Giro 1998, the romantic heroe wins. Part I.

It was 1998, and Marco was sad because his dream to win a grand Tour was difficult to make possible.Injuries, time trials, bad luck, great riders such as Indurain and Ullrich, etc were punishing him.

He was a loved cyclist, he had won several mountain stages ( Alpe D´huez two times, Aprica, Merano, Morzine,...), but his only dream was winning a major Tour, and wearing the leader jersey.

And then, the giro came

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 A good route for the 81st edition of the " corsa rosa", with several nervous stages in the first half, and the decisive stages in the last week.

In spite of the route, things were happening in a different way that Marco had expected.

Alex Zulle won the prologue and took the first pink jersey. The rider that had won the Vuelta twice the years before was ready to win in Italy.

 The powerfull Zulle ( and riders like Bettini and Bartoli) was dominating the Giro and the attacks of the Pirate were not enough.

Bartoli took the pink jersey after the stage win of Cipollini in Frascati

But one day later,in Lago Laceno Zulle destroyed the pink jersey, Bartoli, and the attacks of Marco Pantani to win the stage, and recovered the " maglia rosa" ...

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Zulle answered all the attacks, and finally passed a tired Marco, who couldn´t counterattack.

 Zulle was showing a terrifying power in very different stages.

Zulle wins in Lago Laceno

The fight continue in San Marino, with short diferences

But the superiority of Zulle was not a problem for Marco, who continued attacking, like in the rainy stage of Schio, where Bartoli won the stage, and Noe took the pink jersey, only for one day.

Andrea Noe the new leader

Pantani won in the Piancavallo stage after a good attack, his first win in the Giro in four "bad luck years" ,

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It was a good prize for Marco,but the advantage to Tonkov and  Zulle was narrow, only thirteen seconds.

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Zulle recovered the pink jersey , and seemed relaxed. Marco was second overall.

SCHIO-PIANCAVALLO DI KM. 165:
   1) MARCO PANTANI (ITA-MERCATONE UNO) IN 4H22'11" 
          ALLA MEDIA ORARIA DI KM. 37,760 (ABBUONO 12")
   2) PAVEL TONKOV (RUS)        A 13"     (ABB. 8")
   3) ALEX ZUELLE (SVI)         S.T.      (ABB. 4")
   4) GIUSEPPE GUERINI (ITA)    A 28"
   5) ANDREA NOE' (ITA)         A 1'51"

Finally, after the stage of Aprica in 1994, Marco won another stage in the Giro

CLASSIFICA GENERALE DOPO LA 14ª TAPPA DEL GIRO D'ITALIA 
   (PERCORSI KM. 2.684):
   1) ALEX ZUELLE (SVI-FESTINA) IN 67H01'11" 
        ALLA MEDIA ORARIA GENERALE DI KM. 40,045
   2) MARCO PANTANI (ITA)        A 22"
   3) PAVEL TONKOV (RUS)         A 40'
   4) GIUSEPPE GUERINI (ITA)     A 57"
   5) ANDREA NOE' (ITA)          A 1'05"
   6) MICHELE BARTOLI (ITA)      A 2'41"
   7) OSKAR CAMENZIND (SVI)      A 2'49"
   8) LAURENT ROUX (FRA)         A 3'01"
   9) WLADIMIR BELLI (ITA)       A 3'22"
   10) LUC LEBLANC (FRA)         A 3'31" 

autobus.cyclingnews.com

And then came the time trial of Trieste, with Pantani trying his best

Photo Antonio Sevillano

But unfortunately for Marco, he was passed by Zulle , who was in a superb day,

Photo   http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo

It was a hard moment for Marco

And Zulle who was just flying, won his third stage, with a big margin

Second was Gontchar close to a minute behind and Pavel Tonkov, third, only 1'22" behind.

But Marco had lost 3'26", and after the time trial, the Italian climber exploded:

" The giro has been done for Zulle. Riders like me have no chances to win it".

But like great champions as Hinault ( who hated Paris Roubaix but fought hard to win it in spite of the bad opinon of the cobblestones), Pantani was not thinking in a surrender, just in fighting.

And it was now time for the mountains. The overall classification was:

  1. Alex Zulle                  67.45.49
  2. Pavel Tonkov        a        2.02
  3. Paolo Bettini         a        3.20
  4. Marco Pantani      a        3.48
  5. Giuseppe Guerini  a         4.21
  6. Andrea Noe          a        4.34
  7. Michele Bartoli      a        4.52
  8. Oscar Camenzind   a       5.21


Time for mountains is time for great climbs in the Giro ... Duran, Marmolada, Pampeago, Croce Domini, Montecampione,...

Tuesday, second of June, 1998

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A terrifying day in the Dolomites, it was going to be one of the best days of cycling I remember.

The great Passo Fedaia was going to make honour to his legend.

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It was a quick stage with several movements, especially from Polti team , and when riders faced the terrible Marmolada, the leader Alex Zulle only had one domestique, Vladimir Belli.

Then in the steepest part of the climb, Tonkov attacked, Pantani chased, followed by Guerini, where was Zulle?... suffering behind.

In a few moments Pantani took the lead ( there were some riders in front of them, Chepe Gonzalez, Buenahora and Camenzind the most important ones), and Tonkov was struggling too, Pantani with the green jersey of best climber was flying

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The miracle of wearing the pink jersey was still a dream, but a possible dream. The third and fourth overall were openning a good gap to Tonkov, more to Zulle.

The first man to pass the Passo Fedaia, was Chepe González, then Buenahora , Camenzind ... Pantani and Guerini crossed the line 1'20" behind , and Zulle ( who was with Piepoli)at that point was just thinking in saving the day. Nearly two minutes lost to Pantani. Tonkov and Miceli were losing 50" with Marco.

In the following climb, Passo Sella, the leading group was formed by Camenzind, Pantani, Buenahora Guerini and Gonzalez.

Pantani had a chain problem in the climb to Passo Sella, while Guerini accelerated. No problem for Marco who recovered the time quick and scaped with Guerini. Buenahora, Gonzalez and Camenzind dropped.

Zulle was losing more and more time, Pantani was getting closer to the provissional leading.

Pantani was touching the pink jersey with his finger during de ascent to Sella, Guerini was a good ally in the breakaway

It was going to be a great day for Marco, the best of his life. Guerini and he were riding together. It was good for both of them. The tiffosi were excited, people shouted thename of the Pirate, and they crossed the line of Sella ... Pantani was the provissional leader and Tonkov was losing 2 minutes, a great margin for Marco.

In the last meters he pushed hard

and finally Pantani gave the win to Guerini

Photo   fotos.sapo.ao

Guerini the winner of the stage, Pantani, could be the new leader, the new pink jersey. It had been a great stage and the supporters of the Pirate started to dream with the win in the Giro. Zulle was weaker than it was supposed.

Tonkov rode the last kilometers with his partner Camenzind, but he barely recover some distance to Pantani

He arrived 4th, with Chepe Gonzalez third more than two minutes behind ( 2'04" ).

It was the moment for the arrival of the leader. But when Zulle arrived to the flag of last kilometer, all of us knew that he had lost the leader´s jersey.

Seconds were passing and the final time was 4'37" . Zulle was not the leader , and with the bonus of the second position of Pantani, he was now third 1'01" behind the Italian. That day would be the last time for Zulle to wear the pink jersey.

Yes, the dream came true, Pantani was the leader of the giro, unbelievable.Happiness all around.

And there were two mountain stages left. If Pantani could arrive to the last time trial with 2-3 minutes to Zulle he could win. And what was sure was that he was going to attack one and again in those two days to Pampeago and Montecampione.

Words of Pantani " I was not having a good day at Marmolada , but I knew I had to attacks. Now I have gained tme, but not enough. I will have to continue in an offensive attitude if I won to win. Zulle is not the only threat, Guerini and Tonkov are dangerous too".

Meanwhile Zulle was admitting a bad day, but hoping to win the giro. For Guerini it was a good win and not a pact with Pantani.

A good summary of the day in numbers...

elmundodeportivo

My favourite cyclist in pink, in a very good giro with Bettini and Bartoli rideng very well, with Noe fighting and wearing the leader´s jersey, with Zulle riding very strongly, with Tonkov and Guerini, with Camenzind ... the fianl stages seemed to be fantastic.

And the following day, a short stage with a very difficult finish climb to Pampeago, a climb with very steep gradients.

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All was possible now, Pantani was not the only favourite yet, but he could dream, the tiffosi could dream and the world of cycling could congratulate for such a day of the great Italian climber.

Later he would admit that during the climb to Marmolada, he spoke with his domestique Conti when was going to take part the steepest part of the climb ( he was anxious) and Conti told him they were just riding it, to Pantani´s surprise.

Things of Marco, things of a true champion.

In spite of the glorious day in Val Gardena, the race was not going to be easy, and Marco would need to prove that romantic cycling was still alive.

The triple crown. Greatness and curse.

Only two riders have won the triple crown ( Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987 ).

Fausto Coppi in 1949 ( he won Giro - Tour and only 3rd in the World Championship that was very flat that year) and Miguel Indurain in 1993( he won giro-tour but was second to Armstrong in the Worlds of Oslo ). Hinault could have done it in 1980, but he had to quit the Tour when he was in yellow due to knee injury.

In the case of Eddy Merckx, the triple crown was a matter of time, but time was passing and at the end he got it in a year that was predicted to be a " bad year" for the cannibal, knowing that he had a bad classics season.

For the first time in all his career Merckx didn´t win a  major classic, and when he faced the "Giro", he soon was overshadowed by the Spanish climber, Jose Manuel Fuente, who took the pink jersey and some stages.

Foto  ciclismo.as.com

It was obvious that we were not witnessing the best version of the cannibal, but he was not going to surrender. He won the time trial of Forte dei Marmi and two days later exploded the race in a very bad day in the way to San Remo where Fuente got dropped. From then on, he survived the crazy attacks of the Spaniard and the pressure of the Italian Gimondi and the youngster Baroncheli.

Finally he could keep a narrow adavantage in the Dolomitic stages of Lavaredo and Bassano del Grappa to win the Giro ( his fifth giro , tying Binda and Coppi) by the fewest margin, a mere 12" to Baronchelli ( and 33" to Gimondi ). It was such an interesting Giro that a video called " The greatest show in the Earth" was broadcasted in homage to the Italian event.

Tre cime di Lavaredo. Later Merckx was dropped by Baronchelli and nearly lost the pink jersey.Foto www.gazzetta.it

The he won the Tour of Switzerland, and went to the Tour as the only favourite ( due to some abscenses like Zoetemelk and the former winner Ocaña). He apparently won it easier but he suffered a lot in the mountains with the Spaniard Aja and the old Poulidor forcing the pace then. Merckx won 8 stages and equalled Anquetil record of five wins, but the way he won was not a powerful way ( in spite of the appeareance).

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The Worlds was held in Montreal , and Merckx had to fight againsta ver good French team, with Thevenet trying  long solo attack and finally Poulidor arriving at the finish line with Merckx ... Pou Pou as usual was second ( Merckx outsprinted him easily), as in the Tour. The third placed rider was another Frenchman, Mariano Martínez.

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Merckx was a total legend ( he was a legend before that achievement but the triple crown was incredible). Strangely for Merckx, he never won again any of these three races and only was podium in the Tour of 1975 ( 2nd behind Thevenet). Even he didn´t win more stages in major races ( he won one in the 1977 Tour but because the winner was disqualified). It could be a question of age or simply cassuality ... who knows ...

No one seemed able to equal that " impossible", it was difficult even for greats ( such as Fignon, Hinault or Lemond), but not for a very good rider ( not a legend at all), a smily Irishman, who found the shape and the luck of his life all in the same season and in the necessary moments ( an odd season as his good years 81, 83 and 85)  .

The Irishman who had signed for Carrera in 1986 ( from la Redoute after having a very good 1985 year), spent most of the season injured ( though he took part in both Giro and Tour), due to a late crash in 1985.

Carrera owners were very dissapointes and Roche was desperated to find his old form ( looking for different doctors). Finally he suffred an operation but all got right for the 1987 season.

Roche noticed his good shape in the early races, doing very well in Nice, Criterium or Liege. Later he won Romandie ( for a record third time), he was ready for the Giro ( where he was supposed to be a domestique of former winner Visentini) .

Roche would win the Giro after a controversial fight against Visentini and his team, especially in the medium mountain stage to Sappada, when Roche attacked, Visentini cracked and the pink jersey changed from the Italian to the Irish ... only 5 seconds was the distance from the new leader to new second overall, a young promising Swiss rider, Tony Rominger.

The last week Roche had to stand the tifossi, who tried to hit him ( and insulted, spitted,...) especially in the stage to Canazei.

Roche resisted with the help of his superdomestique Scheppers and his friend Robert Millar and won his first major Tour.

Foto  cycling-passion.com

Then he rested and not competed till the Tour, and when it started in Berlin , he was pointed as one of the main favourites. The 1987 Tour was probably the toughest ever and fortunately for Roche, the second part of the race the heat dissapeared in almost all the important days ( but Alpe Dhuez).

The Tour was a thriller, with some controversial chapters inside the Carrera team, and with several changes of overall leaders. When the key moment arrived ( in the Alps) only two men remained with options, Delgado and Roche. Delgado took the yellow from Roche in the Alpe Dhuez,

Roche defending the yellow in the slopes of Alpe Dhuez.  Foto www.belgiumkneewarmers.com

 but couldn´t obtein enough time to Roche in the following stage to la Plagne, the day Roche fainted at the finish line.That day Roche won the Tour.

Three days later he retook the yellow in the time trial of Dijon and won the Tour the following day. An incredible double Giro-Tour for a rider like Roche.

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He was not thinking in the triple crown, in fact Kelly was the leader of the Irish team for the Villach Worlds.

Fortunately for Roche the weather was cold and rainy the day of the Worlds ( days before it had been hot), and the Irish team waited for his moment during the race in spite of a dangerous breakaway of Argentin. In the last two laps there were still a lot of riders in the bunch , so Roche accelerated and inside the last lap no more than 12 riders had real options of winning the rainbow jersey.

Roche played his domestique role closing breakaways but the surveillance of Kelly and Argentin in the last kilometers allowed him to scape in a 5 men group. Roche was the most intelligent of the group and his later attack had no answer ... he had won the World, he had equalled Merckx, he was now a legend too. 

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Kelly rised his arms in a sign of victory, the smily Irishman had done the impossible ... Giro, Tour and Worlds.

As happened with Merckx ( a different case without doubt), Roche never won again any of those three races , and never got to the podium or wore the leaders jersey again. his career still had flashes but seemed over at the end that marvellous year.

Perhaps the curse of the triple crown is real. Such a succeed is only possible ( even if you are a great champion as Coppi, Indurain, Hinault,...) if luck and good fate are with you, and if you achieve it you spend all of them, does it seem ridiculous ?, I don´t know but what I know is that nowadays is very unlikely to see again another triple crown winner, and if we see one I will pay attention to the rest of his career.