Marco Pantani was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as one of the greatest climbing specialists in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He recorded the fastest ever climbs up the Tour's iconic venues of Mont Ventoux (46:00) and Alpe d'Huez (36:50), and other cyclists including Lance Armstrong and Charly Gaul have hailed Pantani's climbing skills. He is the second to last rider and one of only eight to ever win the Tour de France – Giro d'Italia double, doing so in 1998. He is the sixth of seven Italians, after Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Gastone Nencini and Felice Gimondi, and before Vincenzo Nibali to win the Tour de France.
The Giro d'Italia, also known simply as the Giro, is an annual multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, and the race is still run by a subsidiary of that paper's owner. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except during the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with some additional teams invited as 'wild cards'.
Felice Gimondi was an Italian professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España (1968). He is one of only seven cyclists to have done so.
The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,875 km (2,408 mi) race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route through France to finish in Paris on 2 August. Marco Pantani of Mercatone Uno–Bianchi won the overall general classification, with Team Telekom's Jan Ullrich, the defending champion, and Cofidis rider Bobby Julich finishing on the podium in second and third respectively.
Mercatone Uno–Scanavino is a former professional cycling team which was based in San Marino and then in Italy. Throughout the 1990s it was one of the strongest Italian cycling teams in the peloton. The team was sponsored by a chain of supermarkets in Italy.
The Giro della Romagna is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Italian region of Romagna. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was discontinued in 2011, and in 2013, it merged with the Memorial Marco Pantani, which also takes place in Romagna.
The Memorial Marco Pantani is a professional road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A., commonly known as Bianchi is the world's oldest bicycle manufacturing company in existence, having pioneered the use of equal-sized wheels with pneumatic rubber tires. The company was founded in Italy in 1885 and in addition to bicycles it produced motorcycles from 1897 to 1967. In 1955 the joint-venture Autobianchi was created together with Fiat and Pirelli for the manufacturing of cars – Autobianchi was subsequently sold to Fiat in 1969.
Fabio Felline is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek.
The Italian Pirate Party is a political party in Italy, founded on 16 September 2006, modelled on the Pirate Party of Sweden, founded earlier that year. It supports reform of copyright and patent law, privacy and freedom of expression.
Rai Fiction is an Italian production company founded in 1997. Owned and operated by Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the national broadcasting company of Italy, the company produces content for Rai's channels, producing animations, sitcoms, and other programmes. Rai Fiction also works in association with foreign production studios and TV channels as well as other production companies in Italy.
Massimo Ceccherini is an Italian actor, film director, comedian and screenwriter.
The Prince and the Pirate is a 2001 film directed by and starring Leonardo Pieraccioni.
Paolo Buonvino is an Italian composer, musician, conductor, and music arranger.
Ivano Marescotti was an Italian actor and theatre director.
This is a list of Italian television related events from 2007.
Rolando Ravello is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
Claudio Bonivento is an Italian film producer, director, and screenwriter.
Anita Garibaldi is a 2012 Italian television miniseries directed by Claudio Bonivento and starring Valeria Solarino in the title role.
