Race Design Challenge

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 6: Ancona - Firenze 250 km

Stage type: Flat
Difficulty: **
Original stage: Giro 1961 stage 14
Climbs: Passo del Muraglione (GPM.3)

Overview:
Very long bringing the riders from one to the other side of the Appennines, but with a very easy route. The only difficulty of the day is the Passo del Muraglione, whose numbers and shape make this stage resemble a MSR. This being a GT, however, the stage should go to the breakaway.

Giro of the stage:
The 1961 was the 100th year of the Italian unity, and the Giro was designed to celebrate it. Starting from Torino (the capital in 1861) with a Superga finish, the riders were gonna head south to Genova, and then do what Garibaldi did... have a little stop in Sardinia, with a single stage in Cagliari, then arrive in Sicily and from there climb their way back north, all the way to the last mountain stage finish in Bormio and the finale in Milan after 21 stages. The overwhelming favourite was the defending champion, Anquetil, as well as the two-times-winner Gaul. Between the possible outsiders, the world champion (as well as PR and LBL winner that year) Rik Van Looy, the three-times Spanish champion Antonio Suárez and the Italian Arnaldo Pambianco, who had a top-10 in both Giro and Tour in 1960.

Stage of the stage:
At the start in Ancona the pink jersey was Anquetil, thanks to his win in the 54 km Bari ITT on stage 9. The weather is horrible, a thunderstorm breaks out and many riders have trouble staying up, especially on the swift bends of the (fast) ascent and descent of the Muraglione. Considering the situation, is not a big surprise that the peloton blew up on the Muraglione, with 4 riders alone at the top: Ciampi, Carlesi, Van Looy and Pambianco. During the descent, many riders manage to bridge, including the pink jersey Anquetil, who is visibly in difficulty. Pambianco, who was about 5 minutes behind in GC, due to the ITT and a fall on stage 8, attacks on the flat and manages to get away with a breakaway group made mainly by rouleurs. Anquetil crumbles completely, and Pambianco arrives in Florence as the new pink jersey for just 14 seconds, while Silvano Ciampi wins the breakaway sprint.
Anquetil will try to get his pink jersey back during the rest of the Giro, but on the Stelvio, his final chance, it will be Pambianco who will actually gain time on him, arriving second in Bormio after Gaul (who will miss the podium by 5 seconds in favour of Suárez, the first Spanish rider to ever podium the Giro...). Anquetil will arrive over 3 minutes after Pambianco, still in time to save his 2nd place.

Protagonists of the stage:

Arnaldo Pambianco:

Jacques Anquetil: (yes,it's the third time already... he just had a very long career)

Silvano Ciampi:

Charly Gaul:

Rik Van Looy:

Antonio Suárez:

Next stage:
ITT! A long one this time! From the 80's!

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 7: Lido di Camaiore - Lucca 48 km

Stage type: Individual Time Trial
Difficulty: ****
Original stage: Giro 1985 stage 22
Climbs: None

Overview:
Long, mostly flat time trial... with a very easy little climb exactly in the middle. Here come the first big gaps.

Giro of the stage:
The 1985 edition was part of what today race-design-geeks refer to as the "dark age" of the Giro: a series of horribly easy parcours, with the time trials as the most likely deciding stages... all for the sake of the two most popular Italian riders, Francesco Moser and Beppe Saronni. Luckily, things were about to change soon, as both these champions were starting to age. This edition started in Verona with a prologue, and concluded with the ITT I present here, in Lucca, after 22+1 stages. One prologue, one TTT, 2 ITTs, and a grand total of 3 mountain stages, including a MTF in Selva di Valgardena (climbing the Gardena...), one on the Gran Sasso and the final big mountain stage, from Domodossola to St.Vincent, through Sempione and Gran s.Bernardo, at 100000 kms to the finish.
The field was excellent though. Besides the defending champion Moser, who won the previous edition by winning the last ITT of the race and beating Fignon, the main favourite was Bernard Hinault, who came together with his young and promising teammate, Greg Lemond. Possible outsiders were the Spaniard Marino Lejarreta and the Italian Gianbattista Baronchelli.

Stage of the stage:
Hinault started the ITT in pink jersey, with 1'15" over Moser. The situation was absolutely comparable to the one of the previous year, where Moser managed to recover a similar gap from Fignon in the last ITT. The Italian stayed true to his fame of TTer, by winning the stage with the time of 59' 57''. However, Hinault crossed the line at only +7'', winning the Giro. the disappointment between the fans of the Italian was so high that Hinault was booed over the whole podium ceremony (there were even reports of nails being tossed on the road in front of Hinault, although he never punctured), which he attended also with Lemond, who got a surprising 3rd overall. The Giro organiser of the time, Torriani, felt so embarassed that he even tried to openly reproach the crowd during the "celebration", without much success. No need to say, that was the last Giro Hinault raced... which btw he converted into a double by winning the Tour in the same year.
Lucca never had a Giro stage after that. Some say it's not a coincidence.

Protagonists of the stage:

Bernard Hinault:

Francesco Moser:

Greg Lemond:

Next stage:
Mountain stage! From Gigs's lifetime

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That would seem to leave us with Abetone 2000 or NS Della Guardia in 2007... one very short and a bit dramatic, one extremely long and very dramatic...

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

That would seem to leave us with Abetone 2000 or NS Della Guardia in 2007... one very short and a bit dramatic, one extremely long and very dramatic...

yep. One of those two

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 8: Prato - Abetone 138 km

Stage type: Mountain Top Finish
Difficulty: ****
Original stage: Giro 2000 stage 9
Climbs: Prunetta (GPM.2), S.Pellegrino in Alpe (GPM.1), Abetone (GPM.3)

Overview:
After a demanding ITT, the climbers have their first chance of this Giro to attack from far out. The mythical S.Pellegrino in Alpe (aka Passo Pradaccio) is pretty reliably the second hardest climb of the Appennines, after the Blockhaus.

Giro of the stage:
The Giro 2000 started in Rome, to celebrate the Jubilee, and finished in Milan after 21 stages (+ the prologue, with only one rest day). the main stages were two ITTs, the last of which, from Briancon to Setriere, would decide the race, and the mountain stages to Abetone, Selva di Valgardena, Bormio, Prato Nevoso and Briancon.
After Madonna di Campiglio, everybody wondered how Pantani was gonna perform (although he claimed his goal was the Tour only), helped by his young teammate Stefano Garzelli. His main rivals were the defending champion (although nobody cared of that Giro) Ivan Gotti, Gilberto Simoni, Francesco Casagrande and Paolo Savoldelli. It was basically an all-Italian Giro, as it would become frequent in those years.

Stage of the stage:
The pink jersey was the Spaniard José Enrique Gutiérrez (yes, the same guy who will reappear to get 2nd in the Giro 2006), who will pretty quickly lose the wheels of the favourites on the first slopes of the Pradaccio. Soon a selected group formed, while Pantani was dropped (he will lose over 7 minutes), making immediately clear that the former year had taken its toll on him. As the front group gets around 10-12 units, Casagrande raises his rhythm, and soon the others started struggling on the steepest section of the climb, to the point that he broke clear of the front group and reached the top alone, followed by Simoni, Tonkov, and the very surprising youngsters Stefano Garzelli and Danilo Di Luca at only 24''. During the descent, however, the waiting game will prevail in the chaser group, while Casagrande continued his action without waiting for anybody. He arrived on the top of the Abetone alone, with 1'39'' over the chasers, which were reeled in by other riders in the meantime. Garzelli won the sprint between them, becoming the leader of his team. Casagrande will keep the pink jersey for almost all the Giro, losing it only on the last occasion, the ITT to Sestriere, where Garzelli will take it and bring it to Milan, winning his only Giro.
Here you can find a 1.5 h coverage (in Spanish):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTpGPEG9ac

Protagonists of the stage:

Francesco Casagrande:

Stefano Garzelli:

Gilberto Simoni:

Danilo Di Luca:

Next stage:
The most recent stage of my Giro!

 

[May0maniac]

I knew that it was going to be this stage , I really liked the hard final Briançon - Sestriere ITT of that Giro.

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 9: Carrara - Montalcino 222 km

Stage type: Medium Mountain
Difficulty: ****
Original stage: Giro 2010 stage 7
Climbs: Volterra (GPM.4), Passo del Rospatoio (GPM.4), Poggio Civitella (GPM.2)

Overview:
Here comes the sterrato stage. The next day is rest, so everybody has an excuse not to go for it. The Poggio Civitella, with its 15% switchbacks on sterrato, is the perfect spot to attack those who are not comfortable offroad.

Giro of the stage:
The 2010 Giro started in Amsterdam, with a prologue and 2 (tricky) Dutch stages, and ended in Verona with a short ITT. Besides a TTT as a first Italian stage and a MTT to Plan De Corones, the key stages were a MTF to the Terminillo, a monstrous 260+ stage to L'Aquila, a finish in Asolo after climbing the Monte Grappa, a MTF to the Zoncolan, and the final two MTF to Aprica and Tonale. The favourites were the Liquigas duo, Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, as well as the world champion Cadel Evans, Alexander Vinokourov and Carlos Sastre. After the hectic stages in the Netherlands, where half the peloton crashed, Nibali took the pink jersey on the TTT, only to lose it to Vino in the mud on the way to Montalcino. The weakness of the Astana team, along with the horrible weather, will allow a third of the peloton to breakaway and gain 12 minutes, gifting the jersey to a young Richie Porte first, and then to David Arroyo, who will only lose it to Basso on the way to Aprica, after 3 weeks of utter madness.

Stage of the stage:
As often the case during that May, it was a rainy day. The Liquigas team spent almost 200 kms driving the peloton without too many problems. Everybody was weary of the sterrato sections, and after the climb of the Passo del Rospatoio the peloton went downhill at full speed, with all the teams trying to set their leaders in the best position to enter the unsealed roads. Just a few kms before the first section, everything blows up, literally , as Michele Scarponi slides down on a fast right-hander and brings down half of the Liquigas team, inluding Basso and Nibali. The front pack hits the mud and nobody knows what's happening anymore. There are riders pulling, riders holding on for dear life, riders bridging and what not. It is hard to spot the riders because everyone looks brown. Garzelli and Cunego are the most active, but the first sector ends and on the front there's a 30 men group, where the missing favourites are Nibali, Basso and Sastre. The climb to Poggio Civitella starts, and Vinokourov and Evans attack, pulling away also Cunego, Garzelli, Gadret, Arroyo and Pinotti. Behind, Scarponi is overtaking a rider after the other, and looks like he's the strongest of the rest, while Nibali waits for his teammate Basso, who seems in difficulty. The 7-men group arrives in Montalcino and Evans wins the sprint, ahead of Cunego and Vinokourov. A surprisingly strong Scarponi arrives 8th, at only 1'. Nibali and Basso at 2', Sastre at over 5'.
Coverage (in spanish again... for some reason it's hard to find the complete one in Italian):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uBNQ4BFfSo

Protagonists of the stage:

Cadel Evans:

Alexander Vinokourov:

Damiano Cunego:

Vincenzo Nibali and Ivan Basso:

Michele Scarponi:

Next Stage:
Rest day, the riders will have a huge transfer to bring them up north. A lot north. In Alto Adige. It will be VERY cold...

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 10: Merano - Monte Bondone (Vaneze) 237 km

Stage type: Mountain Top Finish
Difficulty: *****
Original stage: Giro 1956 stage 21
Climbs: Passo Costalunga (GPM.1), Passo Rolle (GPM.2), Gobbera (GPM.4), Passo Brocon (GPM.2), Monte Bondone (GPM.1)

Overview:
The brutal second week starts with the first Alpine stage of the race, one of the hardest already, very long and with 4 major climbs. The Monte Bondone will be climbed up to the village of Vaneze, about 5 kms before the actual top. The flat section before the final climb will most likely discourage any GC action before Trento.

Giro of the stage:
The 1956 Giro has been one of the most famous ever, not only for the legendary stage that I'm presenting today.
The route was fairly classic, from Milano to Milano in 23 stages, going clockwise around the peninsula. The only 2 big mountain stages where stage 20 and 21, the former ending in Merano after the Stelvio, and the latter as depicted above. The stage to the Bondone was formerly supposed to reach the top of the climb (and be 242 km long), but due to the weather (see the next section) the finish was lowered. The favourites at the start were the defending champion Fiorenzo Magni, an old Fausto Coppi, Charly Gaul, Federico Bahamontes and the winner of Romandie that year, the Italian Pasquale Fornara. On the 6th stage Coppi fell and had to retire. On stage 13, Magni fell, breaking his collarbone and starting one of the biggest legends of the Giro. Despite the advice of the medics, Magni continued the race, surviving the next stage, a ITT where Fornara would get the pink jersey. On stage 16, a MTT to the S.Luca, the pain on his collarbone was getting so bad that he couldn't use his arm to steer, so his mechanic came up with the idea of cutting an old tyre and make him hold it with the teeth and use it as a handler, as well as kind of a pain killer. In the next stage, Magni fell again on a descent (steering with the mouth was probably not very effective), broke his humerus and passed out. Woken up on the ambulance that was bringing him to the hospital, he would insist to be released and went on his bike again, while the peloton graciously slowed down to wait for him. He then went to survive day after day, progressively getting better but always using that piece of rubber to handle his bike. In the meantime, the peloton arrived in Merano, with Fornara comfortably in pink and nobody looking like they had a shot to get his place. Magni was only at +7' in GC, while the other big favourite Gaul was in 24th position at 16'...

Stage of the stage:
The weather forecasts looked grim for that day, and they turned out to be right. The stage started in a cold, rainy weather. On the Costalunga Gaul attacks, trying at least save his reputation of climber against Bahamontes, who follows him but loses the GPM sprint. On the descent Gaul is overtaken by a few riders, but at that point nothing matters much anymore because the weather worsens, and a huge storm breaks out, with cold winds and sleet. Gaul attacks again on the Rolle, he's the first on the top again, followed by Bruno Monti at 2'30" and Bahamontes at 3'. Behind them the riders start to drop like flies. Many have to stop by inns or pubs to get warm. On the descent Monti bridges to Gaul and goes alone, while Gaul himself is reeled in by Bahamontes, Maule and Defilippis. On the Brocon (sterrato at that time) Gaul attacks again, and he's again first at the top, with 1' over Defilippis and Padovan. Bahamontes retires. Maule and the pink Fornara are at 5'. At this point Defilippis is virtual pink jersey, but he's defeated by the cold and gives up. Fornara tries all he can to survive, but in Trento he's convinced to give up by his DS in tears. He's the first ever rider to retire while in pink. On the Bondone it snows. At the top there are 40 cm of snow and -10 C, so the organisers move the finish below, where the temperature is "just" -4. Gaul continues his action and arrives first at the finish, after 9h 7' 28", he's not entirely aware of what's happening and will be carried to the hotel and a warm bath, where he'll learn that he won stage and jersey. Behind him, Alessandro Fantini at +7' 44". In third place, a superhuman Magni at 12' 15", 2nd in the GC at little over 3'. Out of the 86 riders who started from Merano, 43 had retired and 2 arrived outside the time limit, leaving only 42 still in contention, but the Giro was basically over.

Protagonists of the stage:

Charly Gaul :

Fiorenzo Magni:

Pasquale Fornara:

Federico Bahamontes:

Next stage:
The last, longest ITT of the race, from the 70's...

 

[May0maniac]

No helicopter-Moser ITT to commemorate those dark times?

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

No helicopter-Moser ITT to commemorate those dark times?

I already commemorated the dark times. Better not overdo it

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 11: Bassano del Grappa - Treviso 56 km

Stage type: Individual Time Trial
Difficulty: *****
Original stage: Giro 1970 stage 9
Climbs: None

Overview:
The last chance for the TTers, a long and flat ITT of raw power. Even though with this one the flat(tish) TTing kms reach the number of 118.4, you'll soon notice this Giro still favours the climbers

Giro of the stage:
The 1970 Giro had one of the weirdest designs ever. It went from S.Pellegrino Terme to Bolzano over 20 stages, swinging west and east at first, and then south and north again. Really odd. It was not a hard route at all, the key stages being the MTFs to Brentonico and Fedaia, as well as the ITT presented here. The main favourites were two: the defending champion Felice Gimondi, and Eddy Merckx. In 1969 Merckx had been found positive while he was leading the GC and kicked out of the Giro, leaving the victory to Gimondi and starting a whirlwind of accusations and conspiracy theories, also risking his participation at the Tour, which ultimately he'll be allowed to race (=win). He didn't plan to take part in the 1970 Giro, still feeling outraged by what happened, but in the end he was convinced by his (Italian) team. He won the pink jersey in Brentonico on stage 7, and would not lose it anymore, winning his second Giro (after the 1968 edition), and laying the foundation of his first Double (he will win his second Tour later that year), third rider in history to accomplish it after Coppi and Anquetil.

Stage of the stage:
Well, it was an ITT and Merckx was in it. Not much to add. He won in 1h 10' 55", followed by Ole Ritter at +1' 46" and Gimondi at +2' 2". All in all it was a pretty uneventful stage... but I needed to include it for balance reasons As well as to commemorate the first Merckx's Double.

Protagonists of the stage:

Eddy Merckx:

Felice Gimondi:

Ole Ritter:

Next stage:
It will be medium mountain, and will deal with betrayals, internal wars and other nasty stuff. This one's easy.

 

[Brullnux]

Eshnar... the tension is killing me

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Eshnar... the tension is killing me

sorry... I'll be back tomorrow or latest on Tuesday

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 12: Lido di Jesolo - Sappada 224 km

Stage type: Medium Mountain
Difficulty: ***
Original stage: Giro 1987 stage 15
Climbs: Forcella di Monte Rest (GPM.3), Sella Valcalda (GPM.3), Cima Sappada (GPM.3)

Overview:
Medium mountain stage in Friuli, with a long and irregular final climb very close to the finish. It's possible to see some GC battle on the final ramps, if the breakaway doesn't make it.

Giro of the stage:
The 1987 edition started in Sanremo, with three stages in two days: a 4 km prologue on the first, a 31 km road stage on the morning of the second and a Poggio descent ITT on the afternoon. Other than that, there were other three time trials: a TTT on stage 3, an ITT to S.Marino and the final ITT on the final day, from Aosta to S.Vincent. The mountain stages: a MTF to the Terminillo, a finish in Canazei after the Fedaia, Riva del Garda after the Bondone, a MTF to Madesimo after the S.Marco and a 252 km MTF to Pila on the penultimate day. It had nice medium mountain, too: Montalcino, Roccaraso and Sappada were the most dangerous stages. The main favourite at the start was the defending champion Roberto Visentini, who was supposed to be helped by his teammate Stephen Roche (and then to return the favour at the Tour). His team, Carrera, was by far the strongest on paper. Other main protagonists were Robert Millar, Erik Breukink, Johan van der Velde and the world champion Moreno Argentin.
Things were going great for Carrera at first. Visentini won the prologue, Roche won the Poggio descent TT and wore pink when Carrera won the TTT. Roche kept the jersey for 10 days without particular problems (he even tried to attack on the Terminillo, with Visentini not particularly amused), but on the S.Marino ITT Visentini destroyed him, winning the stage with Roche at +2'47". Visentini got the pink jersey with a pretty nice 2'42" over his own teammate. After the ITT the Carrera directors offically confirmed Visentini as the sole leader of the team. Roche however was not pleased by the recent turn of events, especially since there were rumours in the team that Visentini was actually planning to skip the Tour instead of going as a domestique. This was the situation coming in Lido di Jesolo.

Stage of the stage:
The stage starts calmly, with no major movements even on the first ascent. On the descent of Monte rest, however, the war starts: there's a breakaway forming, and Roche chases and goes with it. The breakaway starts to gain a sizeable advantage, the Carrera director starts feeling nervous and tells Roche to stop and return in the peloton. Roche does not obey but he just stays in the wheels of the breakaway, without pulling. Behind, all Carrera but one man, Roche's only friend Eddy Schepers, pull the peloton and reel the breakaway in. The atmosphere in the peloton and especially in Carrera is extremely nervous. The previous attack was apparently being planned by Roche himself, allied with a couple other teams. On the Sella Valcalda there's a much more serious attack by Millar, Bernard, Van der Velde, Lejarreta, Chioccioli... and Roche. This time he drops the act and takes pulls. Carrera chases again, but Visentini, who had been awfully nervous the whole day and was out of his mind, gets a hunger knock on the very first slopes of Cima Sappada and crumbles. At the front, Van der Velde attacks and wins the stage, while Roche, almost a minute down, gets the pink jersey with only 5" over a young Tony Rominger. Visentini arrives dead in Sappada with +6'50" from Van der Velde and 5'54" from Roche. All hell breaks loose after the stage, and Roche will be able to survive (literally) the following stages only thanks to the help of his only teammate and a few friendly teams. Visentini will try his best to take the pink back, but on the stage to Pila he will fall and DNF, while Millar and Breukink will join Roche on the final podium. This will be Roche's magical year: after the Giro he will win the Tour and the WRR, making the second and last Triple in history.

Protagonists of the stage:

Stephen Roche (being nice with Visentini's fans in Sappada ) with Robert Millar:

Roberto Visentini:

Johan van der Velde:

Erik Breukink:

Next stage:
The race will go back to Bassano del Grappa, and will be reasonably flat.

 

[barmaher]

Great selection. I was hoping you would pick this stage or the stage to Pila. I think you went with the correct one.

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 13: Auronzo di Cadore - Bassano del Grappa 203 km

Stage type: Flat stage
Difficulty: **
Original stage: Giro 1946 stage 14
Climbs: Passo Falzarego (GPM.2)

Overview:
Transitional stage, with only the Passo Falzarego to spice things up and possibly help the breakaway. With the last 120 kms flat, this should ultimately be a bunch sprint.

Giro of the stage:
With the dust of WW2 just settled, Italy desperately needed some sport to get distracted from all that mass destruction and stuff. In a year when even the Tour was not ready to restart yet, the Giro was. With 7 professional teams and other 30 riders grouped kinda randomly in 6 teams assembled only for this race, a peloton of 79 riders, all Italians, started from Milano on June 15th, that late in the year in order to start just after the Italian Constitutional Referendum which was about to change the Kingdom into a Republic. As it was common in those times, the route was a loop, starting and finishing in Milano. At the start Fausto Coppi was the main favourite, as recent winner of the MSR. His most accredited rival, the young Vito Ortelli. Gino Bartali was considered only an outsider, as he was already pretty old for the standard of the time (32 yo), and during the few races he rode during the war he never made a good impression. There were no other favourites, since Magni was not allowed to race, as he was accused of war crimes (he will be acquitted later in the trial).
It was a tormented Giro, full of controversies, ridden between ruins, with most of the spectators on the roads being workers taking a break from their reconstruction work (and many times the thing to be rebuilt was the road itself).
The race itself went on without too many highlights until the stage to Napoli (stage 7), where an attack by Bartali and Ortelli defeated Coppi, who also fell during that stage, arriving in Napoli with +6' in GC from the new pink jersey Ortelli (Bartali being at +2').
On stage 12, supposed to finish in Trieste, a group of Tito's activists ambushed the race, blocking the road with concrete blocks and forcing the organisers to call it a day and neutralize the stage. Nevertheless, a small group of riders decided to continue and arrive in Trieste, just to make a statement.
On the next stage, to Auronzo, Bartali and Coppi allied together and broke Ortelli, who was apparently sick that day. Bartali took the pink jersey. However, on the evening of the same day he received the news that the new president of the Italian Cycling Union had cancelled the permission for Italian riders to race the Tour de Suisse. The participation to that race was obviously worth quite some money for Bartali and many other riders. Bartali replied to the news by sending his pink jersey in a package to the president. He's not gonna start the next stage. Bartali then had a huge dinner apparently, sure that his Giro was over, and went to bed.

Stage of the stage:
Bartali woke up late that morning, and proceeded to have a generous breakfast. While he was still eating, his race director comes with the news that his threat worked and the president reinstated the permission for the TdS. Taken by surprised, Bartali was forced to get on his bike and start the stage. On the very first ramps of the Falzarego the race blows up, as it often happened at the time. Coppi attacks, and Bartali follows him to defend the pink. Pretty soon however Bartali realizes how big of a mistake the past dinner and breakfast were. He has to stop, starts puking and seems on the verge of retiring. Coppi sees him, and first he slows down, then he stops and comes back to assist Bartali. He felt he owed him one, when in 1940 Bartali helped him recovering a huge crisis on the Passo della Mauria and ultimately win the Giro. While riders overtake both of them, Coppi tries to help his rival, until Bartali feels a bit better and is too embarassed to keep Coppi there any longer. He tells him that he feels better, the debt is paid and he shouldn't wait for him anymore. Coppi then gets back on his bike and attacks. He goes on to chase all the riders who have overtaken him and reels them all in, getting first alone at the top. He then continues his action without waiting for anybody. Behind him, Bartali still struggles, but after the climb he starts to really feel better and leads the chase. Coppi wins solo in Bassano, but Bartali, leading a small group of chasers, loses only about a minute, keeping the jersey.
On the following stage, the final mountain stage to Trento, Coppi will attack again and almost win the whole race, but Bartali will keep the jersey by 47".
The most famous rivalry in cycling history, which is said to have even prevented a civil war in the post-war Italy, had just started.

Protagonists of the stage:

Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi (here they were on the Galibier, but this picture fits so well with this stage...):

Vito Ortelli:

Next stage:
Libertine won't harm any kittens...

 

[Red Rick]

Libertine won't harm any kittens...

Either Sagan can't participate.

Or....

Fedaia (FEDAIAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!)

Is it the 2011 stage?

 

[Eshnar]

Is it the 2011 stage?

Montalcino was my most recent stage, remember?

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 14: Asiago - Selva di Val Gardena 215 km

Stage type: High Mountain
Difficulty: *****
Original stage: Giro 1998 stage 17
Climbs: Passo Duran (GPM.1), Forcella Staulanza (GPM.2), Passo Fedaia (GPM.1), Passo Sella (GPM.2)

Overview:
The most classic Dolomite passes as the start of the brutal mountain stages triplet that will probably decide the 100th Giro. Will the riders be conservative considering what's ahead? Should they, considering how much TTing they had? Who knows.

Giro of the stage:
The 1998 Giro started in Nice (abroad but no so much) with a prologue, before entering Italy the next day. The main features of the route were the early easy MTFs of Lago Laceno and S.Marino, the penultimate weekend with a MTF to Piancavallo and a ITT in Trieste, all before a terrific final week with 3 consecutive mountain stages, to Selva, Alpe di Pampeago and Montecampione, and last but not least the final ITT in Lugano on the penultimate day. One prologue and 22 stages, over 23 days without a single rest day.
The main favourites were the defending champion Ivan Gotti, the twice-Vuelta-winner Alex Zülle, the 1996 Giro winner Pavel Tonkov and of course Marco Pantani, who came from a bittersweet 1997, DNF at the Giro and third at the Tour.
Alex Zülle started the Giro in the best possible way, winning the prologue and the stage to Lago Laceno. His rivals didn't look particularly good: Gotti had to retire due to sickness, Tonkov and Pantani tried to attack him but without success. On the stage to Piancavallo they partially succeded, with Pantani winning the stage over Tonkov, with Zülle a bit behind, but with minimal differences. On the next day Zülle crushed the opposition in the ITT. Pantani in particular lost 3'26" there, but even so he was 3rd in GC at 3'48", with Tonkov 2nd at 2'02" and the Italian climber Giuseppe Guerini (3rd at the 1997 Giro) in 4th place at 4'21". All was set to enter the Dolomites.

Stage of the stage:
The race starts getting interesting on the Duran already, with a 15 men breakaway featuring very serious riders: Javier Otxoa, Luc Leblanc, Chepe Gonzalez, Gilberto Simoni, Stefano Garzelli, Vladislav Bobrik, Hernán Buenahora, Oscar Camenzind, Michele Bartoli and Davide Rebellin are the most notables. Many of these riders are not so far in GC, so that Zülle's team, Festina, is forced to work. The situation stays stable up until the start of the mighty Fedaia. With the climb just started, Camenzind attacks the front group, followed by Gonzales and Buenahora. Behind them, Simoni, Bobrik, Sgambelluri, Tronca, and then a group with Leblanc, Forconi, Shefer and Rebellin. The peloton climbs the first part of Fedaia relatively slowly, still 40ish men in it. After Malga Ciapela, though, Tonkov attacks. Soon Pantani and Guerini follow him, while Zülle seems in difficulty, helped by only one teammate, Vladimir Belli. He stays in a small group, with the young Spaniard José Luis Rubiera between others. In front of him, Pantani accelerates and Tonkov cannot follow, but Guerini can. The two Italians go away and start overtaking part of the original breakaway. With the pink in danger already, Zülle attacks his group and reaches a 3-men group: the Spaniard Daniel Clavero and the two Italians Leonardo Piepoli and Paolo Savoldelli. At the top of Fedaia the race is completely blown up: Gonzales is first alone, followed within a minute by Buenahora and Camenzind; Pantani and Guerini are at 1'22"; Tonkov is with the Italian Nicola Miceli (4th at the 1997 Giro) at 2'12"; Zülle group at 3'10".
After the descent Pantani and Guerini reach the three riders in front, forming a 5-men group. Behind them, Tonkov and Miceli at 1', and Zülle with a now much larger group at 2'. At the start of Sella Pantani has a puncture but quickly changes bike and gets back to his group, and soon Buenahora and Camenzind (who will actually help his teammate Tonkov) are dropped. Behind, Zülle starts feeling increasingly bad, and people keep breaking away from him. Meanwhile, Pantani and Guerini manage to drop even Gonzales and go away in perfect agreement. At the top of the Passo Sella Pantani and Guerini are in front by a huge gap, with 1'30" over Gonzales and 2' over Tonkov and Miceli. Behind Zülle,Clavero,Garzelli, Conti (three Pantani's teammates!), Piepoli and Rubiera at 4'30"! On the descent nothing changes much, besides that Tonkov drops Miceli (who is overtaken also by Camenzind) and reaches Gonzales. Guerini wins uncontested, as Pantani was content with the pink jersey. Gonzales and Tonkov at 2'04", Camenzind at 2'18", Miceli at 3'. Zülle's group comes at 4'37".
In the next stage Zülle will try to attack, but will quickly fall behind and end up losing 30' on the way to Montecampione on stage 19. Meanwhile, Pantani and Tonkov will battle each other, with Pantani securing the win on Montecampione and, surprisingly, also in the final ITT. Later in the year he'll win the Tour, making the last Double in history.

Protagonists of the stage:

Marco Pantani and Giuseppe Guerini:

Pavel Tonkov:

Alex Zülle:

Next Stage:
The stage will start in Merano, like stage 10, but this time it'll go to an entirely different direction

 

[May0maniac]

1994?

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

1994?

Congratulations!

 

[Eshnar]

100th Giro stage 15: Merano - Aprica 195 km

Stage type: High Mountain
Difficulty: *****
Original stage: Giro 1994 stage 15
Climbs: Passo dello Stelvio (Cima Coppi), Passo del Mortirolo (GPM.1), Aprica (GPM.3), Passo di S.Cristina (GPM.2)

Overview:
Easily the queen stage, by modern standards. The only time in history that Stelvio (from Prato) and Mortirolo (from Mazzo) have been raced in the same stage. The next day is NOT a rest day (although it's far easier than this stage), so the riders could keep that in mind... but it would be a waste.

Giro of the stage:
The 1994 Giro route looks totally legit at a first glance. However, a second look will leave you with the feeling of something odd. Starting in Bologna with 2 fractions, a very short road stage in the morning and a prologue afternoon, the race goes south, with an early MTF to Campitello Matese on stage 4, then after reaching its southern point in Caserta it starts going north for good, with an important ITT from Grosseto to Follonica on stage 8. All sensible until stage 9. After that, a 300 km long transfer (with no rest days) would bring the peloton from Pontedera to Marostica, and from there to Austria and the central Alps of the second week. After those, the third week went west, with a mixed ITT to the Passo del Bocco and the final two mountain stages to Les Deux Alpes, in France, and Sestriere... both of them much lighter than the stages in the second week. Years later, the Giro director of the time will admit that the route was that weird only because he changed it overnight, a few days before the official presentation, since the route had been leaked (all of it, profiles included) by Tuttosport (the rival newspaper of Gazzetta) a week before and he didn't want to let them have their win. Originally the route was supposed to go first to France and then to Austria, with no ITT to the Bocco but a MTT to Monte Bondone, and ofc no silly 300km transfer overnight.
At the start of the Giro the main favourite was one only: the winner of 1992 and 1993 editions (both Doubled with the Tour), Miguel Indurain. His main opponents were the Italians Claudio Chiappucci and Gianni Bugno, and two possible Russians outsiders, Pavel Tonkov and the young, surprising LBL winner, Evgenij Berzin.
The prologue was won by the Frenchmen Armand de Las Cuevas, who lost the jersey on the following day to the Italian Moreno Argentin.
At the first GC test, in Campitello Matese, an even more surprising Berzin won, taking the jersey, with Indurain and Bugno arriving in the narrow GC group, a group without Chiappucci, who lost 5 minutes. Chiappucci was looking so bad that day, that his team (Carrera) let the young and promising domestique Marco Pantani to stay in the GC group. And the guy did it, arriving at the top with Indurain and Bugno.
Berzin kept the jersey easily all week, and in the ITT to Follonica won again, against a not-so-good Indurain. He seemed invincible. On stage 14, the first real mountain day, finishing in Merano after the Passo Monte Giovo, the main favourites stared at each other while Pantani attacked near the top, and thanks also to a great descent managed to get his first win.

Stage of the stage:
Even if this is now regarded as one of the best stages ever ridden, today's forum(s) would spend the first 3 hours of the stage complaining about the shameful lack of action. The Stelvio was ridden at an amateurish pace. The slow pace however allowed interesting movements. The Italian Franco Vona broke away alone, and behind him a small group was chasing, including Chiappucci, the Colombian Nelson "Cacaito" Rodriguez and the Italian Wladimir Belli. Such was the situation in Mazzo di Valtellina, the nowadays mythical town where the Mortirolo starts.
Only a few minutes after entering the climb, Pantani attacks. Berzin immediately follows him, as the Italian was starting to be a threat in GC. Also De Las Cuevas follows, while Bugno and Indurain try to react but seem in difficulty. Shortly after, De Las Cuevas blows up, and while Indurain drops Bugno riding tempo, Pantani and Berzin start reeling in the group of Chiappucci. After a few kms, though, Berzin blows up as well, while Pantani reaches a completely crushed Vona to get first to the top. Behind him, Indurain's tempo increases to the point that he reaches and drops Berzin, getting third to the top at 50" (after Rodriguez), with the pink jersey at around 1'30". On the descent Indurain and Rodriguez catch Pantani, and the trio goes well together towards Aprica, arriving at the top with over 2' to Berzin's group (featuring Chiappucci and Belli between others) and 3' to Bugno's group (with Tonkov). Starting the climb to S.Cristina Pantani raises the tempo again, and again he drops quickly Indurain and Rodriguez. Indurain here bonks horribly. Behind him, Chiappucci and Belli attack Berzin, who appears in difficulty as well. The two manage to reach Indurain and Rodriguez, and Chiappucci even manages to break away and go for the second place alone. Berzin suffers but luckily for him Indurain suffers even more.
Pantani arrives in Aprica with 6h 55′ 58", with his former leader Chiappucci 2nd at 2'57"! Belli, Rodriguez and Indurain at 3'30". Berzin arrives at 4'06", keepin the jersey with little more than 1' over Pantani, who was now clear 2nd in GC, with Indurain at 3'. The legend of Il Pirata was born.
Despite Pantani's and Indurain's efforts, Berzin will manage to defend the jersey easily in the third week, even winning the Bocco ITT, and will win the Giro with almost 3' on Pantani and 3'30" on Indurain.
Ironically, even if Pantani's name is tied to the Mortirolo, this was the only time he ever raced it. What's even more ironic is that, the day after Madonna di Campiglio, there was a stage with Mortirolo and S.Cristina (but no Stelvio, with Tonale and Gavia instead) waiting for him.

Protagonists of the stage:

Marco Pantani:

Miguel Indurain and Evgenij Berzin:

Claudio Chiappucci:

Nelson Rodriguez:

Gianni Bugno:

Next stage:
There's still one very very famous stage that I really have to celebrate here in the surroundings. Shouldn't be too hard to guess.

 

[rghysens]

the Bormio blizzard stage?

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

the Bormio blizzard stage?

Congratz to you too! I have to start dropping harder hints.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

the Bormio blizzard stage?

Congratz to you too! I have to start dropping harder hints.

In this case its really not the hint which made it clear that it will be the bormio blizzard stage. That stage was actually obvious since we knew that stage 15 will be the mortirolo stage from 1994