# Paolo Tiralongo

Paolo Tiralongo (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2017 for the Fassa Bortolo, Ceramica Panaria–Navigare, Lampre–NGC and Astana teams.

## Career

In 2009, while riding for Lampre–NGC, Tiralongo registered his best final result on a Grand Tour, finishing the Vuelta a España in eighth position after riding consistently in the mountain stages. He conceded a little over 9 minutes to the victor, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d'Epargne. He joined Astana for the 2010 season, on a 2-year contract. In 2011, Tiralongo took a notable victory on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, a summit finish to Macugnaga. He attacked in the final kilometers and went clear of the lead group, but was joined by Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank–SunGard) in the final few meters. He came first on the line, taking his first victory in more than ten years.
In 2012, he won another stage in the Giro d'Italia, stage 7, which was a hilltop finish atop Rocca di Cambio. With 500 meters to go, Tiralongo followed an attack initiated by Michele Scarponi of Lampre–ISD and he passed Scarponi inside of the final 100 meters. He lay on the ground afterward, out of breath.
On 24 April 2015, Tiralongo collected his first victory of the season in the final stage of the Giro del Trentino. He passed the last climb (Passo Predaia) with a small leading group and won the sprint after the descent. On 17 May, he won Stage 9 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia.

## Major results
### 1998

    1st Gran Premio di Poggiana
    3rd Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia

### 1999

    1st Overall Triptyque Ardennais
    3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships

### 2001

    2nd Trofeo dello Scalatore III
    3rd Overall Tour of Austria
    6th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi
    8th Giro della Provincia di Siracusa
    9th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
    10th Trofeo dello Scalatore I

### 2002

    2nd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
    6th Overall Brixia Tour
    8th Coppa Ugo Agostoni
    10th Trofeo Pantalica

### 2003

    8th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
    10th Overall Giro del Trentino
    10th Giro dell'Appennino

### 2004

    1st Mountains classification Tour Down Under
    2nd Overall Brixia Tour
    2nd Trofeo Melinda
    2nd GP Citta di Rio Saliceto e Correggio
    5th Giro del Medio Brenta
    7th Tre Valli Varesine
    7th Giro della Romagna
    8th Giro del Veneto

### 2005

    3rd Milano–Torino
    3rd Trofeo Laigueglia
    6th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
    6th Gran Premio Fred Mengoni
    8th Giro d'Oro

### 2008

    6th Klasika Primavera

### 2009

    8th Overall Vuelta a España
    10th Giro dell'Emilia

### 2011

    1st Stage 19 Giro d'Italia

### 2012

    1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia

### 2013

    1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España

### 2014

    9th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

### 2015

    1st Stage 4 Giro del Trentino
    1st Stage 9 Giro d'Italia

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | DNF | — | 32 | 15 | 26 | — | 37 | DNF | 18 | 23 | 99 | 45 | 19 | — | 83 |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | — | — | — | 69 | — | 46 | — | 53 | DNF | — | — | — | — | 74 | — |
| Vuelta a España | 96 | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | DNF | 27 | 8 | — | — | 38 | 51 | 33 | DNF | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |