1998 Giro d'Italia

Template:Short description The 1998 Giro d'Italia was the 81st edition of the Giro. It began on 16 May with a brief prologue that navigated through the streets of the French city Nice. The race came to a close on 7 June with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Eighteen teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Marco Pantani of the Template:Cycling data UNO team. Second and third were the Russian rider Pavel Tonkov and Italian Giuseppe Guerini.

In the race's other classifications, overall winner Marco Pantani also won the mountains classification, Mariano Piccoli of the Brescialat-Liquigas team won the points classification, and Template:Cycling data SAE rider Gian Matteo Fagnini won the intergiro classification. Template:Cycling data MAP finished as the winners of the Trofeo Fast Team classification, ranking each of the eighteen teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time. The other team classification, the Trofeo Super Team classification, where the teams' riders are awarded points for placing within the top twenty in each stage and the points are then totaled for each team was won by Template:Cycling data POL.

Teams

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. 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.

The 18 teams that took part in the race were:

Template:Cycling data AMO Template:Cycling data ASI Template:Cycling data ALB Template:Cycling data BRE Template:Cycling data ACQ Template:Cycling data ALM

Template:Cycling data FES Template:Cycling data KEL Template:Cycling data MAP Template:Cycling data UNO Riso Scotti–MG Maglificio Ros Mary–Amica Chips

Template:Cycling data SAE Template:Cycling data COG Template:Cycling data POL Template:Cycling data TVM Template:Cycling data VIN Template:Cycling data VIT

Pre-race favourites

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 (Template:Cycling data SAE) and Pavel Tonkov (Template:Cycling data MAP). Alex Zülle (Template:Cycling data FES), who had won the Vuelta a España in both 1996 and 1997, was also considered a strong challenger. Marco Pantani (Template:Cycling data UNO) 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.

Route and stages

A mountain lodge.

Passo di Pampeago hosted the end of the eighteenth stage.

The route for the 1998 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 22 November 1997 in Milan. 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. The organizers chose to include no rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was shorter, contained the one less rest day, as well as one more individual time trial. After a five-year absence, RAI broadcast the event, replacing Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI) who had shown the race since 1993.

There were a total of seven stages that started outside Italy. 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. Stage 11 finished in San Marino and the twelfth stage began there as well. The Giro's twentieth stage ended in Mendrisio. Stage 21 began in Mendrisio ended in Lugano, which also served as the start for stage 22.

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	16 May	Nice (France)		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
1	17 May	Nice (France) to Cuneo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
2	18 May	Alba to Imperia		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
3	19 May	Rapallo to Forte dei Marmi		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
4	20 May	Viareggio to Monte Argentario		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
5	21 May	Orbetello to Frascati		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
6	22 May	Maddaloni to Lago Laceno		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
7	23 May	Montella to Matera		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
8	24 May	Matera to Lecce		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
9	25 May	Foggia to Vasto		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
10	26 May	Vasto to Macerata		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
11	27 May	Macerata to San Marino (San Marino)		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
12	28 May	San Marino (San Marino) to Carpi		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
13	29 May	Carpi to Schio		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
14	30 May	Schio to Piancavallo		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
15	31 May	Trieste		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
16	1 June	Udine to Asiago		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
17	2 June	Asiago to Sëlva		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
18	3 June	Sëlva to Passo di Pampeago		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
19	4 June	Cavalese to Plan di Montecampione		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
20	5 June	Darfo Boario Terme to Mendrisio (Switzerland)		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
21	6 June	Mendrisio (Switzerland) to Lugano (Switzerland)		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
22	7 June	Lugano (Switzerland) to Milan		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	Total

Race overview

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. However, the first road stages saw race victories by sprinters, before Zülle took another victory on stage 7, at the ski resort of Laceno.

On stage 14 to Piancavallo, Pantani was victorious, but only took out 13 seconds on Zülle and Tonkov. 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.

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 (Template:Cycling data POL) 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. Serhiy Honchar won the stage, thirty seconds ahead of Pantani in third. Two months later, he also won the Tour de France, becoming only the seventh rider to win both races in the same year.

Classification leadership

A mountain in the distance.

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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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

Stage	Winner	General classification File:Jersey pink.svg	Points classification File:Jersey violet.svg	Mountains classification File:Jersey green.svg	Intergiro classification File:Jersey blue.svg	Trofeo Fast Team
P	Alex Zülle	Alex Zülle	no award	no award	no award	Template:Cycling data MAP
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					Template:Cycling data MAP
16	Fabiano Fontanelli					Team Polti
17	Giuseppe Guerini	Marco Pantani	Mariano Piccoli			Template:Cycling data UNO
18	Pavel Tonkov
19	Marco Pantani					Template:Cycling data MAP
20	Gian Matteo Fagnini
21	Serhiy Honchar
22	Gian Matteo Fagnini
Final		Marco Pantani	Mariano Piccoli	Marco Pantani	Gian Matteo Fagnini	Template:Cycling data MAP

Final standings

Legend
Pink jersey	Denotes the winner of the General classification	Green jersey	Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification
Purple jersey	Denotes the winner of the Points classification	Blue jersey	Denotes the winner of the Intergiro classification

General classification

	Rider	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete Pink jerseyGreen jersey	Template:Cycling data UNO	98h 48' 32"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	+ 1' 33"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data POL	+ 6' 51"
4	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	+ 12' 16"
5	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data VIT	+ 18' 04"
6	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	+ 18' 31"
7	Template:Flagathlete	Asics-C.G.A.	+ 21' 03"
8	Template:Flagathlete	Ros Mary-Amica Chips	+ 21' 35"
9	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data SAE	+ 25' 54"
10	Template:Flagathlete	Cantina Tollo-Alexia Alluminio	+ 25' 58"

Points classification

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete Purple jersey	Brescialat-Liquigas	194
2	Template:Flagathlete Pink jerseyGreen jersey	Template:Cycling data UNO	158
3	Template:Flagathlete Blue jersey	Template:Cycling data SAE	156
4	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	140
5	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data FES	117
6	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data POL	107
7	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data ALB	90
8	Template:Flagathlete	Cantina Tollo-Alexia Alluminio	76
9	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data POL	72
10	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	70

Mountains classification

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete Green jerseyPink jersey	Template:Cycling data UNO	89
2	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data KEL	62
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data MAP	49
4	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data FES	37
5	Template:Flagathlete	Asics-C.G.A.	30
6	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data POL	23
7	Template:Flagathlete Purple jersey	Brescialat-Liquigas	22
8	Template:Flagathlete	Asics-C.G.A.	17
9	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data VIN	15
10	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data VIT	10

Intergiro classification

	Rider	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete Blue jersey	Template:Cycling data SAE	62h 32' 12"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Brescialat-Liquigas	+ 55"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Template:Cycling data ALB	+ 2' 29"

Trofeo Fast Team classification

	Team	Time
1	Template:Cycling data MAP	296h 17' 54"
2	Template:Cycling data UNO	+ 17' 11"
3	Template:Cycling data SAE	+ 50' 22"
4	Template:Cycling data POL	+ 1h 05' 41"
5	Template:Cycling data VIT	+ 1h 10' 45"
6	Template:Cycling data KEL	+ 1h 16' 45"
7	Asics-C.G.A.	+ 1h 29' 36"
8	Riso Scotti-MG Maglificio	+ 1h 48' 29"
9	Template:Cycling data FES	+ 1h 59' 48"
10	Cantina Tollo-Alexia Alluminio	+ 2h 04' 19"

Trofeo Super Team classification

	Team	Points
1	Template:Cycling data POL	479
2	Template:Cycling data MAP	469
3	Template:Cycling data UNO	384
4	Asics-C.G.A.	373
5	Template:Cycling data SAE	325
6	Template:Cycling data VIT	290
7	Template:Cycling data KEL	284
8	Riso Scotti-MG Maglificio	274
9	Cantina Tollo-Alexia Alluminio	268
10	Brescialat-Liquigas	253