81st Giro d'Italia 1998 (Italy)

“Il Pirata” Climbs to Victory

This year’s Giro d’Italia was not for the faint-of-heart. The course was designed for climbers with only 5 flat stages for the sprinters. The favorites for the overall victory include defending champion Ivan Gotti, 1996 winner Pavel Tonkov, young Swiss rider Alex Zulle (riding his first Giro) and Italian super climber Marco “Il Pirata” Pantani. 

Prologue Time Trial winner Alex Zulle controlled the race through 16 stage when the brutally tough climbing began.  Marco Pantani took the race leader’s Maglia Rosa from Zulle with an impressive display of climbing. The brutal Stage 17 contained four massive climbs: Passo Duran, Forcella Staulanza, Passo Fedaia-Marmolada, and the Passo Sella. Pantani finished second on the stage but more significantly gained 4’37” on the race leader.

The race was not over. Pantani held a slim 30 second lead on Tonkov and 1’01” on 3rd place Zulle. A tough climbing stage 18 continued in the Dolomites and allowed Pantani to extend his lead in the GC, but with the final individual time trial still to come Zulle was still a threat. Marco Pantani finished second on the stage and conceded only one second to Tonkov. Swiss Alex Zulle finished 4th at 58 seconds and now trial Pantani by 2’08” in the GC.

The Italian climber “put paid” on this year’s Giro on the final stage in the mountains. Over the second summit of the stage Pantani had 7’30” on a fading Zulle. By the finish at the summit of the Plan di Monte Campione “Il Pirate” had eliminated the Swiss rider. Zulle lost 30’03” on the stage. 

SPECIAL NOTE: Two riders were eliminated after a blood test showed both had hematocrit levels above 51%.

Marco Pantani rode into Milan to claim the first major stage race of his career, an impressive victory in the Giro d’Italia.

SPECIAL NOTE: Two months after his Giro victory, Pantani won the Tour de France and became only the seventh rider to win the “Giro/Tour” double victory in the same year.

Prologue  Nice (Fra), 7 km ITT	Alex Zulle (Sui)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 1 Nice (Fra)-Cuneo, 162 km	Mariano Piccoli (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 2 Alba-Imperia, 160 km	Angel Edo (Spa)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 3 Rapallo-Forte dei Marmi, 196 km	Nicola Minali (Ita)	Serguei Gontchar (Ukr)
Stage 4 Viareggio-Monte Argentario, 239 km	Nicola Miceli (Ita)	Serguei Gontchar (Ukr)
Stage 5 Orbetello-Frascati, 206 km	Mario Cipollini (Ita)	Michele Bartoli (Ita)
Stage 6 Maddaloni-Lago Laceno, 160 km	Alex Zulle (Sui)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 7 Lago Laceno-Matera, 235 km	Mario Cipollini (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 8 Matera-Lecce, 191 km	Mario Cipollini (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 9 Foggia-Vasto, 169 km	Glenn Magnusson (Swe)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 10 Vasto-Macerata, 212 km	Mario Cipollini (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 11 Macerata-San Marino, 214 km	Andrea Noe (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 12 San Marino-Carpi, 202 km	Laurent Roux (Fra)	Laurent Roux (Fra)
Stage 13 Carpi-Schio, 168 km	Michele Bartoli (Ita)	Andrea Noe (Ita)
Stage 14 Schio-Piancavallo, 165 km	Marco Pantani (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 15 Trieste-Trieste, 40 km ITT	Alex Zulle (Sui)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 16 Udine-Asiago, 236 km	Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita)	Alex Zulle (Sui)
Stage 17 Asiago-Selva Val Gardena, 215 km	Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
Stage 18 Selva Val Gardena-Pampeago, 115 km	Pavel Tonkov (Rus)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
Stage 19 Cavalese-Monte Campione, 243 km	Marco Pantani (Ita)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
Stage 20 Boario Terme-Mendrisio (Sui), 143 km	Gian-Matteo Fagnini (Ita)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
Stage 21 Mendrisio (Sui)-Lugano (Sui), 34 km ITT	Serguei Gontchar (Ukr)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
Stage 22 Lugano (Sui)-Milan, 102 km	Gian-Matteo Fagnini (Ita)	Marco Pantani (Ita)
	Mountain Classification	Marco Pantani (Ita)
	Points Classification	Mariano Piccoli (Ita)

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