| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | September |
| Region | Emilia-Romagna, Italy |
| Local name(s) | Memorial Marco Pantani |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Europe Tour |
| Type | Single-day |
| Organiser | Gruppo Sportivo Emilia |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 2004 |
| Editions | 19 (as of 2023) |
| First winner |  Damiano Cunego (ITA) |
| Most wins |
|
| Most recent |  Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) |
The Memorial Marco Pantani is a professional road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
The race has been organized since 2004 and serves as a memory of Marco Pantani. The race starts in Cesenatico, Pantani's hometown, and follows a route towards his birthplace, Cesena. In 2007 the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2013, the race was merged with the Giro della Romagna, a race in the same region. [1] [2]
After Gilberto Simoni won the 2005 edition of the race, he paid tribute to Pantani's memory by saying:
This race, paying our respects at the cemetery, the visit to Pantani's parents, have made me reflect a lot. Marco and I were never friends, we were rivals. 15 years ago we duelled as amateurs, and when we turned pro, he obtained important results and I did not. I can say that I was jealous and perhaps it was because of this that we never became friends. To be here and to win this race has a great importance for me. I want to remember Marco in a proper manner. Today, I won for him. [3]
| Year | Country | Rider | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Italy | Damiano Cunego | Saeco | |
| 2005 | Italy | Gilberto Simoni | Lampre–Caffita | |
| 2006 | Italy | Daniele Bennati | Lampre–Fondital | |
| 2007 | Italy | Franco Pellizotti | Liquigas | |
| 2008 | Italy | Enrico Rossi | NGC Medical-OTC Industria Porte | |
| 2009 | Italy | Roberto Ferrari | LPR Brakes–Farnese Vini | |
| 2010 | Italy | Elia Viviani | Liquigas–Doimo | |
| 2011 | Italy | Fabio Taborre | Acqua & Sapone | |
| 2012 | Italy | Fabio Felline | Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela | |
| 2013 | Italy | Sacha Modolo | Bardiani Valvole–CSF Inox | |
| 2014 | Italy | Sonny Colbrelli | Bardiani–CSF | |
| 2015 | Italy | Diego Ulissi | Italian national team | |
| 2016 | Italy | Francesco Gavazzi | Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec | |
| 2017 | Italy | Marco Zamparella | Amore & Vita–Selle SMP | |
| 2018 | Italy | Davide Ballerini | Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec | |
| 2019 | Kazakhstan | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana | |
| 2020 | Italy | Fabio Felline | Astana | |
| 2021 | Italy | Sonny Colbrelli | Team Bahrain Victorious | |
| 2022 | No race | |||
| 2023 | Kazakhstan | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
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 last rider and one of only seven 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.
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2013. The high point of his career was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.
Damiano Cunego is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the Saeco, Lampre–Merida and Nippo–Vini Fantini–Europa Ovini teams.
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most revered races are often described as the cycling monuments.
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.
Daniele Bennati is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the Acqua & Sapone–Cantina Tollo, De Nardi–Colpack, Phonak, Lampre–Fondital, Liquigas–Doimo, RadioShack–Nissan, Tinkoff and Movistar Team squads.
Giovanni Visconti is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI ProTeam VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè.
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.
Francesco Gavazzi is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2007 to 2023.
Marco Marcato is an Italian former racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates.
The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.
The Giro della Romagna was 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.
Paolo Bailetti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who last rode for the UCI Professional Continental team Szuper Beton.
Simone Ponzi is an Italian road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team Nippo–Vini Fantini–Europa Ovini. He turned professional in 2009.
Fabio Felline is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek.
Manuel Belletti is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam Eolo–Kometa. He took a total of 21 professional wins during his career, nine of them on Italian soil.
Miguel Ángel Rubiano Chávez is a Colombian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for Mexican amateur team Petrolike. Rubiano has also competed for the Ceramica Panaria–Navigare, Centri della Calzatura–Partizan, Meridiana–Kamen, D'Angelo & Antenucci–Nippo, Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela, Colombia, China Continental Team of Gansu Bank, Coldeportes–Zenú and Colombia Tierra de Atletas–GW Bicicletas squads. During his career, he has competed in five Grand Tours, including four editions of the Giro d'Italia and the 2015 Vuelta a España.
Gianluca Brambilla is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. He started his professional career in 2010 with Colnago–CSF Inox.
Kristian Sbaragli is an Italian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Team Corratec. He rode in the 2014 Vuelta a España and was named in the start list for the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
Enrico Rossi is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who retired in 2014.
