When did you start following the Giro?

[nobilis]

1999 - Quaranta as cycling's new (and fast fading) sprinting god, Virenque's return to life at Rapallo, Pantani's mass destruction at Monte Sirino, Gran Sasso etc. - and then that fateful day at Madonna di Campiglio. A great Giro.

For some reason, I was checking Quaranta's profile yesterday and surprised how he never featured in the Giro sprints after 2001.

 

[Marcus135]

Was really 2010 for me as i didnt "get into cycling" properly until 2009 (though i watched Cadel a bit in 2007 and 2008 but not much) from there i was hooked and followed every race from then on until now.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

1997.

1998 was my favorite with pantani giving a fantastic show. 1999 would've been best if it wasn't for the final 2 days.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

started paying real attention in 06 i think, Basso scared me in those mountians, i mean wow...

 

[Parrulo]

2004 for me, which was the first year i had eurosport.

funny enough my introduction to cycling wasn't the tour but the volta and the vuelta.

 

[Parrulo]

2005. The brightest impressions are almost total absence of fans on mountain stages compared to the Tour and crazed Basso's climbing edge over all other contenders. The field seemed to me very weak.

i think you have a few years mixed up right there because basso's dominating year was 2006. Also ya i remember the lack of crowds on the 2005 giro, only about 10 people all the way up finestre And indeed nothing screams weak climbing field like Simoni, Rujano and Di Luca.

 

[El Pistolero]

My earliest memories are Pantani in the Giro, but the first time I actually followed it closely was 2005 I think.

 

[airstream]

i think you have a few years mixed up right there because basso's dominating year was 2006. Also ya i remember the lack of crowds on the 2005 giro, only about 10 people all the way up finestre And indeed nothing screams weak climbing field like Simoni, Rujano and Di Luca.

well, in 2006 it already was an inhuman cutting. in 2005 Basso attacked with real fire and emotions yet.. finestre was full of fans, unlike zoldo alto, ortisei and other stages. probably, "weak" is not best suited word, let's say "rarified" cos teams are much weaker than in le tour

 

[Bavarianrider]

I got into cycling when Ullrich won the Tour.
So 1998 was propably the first Giro i really followed.

 

[jsem94]

07. I started caring about cycling with the TDF in 06. Landis epic ride got me hooked. Still have a passion for this sport.

 

[Another_Dutch_Guy]

I've seen some parts of the 2003 and 2004 giro. But the one of 2005 really made me love the race. I still consider that year's Sestriëre stage as the best grand tour stage I've ever seen.

But also the battles between McEwen and Petacchi, Bettini and Di Luca and the 'fringale' of Basso made the race that year.

 

[killswitch]

Watching from the first to the last stage - the epic 2010 . Before that only followed the Tour de Bore.

 

[Forunculo]

In 1999 because Pantini

EDIT: Wait 1998, in 99 was those crapy black cloud

 

[Forunculo]

I got into cycling when Ullrich won the Tour.
So 1998 was propably the first Giro i really followed.

The first TdF I remember was 1997 with Jan winning

 

[Red Rick]

In 2007 i watched it when it happened to be on tv
In 2008 i watched it actively
In 2009 i followed stuff like profiles too.
In 2010 i was looking forward to it.

 

[Unkown]

In 2009, started watching the le Tour with my dad in about 2005 but only really started watching all cycling races the past couple of years.

 

[Peccio89]

I started watching it regularly in 1997 with the Gotti-Tonkov duel, when i was 8, and i remember especially the Mortirolo stage won by Tonkov, with Gotti sealing the Giro.

Although i have flashback of when i was a little kid and my grandmother used to watch it while i was at her house. And she kept telling me stories about how when she was young and when there was the tour or the giro on the radio, all the family stopped to do what they were doing and started to listen to the race, cheering for Bartali.

 

[TheRossSeaParty]

I remember seeing a stage on OLN (at least I think it was the Giro) where a rider from the Linda McCartney team won after a really long solo a few days(or weeks) after she had died. Back in the early 2000's OLN showed a lot more races than they do now, and I remember watching bits and pieces of the Giro, especially the year Simoni won, after Frigo(?) was kicked out, and Perez was gifted a stage after some terrible luck earlier in the race. This was the edition that got me hooked and as long as it has been shown on TV in the USA I have been watching it. Now with Universal Sports showing full coverage it is much easier to follow the Giro. And now that I've found livestreams and torrents of old races, it is much easier to be a cycling fan and live in the USA!

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

I remember seeing a stage on OLN (at least I think it was the Giro) where a rider from the Linda McCartney team won after a really long solo a few days(or weeks) after she had died.

As Linda McCartney have only participated in one GT in their short history, this was Dave McKenzie's Giro stage win in 2000. I remember that one quite well, too.

 

[classicomano]

My first memory is Pantani riding in the pink in 1999 the stage before he got excluded. I started actively following it when Boogerd decided to ride it in 2002, there werent many Dutch riders who knew how to get over a mountain in those days so I watched every race he was in, and was excited to see youngster Addy Engels almost doing a top 20 in the overall. he was supposed to be our new hope for the Tour etc. I think there was also some doping termoil in that Giro but dont remember the details.

 

[will10]

I remember seeing a stage on OLN (at least I think it was the Giro) where a rider from the Linda McCartney team won after a really long solo a few days(or weeks) after she had died. Back in the early 2000's OLN showed a lot more races than they do now, and I remember watching bits and pieces of the Giro, especially the year Simoni won, after Frigo(?) was kicked out, and Perez was gifted a stage after some terrible luck earlier in the race. This was the edition that got me hooked and as long as it has been shown on TV in the USA I have been watching it. Now with Universal Sports showing full coverage it is much easier to follow the Giro. And now that I've found livestreams and torrents of old races, it is much easier to be a cycling fan and live in the USA!

David McKenzie, remember that one too. That was in 2000, remember Quaranta winning 2-3 stages and Hruska dominating the mountain TT when Garzelli took the jersey from Casagrande

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

First the tour, then the giro was the 2nd GT i saw. think the first images I saw was in 1995/1996 (started watching tdf in 1993)

 

[sulgpallur]

I think it was from 2001, because i cant remember Garzelli win in 2000

 

[canyonball]

2009. I still keep that edition close to my heart. It was about the same year I really started following cycling across the calendar. The fact I was able to have Eurosport at home and internet at my disposal helped a lot. Like it was stated above. Acessibility is key.

I also started internationally with the Tour. 2002 probably. I would watch it during Summer Break on good old RTP.

Nice thread

 

[mortand]

1997. I remember the thrilling battle between Ivan Gotti and Pavel Tonkov, seeing Mario Cipollini suffer through the mountains to help Gotti (and himself win the final stage to Milano). It might've been the year I fell in love with the Kelme boys, watching Chechu Rubiera and Chepe Gonzalez winning back-to-back mountain stages. Oh, and it was the emergence of young superstar domestiques Giuseppe di Grande (Mapei) and Dario Frigo (Saeco). But also the emergence of nobody Nicola Miceli, who catapulted up the charts. Then there was the horrible ITT where Luc Leblanc and Alexandre Chefer - third and fourth on GC - both crashed, forcing them to abandon the following day. Which promoted Giuseppe Guerini to third spot. Oh, and the sprinters were called Glenn Magnusson, Endrio Leoni and stuff like that.

I've fond memories of that Giro - definitely more innocent memories.