This piece was first published in 2011
The 1990s saw Italian riders take back control of the Giro d’Italia with six victories in the 10 editions of the race. The decade also heralded the emergence of Marco Pantani in 1994, his victory in 1998 and then the shame and embarrassment as he was expelled from the 1999 race after failing a haematocrit test.
Earlier Miguel Indurain took back to back victories in 1992 and 1993 as he complete consecutive Giro d’Italia and Tour de France doubles. Then Russian riders emerged to win the Giro for the first time, as Evgeni Berzin took the maglia rosa from Indurain in 1994 and then Pavel Tonkov won in 1996.
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Sadly it is now widely acknowledged that some of those victories were fuelled by EPO. In the nineties doping become an undetectable science, conducted by devious doctors, with the boosting of blood values dramatically changing the performances of the riders willing to make a pact with the devil.
Gianni Bugno sparked the Italian renaissance when he won the Giro in 1990. He won the 13km prologue time trial in Bari and held the pink jersey all the way to Milan, beating Charly Mottet by 6:33. Franco Chioccioli finally had his moment of fame when he won in 1991. The lanky Tuscan rider was affectionately known as ‘Coppino’ for his beak-like nose and beat an emerging Claudio Chiappucci after losing the 1988 Giro to Andy Hampsten.
Miguel Indurain dominated the Giro in 1992 and 1993 as Bugno focused on the Tour de France. He used his huge power to carve out a winning margin in the time trials and limit his losses to Chioccioli and Chiappucci mountains.
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