Last updated Overview of the stages; red lines represent distances covered in the individual stages, while green lines are the distances between the stages
Stage 12 of the 2007 Giro d'Italia took place on 24 May; the race concluded on 3 June. The second half of the Giro began with a challenging mountain stage that finished outside Italy, the first of three stages in this Giro that did so. This stage resulted in the race lead transferring from Andrea Noè to his teammate and team leader Danilo Di Luca, who did not relinquish this lead and finished the race as its champion.
The battle for the other two spots on the Giro podium also began in stage 12 but was not resolved until later in the race. Andy Schleck from Team CSC won the white jersey in Milan as the Giro's best rider under 25, and was in a competition with Eddy Mazzoleni, Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, and Riccardo Riccò to see who would round out the podium with Di Luca. It was in the marquee stages of the second half of the race that Schleck and Mazzoleni distinguished themselves as podium favorites, eventually finishing the race second and third overall, respectively. Saunier Duval–Prodir showed well, with Riccò and Simoni both taking mountain stage wins and Leonardo Piepoli winning the green jersey in Milan as the Giro's best climber.
s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
This was the first major mountain stage of the Giro. The course included two difficult first-category climbs, as the route passed from Italy into France. The first of these climbs was the Colle dell'Agnello, which crested just inside the French border. This was the Cima Coppi, the highest climb in the race. The climb took stretched for 21.3km (13.2mi) and reached a vertical elevation of 2,744m (9,003ft). The Col d'Izoard later on is only marginally shorter and less steep, reaching 2,360m (7,740ft) in elevation after 14.2km (8.8mi) on the road, for a steady 7.1% gradient. The finish came on a steep descent into Briançon, a popular host town for the Tour de France.[2]
This France-bound stage had a breakaway group consisting of two French riders each representing a French team: Yoann Le Boulanger of Bouygues Télécom and Christophe Riblon of AG2R Prévoyance. By the 55km (34mi) mark, the duo had a 17 and a half minute advantage on the peloton, as the other riders were conserving themselves for the big climbs ahead. The Saunier Duval–Prodir team, and in particular Leonardo Piepoli, did the pacemaking on the ascent of the Colle dell'Agnello, and after a few kilometers of the climb only a select group of overall favorites remained together as the first chase group. One surprising rider to crack was two-time Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli, who lost contact with the group of favorites 9km (5.6mi) from the summit of the Agnello and lost five minutes to them at day's end. Savoldelli was still hurt from the previous day's crash, and informed his lieutenantEddy Mazzoleni that he should keep the pace for as long as he could and ride his own race, and that Savoldelli would look after himself.
Leonardo Piepoli set a pace during this stage that cracked most of the main field.
In the front of the race, Le Boulanger was the first over the Agnello, winning the prize that went with conquering the Cima Coppi. Riblon followed 1'30" behind him; the group of overall favorites was still 13 minutes behind at the summit of the climb. Piepoli's pacemaking on the ascent had succeeded in whittling the group down to just himself, Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, Danilo Di Luca, Mazzoleni, Andy Schleck, and Stefano Garzelli. Riccardo Riccò, Savoldelli, Yaroslav Popovych, and overnight race leader Andrea Noè had all been in this group at the beginning of the climb, but were all eventually cracked by the pace.
Piepoli continued to pull the Simoni group through the descent from the Agnello and the beginning of the Iozard climb, absorbing Riblon in the process. Le Boulanger was alone in the front of the race as the ascent of the Iozard began, 3 minutes ahead of Simoni's group. With 11km (6.8mi) left in the climb, Piepoli broke away from the group he had been pacing, in a move to see who could match his acceleration. Di Luca and Schleck quickly made the bridge, with Simoni holding their wheels, but Cunego and Garzelli did not react as quickly and had to expend more energy to stay with the leaders. Later, Garzelli was dropped by this group's pace, and lost 2 minutes to them at the finish line. This group caught Le Boulanger 3.5km (2.2mi) before the summit of the Iozard.
Seconds before reaching that summit, Di Luca attacked from the leading group and came free, taking maximum mountains points and, more importantly, opening up a time gap. He opened up a 13-second lead on Schleck, Simoni, and Mazzoleni, and 25 to Cunego. Piepoli faded further and out of contention, at last hitting the wall after doing some strenuous pacemaking for much of this difficult stage. Simoni's descending skills brought himself, Schleck, and Mazzoleni back together with Di Luca minutes later, and they were together in Briançon for the stage finish. Di Luca attacked for the stage win 900m (3,000ft) from the finish line, after a sharp right-hand turn, and drew Schleck with him. Simoni went à bloc in his attempt to reach them, and did pass Schleck, but could not come around Di Luca, who won the stage. The others in the leading group of five finished scattered behind them. Lampre–Fondital's Marzio Bruseghin, who had begun the day second in the overall standings, was in the second chase group most of the day and finished 2'33" back, retaining second overall. Noè was 9'45" off the pace and surrendered the pink jersey to his team leader Di Luca. Di Luca still held the green jersey as mountains classification leader after the stage; Piepoli wore it in the next three stages.[3]
The Giro's first individual time trial consisted entirely of the first-category climb to the Santuario di Oropa. The route was uphill all the way, gaining 734m (2,408ft) at an average gradient of 5.8%, with the steepest stretches reaching 13%. Though noted to be a difficult climb, it was expected that the short length of this stage would limit its effect on the overall standings.[4]
The first rider of the day to post a time under 30 minutes was Ceramica Panaria–Navigare's Julio Alberto Pérez. His 29'38" was eventually bettered by American time trial specialist David Zabriskie, who stopped the clock at 29'14". Leonardo Piepoli started slowly, well behind Zabriskie at the 5km (3.1mi) intermediate time check, but finished strongly, gaining 4 seconds on Zabriskie at the 9km (5.6mi) check and 18 at the finish line. Tinkoff Credit Systems' Evgeni Petrov posted the best time at the first intermediate time check, but faded as the course wore on and could not beat Piepoli's time. Riccardo Riccò, Franco Pellizotti, Andy Schleck, Damiano Cunego, and Gilberto Simoni all posted solid times, but all fell short of overtaking Piepoli.
The last two men to take the course were Italian national time trial champion Marzio Bruseghin and race leader Danilo Di Luca. Bruseghin had the second best splits at the first two intermediate time checks and gained against Piepoli in the final 3km (1.9mi) where the others had lost time to him, winning the stage by a single second. Di Luca also rode well, finishing 8 seconds back of Bruseghin, and gaining time on his major rivals. After the stage, Simoni expressed disappointment that Piepoli was so narrowly defeated after having worked so hard the day before. Bruseghin held second overall after the stage and slightly narrowed his time gap to Di Luca, but made it clear that his focus going forward would be to work for team leader Cunego and not for any individual aspirations.[5]
The first 85km (53mi) of this stage were flat, but two categorized climbs followed. The second-category Passo di San Marco and the third-category La Trinità-Dossena had a 20km (12mi) descent between them. Though a flat stretch followed to the finish, it was not likely that any sprinters would be present in the leading group to contest the stage.[6]
The morning breakaway numbered eleven. During the flat stretch before the Passo di San Marco climb, Stefano Garzelli tried to use his team to soften the main field so he could attack and bridge up to the leaders, but team Liquigas, working for race leader Danilo Di Luca, nullified the move.
The group thinned after cresting the climb, leaving only Iván Parra, Paolo Bettini, and Fortunato Baliani just less than two minutes ahead of the pink jersey group, which contained all of the race's overall favorites. Garzelli and teammate Massimo Codol came free of this group on the ascent of La Trinità-Dossena and drew Gilberto Simoni and the powerful Astana duo of Eddy Mazzoleni and Paolo Savoldelli with them. The three breakaway riders were able to stay with them, forming a leading group of seven, after Codol dropped after doing some strenuous pacemaking. They built a 30-second advantage over the pink jersey group, as Liquigas was spent from their earlier effort to keep the race together. They kept their advantage over the other race favorites at that level for most of the stage, contesting a sprint finish among themselves 38 seconds ahead of Di Luca in eighth. Simoni opened the sprint first, with 250m (820ft) to go to the finish line, but as is so often the case, the first to go was not the winner. Garzelli passed him up with 60m (200ft) left and won his first Giro stage in three years. Simoni moved up from eighth to fifth after the stage, and several time gaps tightened with the day's results.[7]
This was the Giro's queen stage, featuring four categorized climbs along with an uncategorized 800m (2,600ft) wall early on. It concluded at the picturesque Tre Cime di Lavaredo with a demanding final climb, only 7.2km (4.5mi) long but with a steady 7.6% grade and stretches of over 20%.[8]
After a flurry of morning attacks and counterattacks resulted in no group coming clear, the right combination formed after close to an hour and 28km (17mi) covered. By the 40km (25mi) mark, the 22-strong breakaway representing 17 teams had three minutes on the main field. Their advantage eventually grew to nearly seven minutes, but with such difficult parcours ahead, they stood little chance of staying away.
After 5km (3.1mi) on the Passo di San Pellegrino, the day's first climb, Saunier Duval–Prodir sent Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Riccò on the attack. Iván Parra and Julio Alberto Pérez followed, and they quickly gapped the pink jersey group while trying to bridge up to the leaders. They reached the leading group after the descent of the San Pellegrino, holding four minutes on the pink jersey group at that time. Saunier Duval–Prodir rider David Cañada, part of the original big breakaway, set to the pacemaking once his two teammates joined the group, and tapped out a tempo that cracked about half of the group. When Cañada faded, Piepoli took his turn on the front of the group, at which time only Riccò, Pérez, Parra, and Michael Rasmussen were with him. Piepoli led them over the second-category Passo di Giau together, a little over three minutes ahead of the main field.
The pink jersey group was, during the Giau climb, some 50 riders strong until Paolo Savoldelli took a pull on the front, working for the better-placed Eddy Mazzoleni, that absolutely shattered it. Race leader Danilo Di Luca lost all of his support riders from the group, and overall contenders Damiano Cunego and Marzio Bruseghin were also quickly gapped. With 2.7km (1.7mi) remaining to the summit of the Giau, Di Luca put in an attack that further broke up the field. Savoldelli was gapped for a time, but his aggressive descent from the Giau brought him back to the pink jersey group, where he again took a strenuous pull on the front, softening up the contenders enough for himself and Mazzoleni to break free.
The intermediate sprint in Cortina d'Ampezzo resulted in Rasmussen coming out the back of the leading group. Savoldelli and Mazzoleni caught him in the road, and the Dutchman stayed with them to form a three-man chase group. Rain began to fall on the ascent of the Passo Tre Croci, the day's third climb, making the goings even more difficult. The leading group of four had 1'24" on the Mazzoleni group at the top of Passo Tre Croci and a further three minutes on the pink jersey group, meaning Mazzoleni was very nearly the virtual race leader on the road. Mazzoleni dropped Savoldelli and Rasmussen as the stage went on, and finished five minutes before them.
On the last ascent of the day, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Di Luca made up much of the ground he had in deficit to Mazzoleni on the road, conceding a minute and 24 seconds to him at the finish line. Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, and Andy Schleck finished just behind him. In the front of the race, Riccò attacked as the Lavaredo climb began and quickly got a 15-second gap. The only rider to bridge to him was his teammate Piepoli. Piepoli, having taken the lead outright in the mountains classification, allowed Riccò the stage win. Their team leader Simoni reflected after the stage that he thought their early break was foolhardy, and that he had not followed because he was focused only on the overall and not stages, but that he was happy that the team took the Giro's marquee stage.
The true difficulty of the stage was demonstrated by the time gaps and finishing groups. Most of the riders finished the stage alone; no more than five finished together. Only 18 other riders finished within ten minutes of Riccò's winning time, and 78 lost more than half an hour, with Bouygues Télécom's Franck Rénier last on the day 40 minutes and 10 seconds off the pace.[9]
29 May 2007 –Agordo to Lienz (Austria), 189km (117mi)
After the second rest day, the Giro returned with a rolling stage that entered Austria. The stage began with the second-category Passo di Campolongo and a long descent from it, but the remaining terrain was not difficult enough for any riders to open up significant time gaps. Pre-race analysis thus found it to be an ideal stage for a winning breakaway.[10]
The peloton's pace in this stage was extremely lax. Through the first hour, they covered only 25.1km (15.6mi). The second hour was even slower, covering 24.6km (15.3mi). No breakaways were attempted in this time, save for a quick sprint for the mountains points available on the Passo di Campolongo. Through three hours, there was still no breakaway.
Finally, with only 70km (43mi) left in the stage, Benoît Joachim and Laurent Mangel came free. The Liquigas team at the head of the peloton was uninterested in chasing them down, since only a stage win was on offer this day, with the overall standings very unlikely to change. Little by little, sixteen others joined them. They did not work cohesively; Mangel, Stefano Garzelli, Ricardo Serrano, José Luis Rubiera, Pietro Caucchioli, and Pablo Lastras took two minutes' advantage over the other twelve. This mattered little, as the apathetic peloton let them all go to contest the stage amongst themselves. Garzelli put in an attack on the third-category Bannberg climb, 27km (17mi) from the end of the race, and stayed out front for the stage win. The main field, led home by László Bodrogi, was 8 minutes and 10 seconds back, but there was no significant change to the overall classification.[11]
30 May 2007 – Lienz (Austria) to Monte Zoncolan, 142km (88mi)
This stage brought the riders back into Italy. It was short, but it ended at one of the most difficult climbs in the world, Monte Zoncolan. The climb gains 1,203m (3,947ft) in 10.1km (6.3mi) for a crushing average gradient of almost 12%, and stretches of up to 22%. The Giro previously passed over the Zoncolan in 2003, in a stage won by Gilberto Simoni en route to overall victory.[12]
Race leader Danilo Di Luca's Liquigas team covered many early breakaway attempts. After 25km (16mi), a dozen-strong breakaway group formed. Their pace was frantic, coming to the stage's intermediate sprint 20 minutes faster than the fastest time predicted by Giro organizers. They had five and a half minutes on the pink jersey group containing race favorites at this point, and three and a half minutes on them at the beginning of the Zoncolan climb.
Jussi Veikkanen, Massimo Codol, and Mauricio Ardila took pulls at the front of the breakaway group, but 2km (1.2mi) into the climb, only Dario Cioni, Fortunato Baliani, and Mario Aerts remained out front. Another kilometer later, Cioni was the lone leader. Franco Pellizotti was the last Liquigas rider left for Di Luca in the group of favorites, before he cracked and also fell off the pace. With 5km (3.1mi) left in the climb, Simoni himself came to the front of the group and tapped out a pace that left everyone but teammate Leonardo Piepoli and best young rider Andy Schleck behind. They passed Cioni and chaser Codol on the road, and the Saunier Duval–Prodir duo left the young Luxembourger behind them to contest the stage themselves. Since the climb had personal significance for Simoni, Piepoli allowed him to cross the line first. They had covered the 10.1km (6.3mi) climb in 39'05", for a paltry pace of 15.05km/h (9.35mph). The win moved Simoni into a podium position, in third, and moved Schleck into second overall.[13]
The 18th stage was completely flat, and was sure to be contested by the Giro's remaining sprinters.[14]
A great number of early breakaways were attempted and neutralized in the stage's first hour. Finally, seven broke away at the 37km (23mi) mark. The seven, Addy Engels, Maxim Gourov, Patxi Vila, Franck Rénier, Éric Berthou, Pedro Horrillo and Mikhail Ignatiev, got a maximum advantage of 2'30", but the peloton easily caught them 5km (3.1mi) from the finish line. AG2R Prévoyance tried to set up the sprint for Alexandre Usov, as did Quick-Step–Innergetic for Matteo Tosatto, who lived in the town where the stage finished. AG2R's leadout train took a left-hand turn in the final kilometer too sharply, and left a handful of riders to contest the stage alone. Since the crash occurred within the final 3km (1.9mi), no time was counted as lost. Alessandro Petacchi easily held off Maximiliano Richeze and Matti Breschel for the victory, though this was one of his many 2007 wins that was later stripped due to his irregular salbutamol levels in a test given earlier in the race. The overall standings were unchanged by the day's results.[15]
Two categorized climbs occurred on this course, but since the stage took place one day before a long and likely crucial individual time trial, pre-race analysis determined this stage likely to be decided by a breakaway.[17]
A breakaway group involving double stage winner Stefano Garzelli got away after 27km (17mi), but was brought back 34km (21mi) later after never having more than 45 seconds on the main field. Iban Mayo and Alberto Losada counter-attacked when the original break was brought in, and stayed out front for much of the stage. Liquigas rode tempo through the 98km (61mi) mark, until Leonardo Piepoli put in an attack for maximum mountains points on the second-category Pian del Fugazze. He was caught shortly thereafter, but the pace he set severely thinned the pink jersey group.
A chase group of five riders formed between the pink jersey group and Mayo and Losada in the front of the race, but they were never able to make the bridge. Losada cracked on the day's final climb and finished 4 minutes behind Mayo, the stage winner. Evgeni Petrov, who began the day in eighth place overall, was part of the chase group and gained sufficient time to move into seventh place at day's end.[18]
2 June 2007 –Bardolino to Verona, 43km (27mi) (individual time trial)
The race's second individual time trial was fairly straightforward, albeit long. It was mostly flat and did not have many turns in the road, thus favoring traditional time trial specialists for the stage win.[19]
Mikhail Ignatiev set the first competitive time of the day. His 54'21" was almost two minutes better than the times that had come before him. Not long after came United States national time trial champion David Zabriskie, who bettered Ignatiev's time at all three intermediate time checks and was over a minute better than him at the finish, the first rider under 53 minutes on the day. Paolo Savoldelli came a little later and stopped the clock in 52'20".
Later on, the race's overall favorites took to the road not expressly for the stage win, but rather to iron out the race's overall standings. Savoldelli's teammate Eddy Mazzoleni rode one of the best time trials of his career, 2 seconds better than Zabriskie and 36 back of his teammate to move up from fifth to third overall. Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni, both noted as relatively weak time trialists, lost out on their chances for the podium because of Mazzoleni's ride and settled among themselves the battle for fourth place. Cunego's 54'37" meant Simoni would have to come home better than 55'38" to stay better than his rival. Simoni's time was 55'03", and he remained ahead of Cunego. Danilo Di Luca and Andy Schleck also rode strong time trials, to preserve their places on top of the overall classification with a ceremonial final stage left to race.[20]
The final stage was flat, containing, per tradition, one early categorized climb. It ended with ten circuits on the Corso Venezia in Milan preceding a mass sprint finish.[21]
Kurt Asle Arvesen and Daniele Contrini briefly broke away early in the stage, but they did not seriously seek to stay away. The peloton was together into Milan. Various breakaway attempts occurred on the Milan circuit, but none succeeded. Alessandro Petacchi won the resultant field sprint, though this was one of his many 2007 wins that was later stripped due to his irregular salbutamol levels in a test given earlier in the race. There were no significant changes to the race's standings, so Danilo Di Luca became the Giro champion.[22]
The 2004 Giro d'Italia was the 87th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Genoa with a 6.9 km (4.3 mi) prologue. The race came to a close with a 133 km (82.6 mi) mass-start road stage that stretched from Clusone to Milan. Nineteen teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Damiano Cunego of the Saeco team. Second and third were the Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar and Italian Gilberto Simoni.
The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Reggio Calabria with a 1.15 km (0.7 mi) prologue. The race came to a close with a 119 km (73.9 mi) mass-start road stage that stretched from Albese con Cassano to Milan. Twenty two teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Paolo Savoldelli of the Discovery Channel team. Second and third were the Italian Gilberto Simoni and Venezuelan José Rujano.
Gilberto Simoni is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for Lampre–Farnese Vini. Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race. Simoni might have won a third Giro, but in 2002 he tested positive for cocaine and was withdrawn from the race by his Saeco team – he was later cleared of any doping violation by the Italian Cycling Federation. Aside from this incident in 2002 he finished on the podium in every other Giro between 1999 and 2006.
The 2000 Giro d'Italia was the 83rd edition of the Giro. It began with a 4.6 km (3 mi) prologue that navigated through the Italian capital Rome. The race came to a close on June 4 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Twenty teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Stefano Garzelli of the Mercatone Uno–Albacom team. Second and third were the Italian riders Francesco Casagrande and Gilberto Simoni.
The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one was an individual time trial. The race also visited France and Austria in three stages.
The 2008 Giro d'Italia was the 91st running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Palermo on 10 May and ended in Milan on 1 June. Twenty-two teams entered the race, which was won by Spaniard Alberto Contador of the Astana cycling team. Second and third respectively were Italians Riccardo Riccò and Marzio Bruseghin.
The 2009 Giro d'Italia began on 9 May, with Stage 11 occurring on 20 May. The first stage, like it had been since 2007, was a team time trial, a stage where each member of the team raced together against the clock. Like most cycling Grand Tours do, the beginning of the 2009 Giro included a string of flat stages that were contested by sprinters. These stages were contested by Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish, among others, with Petacchi in victory becoming one of the only riders to defeat Cavendish in a sprint in the 2009 season.
Stage 12 of the 2009 Giro d'Italia took place on 21 May; the race concluded with Stage 21 on 31 May. The second half of the Giro began with a long and challenging individual time trial in Cinque Terre. It was in this time trial that Denis Menchov took the overall lead in the race. This was followed by a flat stage, after which most of the sprinters in the Giro withdrew from the race, as they did not figure to be in contention in the hilly and mountainous stages to follow.
The 2007 season for the Astana cycling team was its first, though the team's sponsors in the Kazakhstani government had entered the sport the year before backing the dissolved Liberty Seguros team. That same team was known as "Astana" for part of the season, including the 2006 Vuelta a España, but as the UCI license previously held by Manolo Saiz transferred to new ownership, headquartered in a new nation, it is considered a new team from 2007 onward. The team's manager for the 2007 season was former Tour de Suisse organizer Marc Biver, who had never before managed a cycling team at any level.
The 2008 Giro d'Italia began on 10 May, with Stage 11 occurring on 21 May. The first stage, like it had been in 2007, was a team time trial, a stage where each member of the team raced together against the clock. This stage was won by the American team Slipstream–Chipotle, who had viewed it as their primary goal in the Giro. It allowed their leader Christian Vande Velde to wear the first pink jersey as race leader. Unlike in most cycling Grand Tours, the first road race stage 2008 Giro was not a flat stage decided by sprinters, but rather one over a hilly course that would be won by a breakaway or a strong climber. Though Stages 3 and 4 were both flat and conquered by sprinters, this meant that it was unlikely that a sprinter would get to wear the pink jersey at any point in the race.
Stage 12 of the 2008 Giro d'Italia took place on May 22, and the race concluded on 1 June. As the second half of the Giro began, Italian national road race champion Giovanni Visconti had been first in the race's overall classification, but stood little chance of winning the race as he did not have sufficient climbing skills to be a contender on the high mountain stages featured in the race's final week. Stages 12 and 13 were flat and did not change the overall standings, but stages 14, 15, 19, and 20 all contained many high climbs.
The 2010 season for the Lampre–Farnese Vini cycling team began in January with the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. Though the team holds a valid UCI ProTour license, they were denied ProTour registration in November 2009. The matter remained unresolved at the time of the Tour Down Under, meaning the team missed the first major race of the season, but during January the UCI issued a temporary licence as a member of the ProTour until the end of March. Full license rights were restored at the end of March.
The 2007 Giro d'Italia began on 12 May, with Stage 11 occurring on 23 May. The route began in Caprera in Sardinia, with the first three stages being held on the island. These were followed by an unusually early rest day to transfer to Italy's mainland.
Stage 12 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia took place on 20 May in Città Sant'Angelo, and the race concluded with stage 21 in Verona on 30 May. Seven of the last ten stages in the race contained mountain climbs, including the uphill individual time trial to Plan de Corones four days before the end of the race. The last eight stages were clustered in northeast Italy, with six summit finishes among them.
The 2006 Giro d'Italia began on 6 May in Seraing in Belgium, and stage 11 occurred on 18 May in Pontedera. As is usually the case in a Grand Tour, the first half of the race was considerably easier than the second half – both rest days occurred before the halfway point, and there were no mountain stages or stages ending with climbs among the first eleven.
The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Reggio Calabria with a prologue individual time trial on 7 May, and Stage 10 occurred on 18 May with a flat stage to Rossano Veneto. The race finished in Milan on 29 May.
The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Reggio Calabria with a prologue individual time trial on 7 May, and Stage 11 occurred on 19 May with a mountainous stage from Marostica. The race finished in Milan on 29 May. The winner of the race was Paolo Savoldelli.
References
↑ Jerseys appearing in the table on the left of the page indicate those worn by the cyclist during the particular stage, while those appearing in the table on the right of the page indicate those awarded to the cyclist after the stage.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
