The Cima Coppi is the race to the summit of the highest mountain pass in that year’s Giro d’Italia. The awardwas first introduced in 1965, five years after the untimely death of Italy’s “Il Campionissimo” (Champion of Champions) Fausto Coppi.

The Cima Coppi List in the Giro d'Italia

2000: Colle dell'Agnello, Jose Jaime Gonzalez (Col)

Stage 19 had the 2000 Cima Coppi, the Colle dell’Agnello. It was followed by the Col d’Izoard (Fra) and an uphill finish in Briancon (Fra). The top riders in the GC broke away from the peloton on the Agnello. With great timing in the group Jose Jaime Gonzalez jumped away, crossed the summit first and won his third Cima Coppi!!!

2001: Colle Fauniera, was not climbed

Stage 18: 234 km from Imperia to Santa Anna di Vinadio, the stage was cancelled after a San Remo drug raid revealed massive doping within the Giro peloton.

SPECIAL NOTE- 200 police officers staged a predawn raid on cyclists’ hotel rooms and team cars, searching for banned drugs. The raids did not lead to any arrests, but banned substances were seized. The search lasted until 4 a.m. Cyclists decided not to ride the stage as a protest over what they described as mistreatment by the Italian police and fatigue due to a sleepless night.

2002: Pordoi Pass, Julio Perez Cuapio (Mex)

The 16th stage 163 km from Conegliano to Corvara in Badia presented 4 huge mountain climbs: Forcella Staulanza, Passo di Fedaia, Passo di Pordoi (Cima Coppi), and Passo di Campolongo.

Mexico’s Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio attacked on the first climb and was not seen on the stage again. He rode first to the top of the Pordoi and became the first Mexican to win the prestigious Cima Coppi prize.

2003: Colle d'Esischie, Fredy Gonzalez (Col)

Montemale di Cuneo, Colle d’Esischie (Cima Coppi), Colle Sampeyre and Chianale were the obstacles presented by the eighteenth stage. Columbian climber Fredy Gonzalez rode away and was the first across the top of the Colle d’Esischie to win the Cima Coppi.

2004: Passo di Gavia, Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro)

The 18th stage was short but tough, 118 km from Cles to Bormio 2000. The riders faced three major climbs: Passo del Tonale, Passo di Gavia (Cima Coppi) and Bormio 2000. Twenty riders, including Vladimir Miholjevic rode in an early breakaway. Miholjevic attacked the group, climbed the steep snow-covered roads, and won the Cima Coppi. He became the first Croatian to win the prize.

2005: Passo Dello Stelvio, Jose Rujano (Ven)

There were three major climbs featured on the 14th stage: Frassineto, Stelvio (Cima Coppi) and Passo di Foscagno. Venezuelan Jose Rujano, was first to top the snow covered Stelvio summit, he became the first Venezuelan to win the Cima Coppi prize.

2006: Passo di Gavia, Juan Manuel Garate (Spa)

Stage 20 - Saturday, May 27: 212km from Trento to Aprica, after Friday's brutal climbing stage riders were facing Saturday's penultimate stage. It was not much better! There was another 4000 meters of climbing and seven hours in the saddle. The Cima Coppi came on the second mountain of the stage, the Gavia. Juan Manuel Garate surged away from the group on the steep Gavia slopes and rode over the summit to take the Cima Coppi.

2007: Colle dell'Agnello, Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra)

The 20th stage was an excursion into France, 163 km from Scalenghe to Briançon (Fra), and featured two major climbs: Colle dell’Agnello (Cima Coppi) and Col d’Izoard (Fra). Frenchman Yoann Le Boulanger attacked on the lower slopes of Colle dell’Agnello and passed the Cima Coppi summit first.

2008: Passo di Gavia, Julio Perez Cuapio (Mex)

The penultimate stage 20 featured 3 major mountain climbs: Passo di Gavia (Cima Coppi), Passo del Mortirolo and Aprica. The 2002 Cima Coppi winner Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio jumped away on the Gavia and passed the summit first to win his second Cima Coppi prize.

2009: Sestriere, Stefano Garzelli (Ita)

The 2009 Cima Coppi was included on 10th stage, a high-mountain stage 262 km from Cuneo to Pinerolo. With 152 km to go Stefano Garzelli attacked solo from an elite breakaway group. While climbing to Sestriere, his advantage grew to 6’20” on the Maglia Rosa group. He rode alone to Sestriere and claimed the Cima Coppi.

2010: Passo di Gavia, Johann Tschopp (Sui)

The Cima Coppi included in the penultimate 20th stage in 2010. It was 178 km stage from Bormio to Passo del Tonale and designed as “Il Tappone Dolomite”. Before the stage there were fears that bad weather would force the organizers to reschedule the race route and remove Passo di Gavia, but it was announced that the original route would be used as planned.

A significant breakaway formed on the first climb of the day, the Forcola di Livigno. Gilberto Simoni and eventual stage winner Johann Tschopp were prominent in the group. Near the top of the Gavia Simoni attacked taking Tschopp with him. Tschopp won the two-man sprint over the summit of the Gavia. He won the Cima Coppi prize. On the descent of the Gavia dropped Simoni and would not be caught before the finish. Tschopp gained the biggest stage win of his career.

2011: Passo Giau, Stefano Garzelli (Ita)

The 15th stage was labeled the ”Il Tappone” of 2011. It presented 5 major mountain climbs: Piancavallo, Cibiana, Giau (the Cima Coppi), Fedaia and Gardeccia. The stage 15 breakaway cleared the peloton on first climb, the Piancavallo. Stefano Garzelli and Mikel Nieve left the breakaway group on the Giau. Garzelli dropped Iturralde and went solo across the Cima Coppi. On the final climb, the Gardeccia, Nieve caught and passed him and held on to win the stage 1’41” ahead of Garzelli.

2012: Passo Dello Stelvio, Thomas De Gendt (Bel)

This year’s Cima Coppi was included in the penultimate 20th stage, 219 km from Caldes-Val di Sole to the summit of the Passo dello Stelvio. With some 16.5 km of climbing on the Stelvio, Belgian strongman Thomas De Gendt jumped away from the pack. He was quickly followed by Mikel Nieve. Almost immediately De Gendt attacked again and rode solo to the top of the Stelvio, winning the stage and collecting the Cima Coppi prize.

2013: Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)

The 19th stage originally presented the Passo dello Stelvio as the Cima Coppi. Heavy snow along the entire climb forced the organizers to cancel the climbs of both the Stelvio and Gavia. The entire stage was eventually canceled. The weather for the twentieth stage was still causing problems. Stage 20 had originally been scheduled to include the climbs of the Costalunga, San Pellegrino, Giau, Tre Croci, and Tre Cime di Lavaredo. But the heavy snow again forced the organizers to reschedule the climbs of the stage. All climbs were removed except the Tre Croci and Tre Cime di Lavaredo (the re-scheduled Cima Coppi). With Maglia Rosa on his back Vincenzo Nibali set a brutal pace up the final climb and won both the stage and the Cima Coppi prize.

2014: Passo Dello Stelvio, Dario Cataldo (Ita)

The 16th stage was 139 km in the high mountains from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello (Martelltal). The Stelvio was the Cima Coppi in 2014. Italian Dario Cataldo rode over the snow-covered summit to claim the Cima Coppi prize.

Controversy ensued when the race official’s car put up the red flag neutralizing the race on the Stelvio’s descent. With the race (presumably) neutralized many riders stopped to change their wet clothing. Nairo Quintana, Pierre Rolland, and Ryder Hesjedal did not stop and went down behind the official’s car, while race leader Uran and many others stopped. Nairo Quintana won the stage on the climb to the finish on Martelltal. With the time gain he put on the Maglia Rosa. After the stage Omega Pharma-Quick-Step cried foul, but these riders did nothing wrong. They didn’t pass the official’s car.

2015: Colle delle Finestre, Mikel Landa (Spa)

The penultimate stage was the 20th, it was 196 km from Saint Vincent to Sestriere. The road the Colle delle Finestre near the summit of climb turned to gravel. Mikel Landa attacked on the gravel and race leader Alberto Contador did not follow. With Contador struggling Landa cruised across the summit to win the Cima Coppi.