1998 Giro d'Italia

A total of 18 teams were invited to participate in the 1998 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 162 cyclists. The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager were introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place on the Apollon Concert Hall.[3] Out of the 162 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 94 riders made it to the finish in Milan.[1]

The 18 teams that took part in the race were:[1]

Several riders were considered to be potential contenders for the victory before the race began. These included the winners of the previous two editions, Ivan Gotti (Saeco Macchine per Caffè) and Pavel Tonkov (Mapei–Bricobi). Alex Zülle (Festina–Lotus), who had won the Vuelta a España in both 1996 and 1997, was also considered a strong challenger. Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno–Bianchi) had come back to the Giro the previous year from injury, only to retire after a crash which occurred when a cat ran into the peloton. He went on to win two stages of the 1997 Tour de France and was therefore also a challenger at the 1998 Giro.[4][5]

Passo di Pampeago hosted the end of the 115 km (71 mi) eighteenth stage.

The route for the 1998 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 22 November 1997 in Milan.[6] It contained three time trial events, all of which were individual. There were eleven stages containing high mountains, of which four had summit finishes: stage 11, to San Marino; stage 14, to Piancavallo; stage 18, to Passo di Pampeago; and stage 19, to Plan di Montecampione.[7] The organizers chose to include no rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 82 km (51 mi) shorter, contained the one less rest day, as well as one more individual time trial. After a five-year absence, RAI broadcast the event,[3] replacing Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI) who had shown the race since 1993.[8]

There were a total of seven stages that started outside Italy.[9] The 1998 Giro d'Italia began with a prologue around the French city of Nice, which also served as the start for the race's first stage.[9] Stage 11 finished in San Marino and the twelfth stage began there as well.[9] The Giro's twentieth stage ended in Mendrisio.[9] Stage 21 began in Mendrisio ended in Lugano, which also served as the start for stage 22.[9]

Stage characteristics and winners[9][10]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	16 May	Nice (France)	8 km (5 mi)		Individual time trial	Alex Zülle (SUI)
1	17 May	Nice (France) to Cuneo	159 km (99 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Mariano Piccoli (ITA)
2	18 May	Alba to Imperia	160 km (99 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Ángel Edo (ESP)
3	19 May	Rapallo to Forte dei Marmi	196 km (122 mi)		Plain stage	Nicola Minali (ITA)
4	20 May	Viareggio to Monte Argentario	239 km (149 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Nicola Miceli (ITA)
5	21 May	Orbetello to Frascati	206 km (128 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Cipollini (ITA)
6	22 May	Maddaloni to Lago Laceno	158 km (98 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Alex Zülle (SUI)
7	23 May	Montella to Matera	238 km (148 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Mario Cipollini (ITA)
8	24 May	Matera to Lecce	191 km (119 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Cipollini (ITA)
9	25 May	Foggia to Vasto	167 km (104 mi)		Plain stage	Glenn Magnusson (SWE)
10	26 May	Vasto to Macerata	212 km (132 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Cipollini (ITA)
11	27 May	Macerata to San Marino (San Marino)	220 km (137 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Andrea Noè (ITA)
12	28 May	San Marino (San Marino) to Carpi	202 km (126 mi)		Plain stage	Laurent Roux (FRA)
13	29 May	Carpi to Schio	166 km (103 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Michele Bartoli (ITA)
14	30 May	Schio to Piancavallo	165 km (103 mi)		Plain stage	Marco Pantani (ITA)
15	31 May	Trieste	40 km (25 mi)		Individual time trial	Alex Zülle (SUI)
16	1 June	Udine to Asiago	227 km (141 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fabiano Fontanelli (ITA)
17	2 June	Asiago to Sëlva	217 km (135 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giuseppe Guerini (ITA)
18	3 June	Sëlva to Passo di Pampeago	115 km (71 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Pavel Tonkov (RUS)
19	4 June	Cavalese to Plan di Montecampione	239 km (149 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Marco Pantani (ITA)
20	5 June	Darfo Boario Terme to Mendrisio (Switzerland)	137 km (85 mi)		Plain stage	Gian Matteo Fagnini (ITA)
21	6 June	Mendrisio (Switzerland) to Lugano (Switzerland)	34 km (21 mi)		Individual time trial	Serhiy Honchar (UKR)
22	7 June	Lugano (Switzerland) to Milan	173 km (107 mi)		Plain stage	Gian Matteo Fagnini (ITA)
	Total		3,830 km (2,380 mi)

The race started in the French city of Nice with a prologue time trial, which was won by Zülle, who established an early lead over his general classification rivals. Pantani was aggressive from the early stages on, including an attack at the Capo Berta climb during stage 2.[5] However, the first road stages saw race victories by sprinters, before Zülle took another victory on stage 7, at the ski resort of Laceno.[11]

On stage 14 to Piancavallo, Pantani was victorious, but only took out 13 seconds on Zülle and Tonkov.[4] On the next day, a long time trial in Trieste, Zülle caught Pantani on the road and finished 3:26 minutes faster, gaining a stronger grip on the race leader's jersey.[5]

Pantani however still remained convinced that he could win the race, considering that three stages in high mountains lay ahead, a terrain that favoured him. On stage 17 into Sëlva, Pantani attacked with Giuseppe Guerini (Team Polti) on the climb of the Marmolada. Zülle cracked and lost four minutes, while Pantani, who gave the stage win to Guerini, took the leader's pink jersey. Tonkov hit back by winning the following stage at Alpe di Pampeago and now was just 27 seconds behind Pantani. Stage 19 to Montecampione saw Pantani and Tonkov engage in a fight for the victory on the final climb, while Zülle lost more than thirty minutes on both riders. Pantani was eventually able to leave Tonkov behind, winning the stage and exceeding his advantage to 1:27 minutes. The race had to be decided during the final time trial from Mendrisio to Lugano. Originally considered the weaker time trialist, Pantani managed to pull out another five seconds on Tonkov and sealed his victory in the Giro d'Italia.[5] Serhiy Honchar won the stage, thirty seconds ahead of Pantani in third.[4] Two months later, he also won the Tour de France, becoming only the seventh rider to win both races in the same year.[12]

The Passo Sella was the Cima Coppi for the 1998 edition of the Giro.

Four different jerseys were worn during the 1998 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.[13]

For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.[13] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Passo Sella and was first climbed by the Italian Marco Pantani. The intergiro classification was marked by a blue jersey.[13] The calculation for the intergiro is similar to that of the general classification, in each stage there is a midway point that the riders pass through a point and where their time is stopped. As the race goes on, their times compiled and the person with the lowest time is the leader of the intergiro classification and wears the blue jersey.[13] Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time.[13]

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Intergiro classification	Trofeo Fast Team
P	Alex Zülle	Alex Zülle	no award	no award	no award	Mapei–Bricobi
1	Mariano Piccoli		Mariano Piccoli	Marzio Bruseghin	?
2	Ángel Edo
3	Nicola Minali	Serhiy Honchar		Paolo Bettini
4	Nicola Miceli				Fabrizio Guidi
5	Mario Cipollini	Michele Bartoli	Michele Bartoli		?
6	Alex Zülle	Alex Zülle		Alex Zülle	Gian Matteo Fagnini	Team Polti
7	Mario Cipollini			Paolo Bettini
8	Mario Cipollini
9	Glenn Magnusson
10	Mario Cipollini
11	Andrea Noè
12	Laurent Roux	Laurent Roux
13	Michele Bartoli	Andrea Noè
14	Marco Pantani	Alex Zülle		Marco Pantani
15	Alex Zülle					Mapei–Bricobi
16	Fabiano Fontanelli					Team Polti
17	Giuseppe Guerini	Marco Pantani	Mariano Piccoli			Mercatone Uno–Bianchi
18	Pavel Tonkov
19	Marco Pantani					Mapei–Bricobi
20	Gian Matteo Fagnini
21	Serhiy Honchar
22	Gian Matteo Fagnini
Final		Marco Pantani	Mariano Piccoli	Marco Pantani	Gian Matteo Fagnini	Mapei–Bricobi