Giro 2000Jubilee year offers historic, tough Giro d'Italia By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent The 2000 Giro d'Italia will begin in Rome on 13 May in tribute to the Jubilee year of the Eternal City, and end in Milano on June 4, after 3,707 Km and 21 stages of racing. Next year's Giro could be the toughest recent edition of the Corsa Rosa, with three mountain top stage finishes and a crucial 32km mountain time trial on the penultimate day from Briancon, France to Sestrieres. " Bello! It's a Giro for climbers, a Giro I like," 1999's putative Giro winner Ivan Gotti of Team Polti told Pier Bergonzi of La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I see Tonkov, Simoni, Frigo and Salvodelli, as contenders," said Gotti, ignoring Pantani. Although he was expected at the Giro 2000 presentation, Marco Pantani, who was leading the '99 Giro until he was excluded from the race due to high haemotocrit on the penultimate stage, was not present at Milano's Teatro Lirico due to influenza. Supersprinter Mario Cipollini was circumspect, saying "It looks like recent editions of the Giro; it's right that a climber should win...for sprinters, there are a few good stages too." After a dramatic 6k prologue in Rome, adjacent to the Colosseum and Imperial Forum, a nervous and rolling first week takes the Giro 2000 down the coast to Scalea, then east to Matera and north across Puglia, up the sunny beach-lined Adriatic coast. No major difficulties emerge until Sunday, 21 May on Stage 8 from Corinaldo to Prato. This is a brutal 255km slog across 3 Apennine climbs over 1000m. from the Marche region to Tuscany. The next day is the first mountaintop finish, Stage 9 from Prato to Passo Abetone. After Prato and west to Lucca, the stage climbs up the rugged 1524m S.Pellegrino pass, then dips down and up to finish on the 1388m Abetone. 60 years prior in 1940, on the same pass, Fausto Coppi won his first of 58 stages in the Giro d'Italia. From Tuscany, the Giro heads northeast across the Po valley to Veneto. Stage 11 is a 45km individual time trial between the beachfront resorts of Lignano Sabbidoro and Bibione. After this first decisive phase of the 2000 Giro, it'll be rest day at the beach in Bibione, with the Dolomiti climbs looming 50km to the north. After a warm-up to Feltre on Stage 12, the Dolomiti are on the menu for Stages 13 and 14, with 6 major passes to cross in two tough days of racing. Stage 13, 195km from Feltre to Selva Gardena includes the Falzarego, Fedaia and steep Marmolada passes, with Sunday's Stage 14 over 205 decisive kilometers on offer from Selva Val Gardena to Bormio, including the legendary 2621m Passo di Gavia. The next three stages of the 2000 Giro are transition stages which bring the race out of the Dolomiti mountains, and south across Lombardia to Genova. Stage 18 runs 176km from the port city to the ski station of Pratonevoso for a second mountaintop finish, a tough 11km. climb with an average grade of 8.8%! Friday June 2nd has yet another extreme Alpine stage. Stage 19 from Saluzzo to Briancon in France covers 177km over the steep Colle d'Agnello (at 2748m, this is the "Cima Coppi", highest point in the Giro) into France, then over the stark climb of the Izoard and down to the finish in Briancon. Stage 20's 32km individual time trial from Briancon to Sestrieres covers the ancient trading road between France to Italy over the gentle Col de Montgenevre, with 21.5km of climbing total for the test. Last year's Tour De France featured the same final 32km in Stage 10 to Sestrieres. With this penultimate stage the race of truth over a difficult course, there should be no doubt who will win the 2000 Giro after Stage 20. Sunday's final Stage 21 will be a toddle from Torino to Milano. If Marco Pantani recovers from his flu, his seemingly unending shame from his exclusion in the '99 Giro, and the 5 prosecutors who are after him, the parcours of the 2000 Giro d'Italia look great for an in-form Pirata. The question is will the Mercantone Uno man recapture his "grinta" or was that just the EPO? A brutal course like that of the 2000 Giro should help the real Pantani return and if he and top Mercantone teammates like Garzelli, Barbero, Velo and Conti are in form, he will be difficult to stop. Polti's Ivan Gotti, who defaulted into the '99 Giro title will have something to prove in the 2000 Giro: to show once and for all that he's for real, like his '97 Giro win. Gotti's Polti squad should also include '99's major revelation Mirko Celestino, who will be looking for a stage win. Gotti's '97 rival Pavel Tonkov will be back again with the Giro a major goal for 2000. The Mapei Russian has something to prove too, after his dismal ride at the '99 Tour De France. Dark-horse contender must be Francesco Casagrande of Vini Caldirola. The controversial climber won the '99 Tour of Switzerland after his drug suspension and was excluded from the Tour De France, then raged in the late season with a World Cup win in San Sebastian and 4th in the World Championships in Verona. The attacker from Abruzzo, Danilo DiLuca of Cantina Tollo will be back for his sophomore Giro. The powerful youngster will be looking for at least a stage victory or maybe the chance ot the Pink Jersey. Italian pro champ Salvatore Comesso of Saeco-Cannondale will also be looking to sport his maglia tricolore to a stage win or two. Sprinters Mario Cippollini of Saeco and Ivan Quarranta of Mobilvetta Design-Northwave could repeat their exciting head to head rivalry of '99, but no matter who wins the stages, whichever rider finally wins the 2000 Giro d'talia will be a worthy victor due to the extremely tough race route. 2000 Giro d'Italia Stages: Prologue + 21 Stages 3,703 KM / 176.5Km Daily Average Stage 8 Flat and Rolling Stages 4 Stages in "Medium" Mountains 7 Stages in "High Mountains" 3 Time Trial Stages / 83km Total Climbing : 23,200 m 1 Rest Day / 386 Km in Transfers
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