The 2006 Giro d'Italia, the 89th running of the race, was held from 6 May to 28 May 2006. It covered 3,526 kilometres (2,191 mi) beginning in the Belgian mining town of Seraing and ending in Milan. Italian riders such as Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego, and defending champion Paolo Savoldelli vied to win their national Grand Tour.
The Giro was won by Ivan Basso riding for Team CSC in dominant fashion. Basso won three individual stages, as well as the team time trial, along with his fellow CSC riders. Basso won by more than 9 minutes over the next best rider, the largest margin of victory in a Grand Tour in the last three years.
The race introduced a team time trial stage upon its arrival in Italy. This discipline had been absent from the Giro since edition 1989. It also included 56.2 km (34.9 mi) of individual time trials, distributed between the prologue and the long time trial at Pontedera.
It also featured famous climbs, such as the steep Mortirolo and the Monte Bondone. The Plan de Corones was planned to be climbed for the first time, however, bad weather prevented the unpaved climb from being used. It instead saw its debut in the Giro d'Italia in 2008.
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Contents
- 1 Teams and cyclists
- 2 Stages
- 2.1 Stage 1, 06-05-2006: Seraing, 6.2 km. (ITT)
- 2.2 Stage 2, 07-05-2006: Mons–Charleroi, 197 km.
- 2.3 Stage 3, 08-05-2006: Perwez–Namur, 202 km
- 2.4 Stage 4, 09-05-2006: Wanze–Hotton, 193 km.
- 2.5 10-05-2006: Rest Day
- 2.6 Stage 5, 11-05-2006: Piacenza–Cremona, 35 km. (TTT)
- 2.7 Stage 6, 12-05-2006: Busseto–Forlì, 227 km.
- 2.8 Stage 7, 13-05-2006: Cesena–Saltara, 236 km.
- 2.9 Stage 8, 14-05-2006: Civitanova Marche–Maielletta, 171 km.
- 2.10 Stage 9, 15-05-2006: Francavilla al Mare–Termoli, 127 km.
- 2.11 Stage 10, 16-05-2006: Termoli–Peschici, 187 km.
- 2.12 17-05-2006: Rest Day
- 2.13 Stage 11, 18-05-2006: Pontedera, 50 km. (ITT)
- 2.14 Stage 12, 19-05-2006: Livorno–Sestri Levante, 171 km.
- 2.15 Stage 13, 20-05-2006: Alessandria–La Thuile, 218 km.
- 2.16 Stage 14, 21-05-2006: Aosta–Domodossola, 223 km.
- 2.17 Stage 15, 22-05-2006: Mergozzo–Brescia, 189 km.
- 2.18 Stage 16, 23-05-2006: Rovato–Monte Bondone, 173 km.
- 2.19 Stage 17, 24-05-2006: Termeno/Tramin - Furkelpass, 121 km.
- 2.20 Stage 18, 25-05-2006: Sillian–Gemona del Friuli, 210 km.
- 2.21 Stage 19, 26-05-2006: Pordenone–Passo San Pellegrino, 224 km.
- 2.22 Stage 20, 27-05-2006: Trento–Aprica, 211 km.
- 2.23 Stage 21, 28-05-2006: Madonna del Ghisallo–Milan, 140 km.
- 3 Final standings
- 4 Retirements
- 5 Significance of the Belgian opening
- 6 References
- 7 External links
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Teams and cyclists
Stages
Except in the individual and team time trial, the first three riders in every stage receive a time bonus of 20 seconds, 12 seconds, and 8 seconds respectively.
Stage 1, 06-05-2006: Seraing, 6.2 km. (ITT)
Francisco Pérez from Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears set the first strong time at the finish of the tough first stage of the Giro d'Italia, a time which stood quite a long time until it was bettered by Serhiy Honchar by one second. After Bradley McGee had set a very good time later on, it seemed as if the 2004 Giro d'Italia prologue winner would repeat his victory, but defending champion Paolo Savoldelli bested the Australian's time both at the intermediate and finish time checks.
Favourites such as Ivan Basso, Danilo Di Luca, and Damiano Cunego chose not to gamble on the risky descent and lose most of their time deficit in the second half of the course.
Stage 2, 07-05-2006: Mons–Charleroi, 197 km.
Being a flat stage, this stage was always destined to be a shoot-out between Robbie McEwen and Alessandro Petacchi. After 23 km, a breakaway of four left the peloton and remained ahead in the race for the next 150 km. However, Team Milram controlled the peloton and pulled back the break with only 17 km to go. This allowed Team Milram to give Petacchi the perfect lead-out. However, with 200 m to go, Olaf Pollack jumped out into first place, allowing Robbie McEwen to get on his wheel and take the stage.
Stage 3, 08-05-2006: Perwez–Namur, 202 km
German Stefan Schumacher became the second man in Gerolsteiner's history to wear the Maglia rosa (after Olaf Pollack in 2004) by winning the third stage in Belgium and surpassing Paolo Savoldelli, thanks to time bonuses. Quick Step-Innergetic led the peloton and chased down a breakaway of four. During the chase, Alessandro Petacchi fell and fractured his kneecap, prompting his withdrawal the next day. Paolo Bettini seemed to be the favourite to win, but was blocked by a scooter of the organisation just when Schumacher attacked and could not catch up to the German, who beat José Luis Rubiera to the line.
Stage 4, 09-05-2006: Wanze–Hotton, 193 km.
Day four was a flat stage, with a few hills around the middle of the 200 km course, however an early breakaway was caught in the last 50 kilometers and the peloton joined together for a bunch sprint. The long flat drag into the finish line would have suited a power sprinter like Alessandro Petacchi, however due to his injury the previous day he did not start.
On the sprint itself, T-Mobile's Olaf Pollack attacked first, but couldn't sustain his pace, and with only a few hundred meters to go, Robbie McEwen attacked, and despite being countered by Paolo Bettini, McEwen won by half of a bike length.
10-05-2006: Rest Day
Stage 5, 11-05-2006: Piacenza–Cremona, 35 km. (TTT)
Serhiy Honchar (T-Mobile Team) took the Maglia Rosa after the stage.
Stage 6, 12-05-2006: Busseto–Forlì, 227 km.
Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile Team) took the Maglia Rosa after the stage.
Stage 7, 13-05-2006: Cesena–Saltara, 236 km.
For the second time, Serhiy Honchar (T-Mobile Team) took the Maglia Rosa after the stage.
Stage 8 featured the first mountain finish of this year's Giro, and following a breakaway being caught on the last climb, a pack of favorites had assembled on the final climb. However, Jan Ullrich and provisional leader Serhiy Honchar were quickly dropped from the lead group, and following the pace setting by Ivan Basso's teammate Carlos Sastre favorites like Paolo Savoldelli were also dropped from the lead group.
Damiano Cunego launched an attack with less than 5 km to go, and Basso was the only one who could react, quickly catching up to Cunego and riding past him. Basso stayed ahead and gained time on all the other favorites and won the stage. Cunego outsprinted Phonak's Jose Gutierrez for second place. Cunego was the only pre-tour favorite who was able to limit the time loss to Ivan Basso (another favorite) to less that a minute. Gilberto Simoni, Danilo Di Luca, Paolo Savoldelli and Serhiy Honchar lost 77, 92, 140 and 155 seconds respectively.
Stage 10, 16-05-2006: Termoli–Peschici, 187 km.
A long breakaway consisting of 19 riders broke away after 52 km of the stage, and managed to stay away from the peloton despite hard work by the Lampre-Fondital team in trying to reel in the breakaway. Franco Pellizotti was the best placed rider in the General Classement out of the breakaway riders, and had an excellent day, as the peloton containing all the favorites finished 3 minutes and 23 seconds down on him, which vaulted Pellizotti from 23rd overall into 4th place provisionally.
17-05-2006: Rest Day
Stage 11, 18-05-2006: Pontedera, 50 km. (ITT)
Stage 15, 22-05-2006: Mergozzo–Brescia, 189 km.
With his team leader Ivan Basso behind them, Jens Voigt couldn't contribute to the breakaway with Juan Manual Gárate. In the closing meters, Voigt patted Gárate on the back and let him take the win. Voigt later said "I was always sitting on the back of the attack, but I couldn't win today because I didn't work at all. You can only win if you are the strongest and it wouldn't have been right if I did." [1]
Stage 20, 27-05-2006: Trento–Aprica, 211 km.
Final standings
Combination Classification (Maglia Blu)
Trofeo Fast Team Classification
Other classifications winners
110 Gazzetta (Intergiro): Paolo Bettini, Quick Step-Innergetic
Most combative: Paolo Bettini, Quick Step-Innergetic
Azzurri d'Italia classification: Ivan Basso, Team CSC
- 4 points for stage winner, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.
Trofeo Fuga Piaggio: Christophe Edaleine, Credit Agricole
- Most kilometres in a breakaway containing less than 10 riders.
Trofeo Super Team: Phonak Hearing Systems
- 20 points for stage winner, 19 for 2nd etc., 20th gets 1 point.
Fair Play: Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
Retirements
- 198 riders started the race.
- 150 riders completed the race.
- 48 riders retired.
- Only Crédit Agricole, Lampre-Fondital and Team CSC finished with full line-ups.
- The most retirements were seen in Stage 7 (7 riders from 6 teams) and Stage 18 (6 riders from 6 teams).
Significance of the Belgian opening
The 2006 Giro opens, and has its first 4 stages in the South-East of Belgium in the Wallonia region. The Giro organisers chose to locate the opening in this region as a homage to the thousands of Italians who moved to the region following the end of World War II in order to find jobs in the coal mines of the area. It is estimated that as many as 300'000 Belgians of Italian origin live in this area. The 2006 Giro will commemorate the deaths of 136 Italian miners who died in the 1956 Bois du Cazier mine disaster.[1]
References
- ^ Tim Maloney, After Belgian antipasto, 2006 Giro has molto mountains for a tough climbers tour, CyclingNews, November 13, 2005
External links
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