Italy

  Photo credit © AFP

• 

  Franco Ballerini and Eddy Planckaert

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  The first of Ballerini's Paris-Roubaix triumphs in 1995

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini finished a close second to Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle in the 1993 edition of Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini flys past the camera

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini leads a group onto a cobbled sector in Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Franco Ballerini (1964-2010)

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Ballerini (left) with Mario Cipollini and Johan Museeuw in 1993

  Photo credit © Sirotti

• 

  Italian national coach Franco Ballerini

  Photo credit © Bettini

• Related Article - Vale: Franco Ballerini, 1964 - 2010