Cipollini Bond - Behind the scenes

November 01, 2012

A couple months ago Cipollini Bikes published an over-the-top "James Bond" style film that only Super Mario himself could pull of. They've now released a "behind the scenes" segment of this short film. These are two 14 minute clips of Mario Cipollini descending the Passo del Cipollaio (near Lucca, Italy) from two different angles, and is quite amazing to watch. His descending skills are extraordinary and the risks he's taking without a helmet make for "edge of the seat" viewing. Do not "imitate" this at home kids...

A couple months ago Cipollini Bikes published an over-the-top “James Bond” style film that only Super Mario himself could pull of. They’ve now released a “behind the scenes” segment of this short film. These are two 14 minute clips of Mario Cipollini descending the Passo del Cipollaio (near Lucca, Italy) from two different angles, and is quite amazing to watch. His descending skills are extraordinary and the risks he’s taking without a helmet make for “edge of the seat” viewing. Do not “imitate” this at home kids…

See original “BOND-ATOMLINK” film here.

Watch both at the same time.

Cipollini Bond - Behind the scenes Part 1 (rear view)

Cipollini Bond - Behind the scenes Part 2 (front view)

See original “BOND-ATOMLINK” film here.

tags: descending, Mario Cipollini, video

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nickalas

Is it just me or is what he’s doing ridiculously idiotic?
http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma

He couldn’t have been going that fast, the car was able to keep up with him through the twisty bits (bicycles are faster usually - at least on open, 2-way public roads)! The biggest danger wasn’t from or to Cippo, but the car behind!
- Paolo
  
  By the look of the lights in the tunnel it looks more like a motor bike following him. Guess that’s just a normal afternoon ride in Cipo’s world.
  - http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
    
    The camera is very stable for a motorbike though. Even Steadicam wouldn’t have stopped the camera rotating with a bike. Which makes me strongly suspect it must be a car.
koogz

wow invisible motorbikes filming the action, or maybe he did it twice
a different ben

They didn’t close the farking road??!!
Sean Doyle

That’s not your average road car. I don’t know what it is but you can here the turbo bypassing all the time.

Why is riding down a hill really fast idiotic?
SG

that is ‘the dogs nuts’
http://twitter.com/markpa Mark Parssey

I wouldn’t be doing it in white knicks anyway.
http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma

Again, he’s not going that fast. From experience of descending on similar roads in those same mountains, not too far from there, he’s actually having to stay *well* within his limits just in order to allow the car to stay with him. You can see it in the 2nd video, where he’s behind and he’s actually having to tell the car to try speed up. :)
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  Since the average gradient is 4.7%, I’m guessing he’s going about 50-60km/hr at his fastest. He sure does take some nice lines
  - a different ben
    
    And he’s got a bloody great map tube slung around his shoulders — not the most aero accessory.
  - Anonymous
    
    that’s the oddest innuendo i’ve ever heard.
  - Tricky Dicky
    
    Yes! I recall thinking I was going “all out” down a twisty, dangerous descent in Tasmania last year, feeling pretty impressed with my lines and speed (60+kmh) to see over my shoulder one former pro riding no-hands, neatly folding and putting his rainjacket away and a current pro sitting next to him eating a bit of cake.
  - http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
    
    Checking my data from a strada provinciale near Abetone, a similarly twisty road (thought slightly steeper at 7% avg), and I averaged about 43 km/h, with peaks of 60 to 80 km/h on the straight bits between the corners, depending how long they were (mostly shorts, so most peaks were 60 km/h or just under).
    
    Lovely twisty downhill roads in those mountains, great fun! :)
  - http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
    
    Checking my data from a strada provinciale near Abetone, a similarly twisty road (thought slightly steeper at 7% avg), and I averaged about 43 km/h, with peaks of 60 to 80 km/h on the straight bits between the corners, depending how long they were (mostly shorts, so most peaks were 60 km/h or just under).
    
    Lovely twisty downhill roads in those mountains, great fun! :)
  - http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
    
    Checking my data from a strada provinciale near Abetone, a similarly twisty road (thought slightly steeper at 7% avg), and I averaged about 43 km/h, with peaks of 60 to 80 km/h on the straight bits between the corners, depending how long they were (mostly short, so most peaks were 60 km/h or just under).
    
    Lovely twisty downhill roads in those mountains, great fun! :)
  - http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
    
    Checking my data from a strada provinciale near Abetone, a similarly twisty road (thought slightly steeper at 7% avg), and I averaged about 43 km/h, with peaks of 60 to 80 km/h on the straight bits between the corners, depending how long they were (mostly short, so most peaks were 60 km/h or just under).
    
    Lovely twisty downhill roads in those mountains, great fun! :)
- jules
  
  I reckon I could sprint faster than him too and get more women and a better tan
No

Fuck off helmet Nazis. Only doping did more to ruin the PRO peloton.
OverIt

Have a look at how sketchy the road surface is!! He must know it pretty well to descend at any pace at all. Crazy….
https://twitter.com/#!/BPriestie Priestie

Awesome skinsuit!
- timmy
  
  I’d need one in brown for that scene.
Anonymous

Nice instructional video. I reckon I do all those things: wide in, apex, wide out, push down with inside arm, in with inside leg, down with outside leg, try to get any braking done before turning..that’s about it, isn’t it? But I’ve been blown away by experts. Balls or skill, that’s my question. In my relative youth I raced cars, nothing big time, just State level, but the good thing about cars is you can find out for sure where the edge is by going over it, and providing you choose your corner you don’t damage anything. On a bike I might be a bit of a chicken, but I’m not sure how much of a chicken.
Viva Italia

Nice shades Cipo… just bought a pair of Salice 006′ers
Dcaspira

Wow - the transition speed of his body is the really impressive and gives him a much bigger margin of error than most us mortals… Something to work on! the lack of helmet he can keep.
- OverIt
  
  Apparently cyclists don’t need helmets……. http://www.freestylecyclists.org/
Andrew

The Lion King rools the jungle. but typical of a sprinter. slow going up , quick going down. Could not see much of the descent due to massive reflective glare from those choppers

Couple of questions to the CT audience. I am not a great descender and realize it is about confidence and technique. I have found that I ride mostly in the hoods as my set up is that way inclined. Does descending require you to be in the drops for a better CoG and hence better corneringAlso if you are going to do a big day of descents would it be best to inflate the tyres a little more to ensure no tyre wash out.

Always corrects back to upright position quickly it seems
- Tricky Dicky
  
  There are many better than me at descending but I’d always recommend descending in the drops as it gives you better leverage on your brakes if you need them and a second chance at holding onto the bars if you hit a bump. I try to put weight on the “outer” leg when taking a corner too. I’m sure there’d be some far better “tips” from CT and others covering this discipline though.
- Big N.
  
  Tip.
  
  Outside foot down with the majority of your weight on it (left foot for righthand corner & vise versa) and remainder of weight on inside hand. A good way to encourage the weight transfer to the inside hand is to take all of the weight off the outside hand - I don’t suggest taking the hand off the bars but almost.
  
  Brake before the cormer, start wide, cut the apex and drift wide on the exit.
- Anonymous
  
  Andrew. Your right descending is about confidence & technique.
  
  Disclaimer: I’m a road&mtb skills coach but this is how it works.
  There’s probably 100 things Cipo is doing perfectly in each and every corner on this descent. You could be doing 99 of those things correctly in your descending but a 1 percenter will make the difference between descending efficiently, fast, confidently & safely. It’s a matter of finding out what your doing well and what areas you need to improve on.
  Well intentioned tips are a great way to start to think about what we do on the bike to improve our technique, but its like trying to improve your snow skiing technique by reading a book. For real improvement you need someone to assess what your doing well, comunicate areas for improvement verbally and by watching the process from Helmet Cam footage. I’d recommend to look for a skills coach in your area, you’ll be a better rider in ways you cant imagine.
  Bon route. PaT
- Tim
  
  I’m a reasonable descender - Wade’s post on here is about right.
  Drops.
  Weight distribution.
  Good brakes. I like Ultegra/Durace as you can set up with some slack and have the levers right at your fingers half actuated for touching them. Same for SRAM Red with reach adjust.
  
  PRACTICE.
- Randomactsofcycling
  
  Andrew, be careful with your tyre pressures. One thing about long ‘Alpine’ descents, particularly those with many tight switchbacks, is that you will be HARD on the brakes. Quite a lot. This heats up your (alloy) rims and if your tyres are over-inflated, there is a danger they will pop off the rim because the bead of the tyre has become unseated. Better to stick with manufacturers’ recommendations at all times.
  Really hard tyres (high PSI) doesn’t necessarily equal better performance either. There are a lot of variables such as rider weight and width of tyre. CT has written a post on this previously.
GlacialSpeed

Turning right, put all your weight on your left leg (so little weight directly on top of the saddle). Inside left thigh hard against the saddle. Also ride in your drops. Doing all this and you’ll feel and be really connected with your bike. Its very stable. You do much of your steering with the inside thigh on the saddle effecting weight trasfer. Dont even think about steering input. If you are, your weight transfer is all wrong and you’ll feel very unconfident, unstable and slow. Practice this even just riding around the block.
- Andrew
  
  Thanks GS and CT crew. Practiced on Albert Park on some 90 deg turns and you are right it takes away the steering input and becomes almost automatic. All I need to do now is find a descent with just left hand corners like AP
http://twitter.com/ben_pilot Ben Pilot

Car sounds like an STI Subaru… check out the understeer old mate has at 5:25!!!! classic AWD…. Cipo 10/10 driver 1.5/10
- http://pjakma.wordpress.com/ Paul Jakma
  
  And Cippo gave the cyclist at the corner before, at 5:21, a bit of a fright too! :)
Martinjhouston

Yep, for those saying he’s not going that fast, check his corner speed laying it over to the left at around 13:00 in the 1st video. Its right around the moment the following vehicle dances between understeer and oversteer and back again trying to keep up.
Anonymous

Brilliant stuff from Cipo at full gas. 100% Italian passion right there.

Loved how hard & fast he was getting the bike through the change of direction and getting massive instant lean angle from counter steering really hard into the turns. You could write a book on that descent on everything he was doing from a skills perspective. Just pretend there were no risks, Cipo had obviously had a few espresso dopio’s that morning to get into character.
guest

Great ride Super Mario!

I doubt he had to ride up between takes though he sure looks fit!
Jace Gifford

Seems like they could’ve done a better job at road closure, if they were really going for a top speed descent. But the reality is, for filming they don’t really need him to go as fast as possible. It just has to look fast in the final product.
Anonymous

Re safety. I Just watched the descent again. At the end of the clip the municipal police are directing traffic, you’ll also notice the car in front he keeps catching then slows up is one of the municipal police cars. This car is telling the cars coming up the road to move off to the side of the road, most are stopped, most things in Italy are pretty flexible and as soon a police officers moves from a scene life goes on hence the Italian drivers continue up the road. Cipo would be fully aware of whats going on and prepared to take the risk associated with getting the job done. And what a job he gets done. Brilliant work Cipo, I didn’t think he could elevate himself much higher in the “super cool” ranks, but he’s raised the bar again.
Justin

Bravissimo! Pity we don’t see far more descending equal to this on tv in the big races. You can only watch so much climbing. Bring back Il Falcone and line up Cippo and Fabian together on a long descent.
KD

Sagan, Nibali, Cancellara, Cunego. All amazing current descenders, but I do agree that they don’t show enough footage of the descents for most of the races. Milan San-Remo was a great example of descending skills by all three in the winning move.
Alex Hinds

Can’t tell but in the second vid it appears the lead car loses traction on a couple of the corners. Can’t be a great idea to be so close in that situation…
JBS

Awesome.

…and remember, in the time it took you to watch those videos, Cipo pulled 5 chicks!

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Cipollini Bond - Behind the scenes

November 01, 2012

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PROUDLY SUPPORTING

Cipollini Bond - Behind the scenes

November 01, 2012

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