Faded grandeur

Giro looks to home favorites to restore glamor

MILAN (Reuters) -- Organizers will be hoping home favorites Mario Cipollini and Marco Pantani can inject some much-needed glamor back into the Giro d'Italia which starts in Lecce on Saturday.

The three-week race has been tainted by drugs scandals in recent years but hopes are high of it again making the headlines or sporting reasons as world champion Cipollini attempts to break the record for the most Giro stage wins.

Cipollini has won 40 Giro stages in his career, one shy of Alfredo Binda's long-standing record.

"The record is my major goal for the Giro and that is what everybody in my Domina Vacanze team will be working for," the 36-year-old Italian said.

When the route was announced last November, Cipollini said he was pleased with the balanced course which features 10 major climbs, 11 flat stages and two time trials over a total of 3,449 kilometers.

"I think it'll be a really good race. I like it because there are lots of stages which suit me and could end in a sprint but there's something for everybody," he said.

His colorful compatriot Pantani has long been a favorite with Italian fans after winning both the Giro and the Tour de France in 1998.

Nicknamed the Pirate because of his trademark bandanas and earrings, Pantani appears to be rediscovering some form after returning to the sport in March following a six-month doping ban.

Stood firm

"Marco could have given up. He even thought about it when he saw a total lack of respect and recognition around him but in the end he has stood firm and has stared reality in the face without hiding himself behind excuses that could come back to haunt him," his manager Manuele Ronchi said.

Paolo Savoldelli won last year's Giro after pre-race favorites Stefano Garzelli and Gilberto Simoni were both expelled for failing drugs tests.

Simoni, the winner in 2001, was later cleared of any doping but 2000 champion Garzelli served a ban for his positive test for the diuretic probenicid, returning to action only last month.

To add insult to injury, a third Italian, Francesco Casagrande, was also thrown out of the race following a confrontation with Colombian John Freddy Garcia.

Savoldelli will not defend his title after joining Team Telekom who are not taking part in the race but the other three Italians will all be lining up as serious contenders again, along with Tour of Spain winner Aitor Gonzalez.

 

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