A view over the climb to Assisi (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 14 of 47
The 2007 Giro d'Italia team presentation was held onboard the Garibalid aircraft carrier in Sardinia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 15 of 47
A view over the Colle delle Finestre (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 16 of 47
The gruppo passes through the lava on the slopes of Mount Etna (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 17 of 47
The maglia rosa rides through a field of poppies (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 18 of 47
Liquigas leads the peloton on the Passo Stelvio (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 19 of 47
A view of the Amalfi coast (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 20 of 47
Alberto Contador in pink (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 21 of 47
The Giro peloton passes some trulli in the Puglia region of southern Italy (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 22 of 47
Denis Menchov races past the Vatican (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 23 of 47
Pantani rides through the snow (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 24 of 47
Abraham Olano in the 1996 Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 25 of 47
Francesco Moser in pink (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 26 of 47
Mario Cipollini says goodbye before the start of the 2005 Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 27 of 47
Franco Chioccoli climbs through the snow (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 28 of 47
Franco Chioccioli suffers on the muddy road of the Passo Gavia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 29 of 47
Mark Cavendish beats Heinrich Haussler to win Milan-Sanremo in 2009 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 30 of 47
Fabian Cancellara in action as world time trial champion (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 31 of 47
An unusual view of world champion Paolo Bettini (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 32 of 47
Evgeni Berzin in pink at the 1994 Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 33 of 47
Jean Francois Bernhard in the snow on the Passo Gavia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 34 of 47
Ivan Basso enters the Verona arena and wins the 2010 Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 35 of 47
Mario Cipollini wins in Mira (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 36 of 47
Contador close up with the tifosi on the climb to Gardeccia (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 37 of 47
Alberto Contador climbs to the summit of Plan des Corones (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 38 of 47
Denis Menchov shares a drink with Danilo Di luca (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 39 of 47
Menchov gets up after his crash in the final time trial in Rome (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 40 of 47
Sean Kelly leads in the dirt of the classics (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 41 of 47
The Passo Gavia snakes through the snow (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 42 of 47
Stefano Garzelli in pink (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 43 of 47
world champion Tom Boonen at the Tour de France (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 44 of 47
Maurizio Fondriest in the rainbow jersey with Franco Ballerini (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 45 of 47
A muddy Cadel Evans on the stage to Montalcino (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 46 of 47
A breathtaking image of the Strade Bianche race (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 47 of 47
The late Franco Ballerini (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Italian photographer and long-time Cyclingnews contributor Roberto Bettini has celebrated 30 years of life covering cycling with an exhibition showing a special selection of images from his historic archive.
Bettini has dig through his film and digital archive to find some of his best images and others that tell the story of Italian cycling from the last three decades. The images are currently on display at a special exhibition at Villa Annoni in the town of Cuggiono, close to Milan.
The photos include Bettini's very first race photo, of a very young Giuseppe Saronni winning a race in Monza in 1974 and other images from the Giro d'Italia in the 1980s, including from the legendary Passo Gavia from the 1988 Giro d'Italia won by Andy Hampsten.
Bettini, and more recently his son Luca, have covered almost every race on the international calendar, including the spring Classics, the Tour de France and every race on the Italian calendar.
Bettini captured the late Franco Ballerini's goodbye to racing with a close-up shot of Ballerini's mud-covered face. Other images capture Marco Pantani in action and in more revealing moments such as post-race massage. There are shots of Mario Cipollini's first win while riding for the Del Tongo team and his last ride at the prologue of the Giro d'Italia.
There are several historic shots of the Giro d'Italia maglia rosa worn by Francesco Moser, Evgeni Berzin, Franco Chioccioli and Denis Menchov after he crashed just in front of Bettini's motorbike during the final time trial in Rome.
Other images highlight the beauty and pain of cycling at the Strade Bianche race in Tuscany, at the Belgian Classics and landscapes from the Giro d'Italia.
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
