Career
Born in Varese, Garzelli started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but proved in 2000 that he deserved much more. In the final time-trial stage Garzelli took the race leadership away from Casagrande, who was suffering an inflamed sciatic nerve. Without being a great attacker, Garzelli was very constant and, on a good day, he could go with the best climbers.
However, Garzelli was caught in the 2002 doping scandal in the Giro d"Italia, and was forced out of the race.
Many believe that the circumstances of his suspension prompted the Mapei boss Giorgio Squinzi to terminate his sponsorship of the team at the end of the year. "The exclusion of Garzelli, who tested positive for a masking agent, wasn"t a normal thing.
At the start nothing was foundation That"s bizarre," said Squinzi in an interview.
In December 2012, Garzelli signed a one-year contract with the Vini Fantini–Selle Italia team for the 2013 season, and retired thereafter.