Prosecutors in the domestic violence and stalking case of former world champion and multiple Grand Tour stage winner Mario Cipollini have sentenced the Italian to two and a half years in prison.

Cipollini is currently in court charged with domestic violence, stalking, and threatening his ex-wife's partner after a series of incidents in 2016 and 2017. He has repeatedly maintained his innocence on all charges.

However, Lucca's prosecutor, Letizia Cai, has stated that Cipollini should receive a two-year prison sentence for threatening and domestic abuse against his ex-wife, Sabrina Landucci, and a six-month prison sentence for threatening her new partner, former soccer player Silvio Giusti He stated that she should receive a sentence of.

In an initial indictment request filed in March 2019, another prosecutor in the case alleged that Cipollini "physically assaulted Landucci with blows, slaps, and kicks, inflicting injuries and making death threats."

The indictment claims that Cipollini repeatedly threatened Landucci and assaulted her on January 6, 2017, at the sports center where she worked.

"While working at the sports center on a daily basis, Mario assaulted me in front of my co-workers and customers," said Landucci, who filed the complaint. 'He grabbed me by the neck and slammed my head against the wall. I was injured and had to go to the emergency room. But more than the injury, what hurt me was that the gesture was so violent. I am still upset to this day."

Domestic abuse carries a sentence of two to six years in prison in Italy, and up to four years for communicating threats. Cipollini's ex-wife is also reportedly seeking €80,000 in damages. The couple married in 1993 and had two daughters, but divorced in 2005, shortly after Cipollini finished his career.

In the 1990s, Cipollini brightened up the sport with his colorful personality and maverick style, winning 170 professional races, including the 2002 World Championships, and setting the record for most stage wins in the Giro d'Italia at 42.

However, there was a darker side to his wildness, and in the 2000 Vuelta a España he punched Spaniard Francisco Cerezo in the face and was ejected from the race. Despite being known as the "guardian angel" of the peloton, forcing the group to slow down and block attacks, teammates and contemporaries have recounted incidents in which Cipollini acted like a bully.

But after the Operacion Puerto scandal, in which he was accused of being a client of Eufemiano Fuentes, his legacy came under intense scrutiny. Although he was never sanctioned for doping, retrospective testing from the 1998 Tour de France confirmed that Cipollini's samples were positive for EPO.

In 2019, Cipollini revealed that he had serious heart problems and underwent five hours of heart surgery in late October to treat a myocardial bridge (a condition in which the heart muscle grows around the coronary arteries and constricts blood flow).

The next hearing will take place on July 13, and Cipollini's attorney will represent his client.