Rubens Bertogliati

Rubens Bertogliati is a Swiss road racing cyclist, born on 9 May 1979 in Lugano in the Ticino region, who retired from racing at the end of the 2012 season. He turned professional in 2000 with the Italian Lampre-Daikin team, rode for the Spanish Saunier Duval-Prodir squad from 2004 to 2008, and finished his career with Team Novo Nordisk in 2012. His breakthrough came in the 2002 Tour de France, when he won the first stage in the hilly country of Luxembourg and so took the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. He kept it after the second stage, until the German sprinter Erik Zabel took it from him after the third. His first professional win had come a few months earlier at the GP Chiasso. He represented Switzerland in the road race and the individual time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics.