Past Winners
Preview159 riders will tackle the 73rd Giro di Romagna which starts and finishes in Lugo after 194 kms. Between the 63 km mark and 125 kms, the race involves 4 tough climbs: Rocca delle Caminate (length 7 kms), Colle Cento Forche (4.5 kms), Monte Chioda (8.5 kms) and Monte Trebbio (5 kms). The last climb is 17 percent in parts.The key riders who have entered are: Michele Bartoli, Paolo Bettini, Michele Coppolillo, Pascal Richard, Wladimir Belli, Marco Vergnani, Evgeny Berzin, Stephane Heulot, Alberto Ongarato, Cristian Auriemma, Mirco Celestino, Davide Rebellin, Dimitri Konyshev, Alberto Elli, Stefano Faustini, Valentino Fois, Denis Zanetti, Claudio Chiappucci, Fabio Baldato, Danilo Di Luca, Marzio Bruseghin, Ivan Gotti, Massimo Donati, Valentino China, Alessandro Baronti, Marco Magnani, Luca Mazzanti. Race ReportLeading up to the Worlds in Valkenburg, Michele Bartoli has had his best season to date since turning professional 7 years ago. He has now won 10 races this year. In 1996, he won 9 races. Bartoli has now earned the right to be the supported Italian rider in the Italian team for the World Championship road race in October. However, he is continuing to ride and to win when some say he could be training and taking active rest.The 73rd Giro di Romagna was the 10th win by 28-year old Bartoli (who was second in 1996 behind Ferrigato). He won in a sprint of 62 riders from Germano Pierdomenico and Stefano Checchin. Bartoli is not known generally as a sprinter. He said afterwards: "I have not won a mass sprint before as a professional. This is a good test for Valkenburg because it is likely that on that day a similar number of riders will be there at the end. At the moment I am riding with my head and conserving my energies. I have a single objective this year - the Worlds. It was true when I said after the Coppi Placci that I was only riding within myself at present. But when we arrived with two laps of the finishing circuit to ride I felt the desire for victory. I could smell the win. But I will continue to ride within myself. The best Bartoli has not yet been seen and will be unveiled during the Worlds." The race was marked by a long escape by Pascal Richard, Maximum Donati and Cristian Gasperoni. The Swiss is leaving the French Casino team and has indicated that he wants to ride fr an Italian team in 1999. He attacked at the 90 kms mark on the Colle Cento Forche, the second of four climbs in the race. Bartoli was in a group of 15 riders who started to bring the 3 riders back. On Monte Chioda (at km 109) the gap closed a little and by the summit of the last climb of Monte Trebbio some 69 kms from Lugo the gap to Bartoli stood at 1.45. The three escapees were starting to become disorganised. By the first lap of the finishing circuit (22 kms to go), they still had 50 seconds on Bartoli's group. Richard said later that: "they (the 3) still believed in themselves". The destiny of the 3 was sealed when Asics-CGA, with Scinto and Tan, took over the pace at the front of the peloton from Ballan. After 90 kms away, the three were caught with 10 kms to go. Bartoli then used the wheel of Alain Turicchia to take him to the victory. Lugo - Lugo, 194 kms:1. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Asics-CGA 4.50.37 (40.197) 2. Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) Cantina Tollo 3. Stefano Checchin (Ita) Mercatone Uno 4. Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Scrigno-Gaerne 5. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 6. Alain Turicchia (Ita) Asics-CGA 7. Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Polti 8. Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Vitalicio Seguros 9. Bo Hamburger (Dan) Casino 10. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) La Francaise des Jeux 11. ? Lelekin (Rus) 12. Gianluca Pierobon (Ita) Kross-Selle Italia 13. Pasquale Santoro (Ita) KRKA 14. Alberto Elli (Ita) Casino 15. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) KRKA 16. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Asics-CGA 17. Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Riso Scotti 18. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 19. Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 20. Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Kross-Selle Italia 21. Marco Vergnani (Ita) Kross-Selle Italia 22. Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) Kross-Selle Italia 23. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) Ros Mary 24. Andrea Patuelli (Ita) Amore e Vita s.t. Started: 137 Finished: 62 Retired: 75 Past Winners1910 Jean-Baptiste Dortinacq (Fra) 1911 Giovanni Micheletto (Ita) 1912 Dario Beni (Ita) 1913 Angelo Gremo (Ita) 1914 Giovanni Cervi (Ita) 1921 Giovanni Roncon (Ita) 1922 Costante Girardengo (Ita) 1923 Giovanni Brunero (Ita) 1924 Luigi Magnotti (Ita) 1925 Angelo Gremo (Ita) 1926 Costante Girardengo (Ita) 1927 Allegro Grandi (Ita) 1928 Antonio Negreni (Ita) 1929 Alfredo Binda (Ita) 1930 Armando Zucchini (Ita) 1931 Ettore Meini (Ita) 1934 Aldo Canazza (Ita) 1935 Learco Guerra (Ita) 1937 Osvaldo Bailo (Ita) 1938 Pierino Favalli (Ita) 1943 Mario Fazio (Ita) 1946 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1947 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1948 Vito Ortelli (Ita) 1949 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1950 Livio Isotti (Ita) 1951 Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) 1952 Luciano Maggini (Ita) 1953 Giancarlo Astrua (Ita) 1954 Giuseppe Minardi (Ita) 1955 Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) 1956 Pierino Baffi (Ita) 1957 Ercole Baldini (Ita) 1958 Carlo Zorzoli (Ita) 1959 Silvano Ciampi (Ita) 1960 Giorgio Tinazzi (Ita) 1961 Adriano Zamboni (Ita) 1962 Diego Ronchini (Ita) 1963 Bruno Mealli (Ita) 1964 Adriano Durante (Ita) 1965 Dino Zandegu (Ita) 1966 Gianni Motta (Ita) 1967 Bruno Mealli (Ita) 1968 Felice Gimondi (Ita) 1969 Dino Zandegu (Ita) 1970 Davide Boifava (Ita) 1971 Franco Bitossi (Ita) 1972 Pietro Guerra (Ita) 1973 Wladimiro Panizza (Ita) 1974 Franco Bitossi (Ita) 1976 Gianbattista Baronchelli (Ita) 1977 Roberto Ceruti (Ita) 1978 Valerio Lualdi (Ita) 1979 Giam. Baronchelli (Ita) 1980 Pierino Gavazzi (Ita) 1981 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) 1982 Moreno Argentin (Ita) 1983 Alfons De Wolf (Bel) 1984 Pierino Gavazzi (Ita) 1985 Claudio Corti (Ita) 1986 Lech Piasecki (Pol) 1987 Ezio Moroni (Ita) 1988 Stefan Joho (Swi) 1989 Maximilian Sciandri (Ita) 1990 Maximilian Sciandri (Ita) 1991 Franco Ballerini (Ita) 1992 Beat Zberg (Swi) 1993 Pascal Richard (Swi) 1994 Roberto Petito (Ita) 1995 Davide Cassani (Ita) 1996 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) 1997 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)Past Winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin |