The 1989 Giro d'Italia was the 72nd edition of
the race. It started off in
Taormina
Taormina ( , , also , ; scn, Taurmina) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on ...
on 21 May with a flat stage that ended in
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
. The race concluded in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
with a individual time trial on 11 June. Twenty-two teams entered the race, which was won by the Frenchman
Laurent Fignon
Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured t ...
of the Super U team. Second and third respectively were the Italian
Flavio Giupponi
Flavio Giupponi (born 9 May 1964 in Bergamo) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist.
Professional career
Giupponi was as professional cyclist from 1985 to 1994. His best Grand Tour result was at the 1989 Giro d'Italia where he ...
and the American rider,
Andrew Hampsten
Andrew Hampsten (born April 7, 1962) is an American former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1988 Giro d'Italia and the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 1992 Tour de France. Between 1986–1994 he finished in the Top 10 of eight Grand Tour ...
.
In the race's other classifications,
Vladimir Poulnikov
Vladimir Pulnikov ( uk, Володимир Пульніков; born 6 June 1965 in Kiev) is a Ukrainian former road racing cyclist.
Career
He debuted in the amateur categories for Soviet Union. As a professional, his best results include a 4th ...
of the Alfa Lum-STM finished the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing in eleventh place overall; Café de Colombia rider
Luis Herrera won the mountains classification,
Giovanni Fidanza
Giovanni Fidanza (born 27 September 1965 in Bergamo) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 1989 and 1997. In the 1989 Giro d'Italia, Fidanza won the points classification. Fidanza also won a s ...
of the Chateau d'Ax-Salotti team won the points classification, and rider Jure Pavlič won the inaugural intergiro classification. Fagor - MBK finished as the winners of the ''Trofeo Fast Team'' classification, ranking each of the twenty-two teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time.
Teams
There were 22 teams that were invited to compete in the 1989 Giro d'Italia. Each team consisted of nine riders, so the Giro started with 198 riders. Of the 198 riders that started the race, 141 of them reached the finish line in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. The peloton featured for the first time Soviet riders as a ban on cyclists becoming professional.
These Soviet cyclists competed for
Alfa Lum
Alfa Lum was an Italian professional cycling team that existed from 1982 to 1990. The team is best remembered for introducing many successful riders from the former Soviet Union in 1989 and 1990. The team rode in a riding kit of distinctive red a ...
, a team of nine Soviets.
The teams entering the race were:
Pre-race favorites
Many expected the winner of the race to be a foreign, non-Italian rider.
Several riders were seen as contenders for the overall crown.
''La Liberté'' named the following contenders: Hampsten,
Greg LeMond
Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...
,
Luis Herrera,
Erik Breukink
Erik Breukink (born 1 April 1964) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist. In 1988, Breukink won the youth competition in the Tour de France. In 1990, finished 3rd in the 1990 Tour de France. Most recently, he served as the manager o ...
,
Laurent Fignon
Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured t ...
,
Phil Anderson,
Urs Zimmermann
Urs Zimmermann (born 29 November 1959 in Mühledorf) is a Swiss former professional road racing cyclist. He stood on the podium in two of the three Grand Tour events after finishing third in 1986 Tour de France and 1988 Giro d'Italia. He also ...
, and
Claude Criquielion
Claude Criquielion (11 January 1957 – 18 February 2015) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who raced between 1979 and 1990. In 1984, Criquielion became the world road race champion in Barcelona, Spain on a gruelling course. ...
.
''De Telegraaf'' listed the three favorites to be Breukink, Hampsten, and Roche.
Former winner
Stephen Roche
Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...
returned to the Giro following a year absence and recently visited a doctor in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
to treat one of his knees.
Roche was anticipated to receive a poor welcome due to how he won the Giro in 1987 by taking the lead from Italian and teammate
Roberto Visentini
Roberto Visentini (born 2 June 1957) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist who won the White Jersey in the 1978 Giro, finished in the top 10 of the 1979, 1980, and 1981 Giro's, made the podium in 1983, wore the Maglia Rosa for ...
.
Reigning champion Hampsten entered the Giro after showing good forming in the early calendar races.
Hampsten himself stated he felt good entering the race and stated the route did not offer many opportunities to recover.
In addition, Hampsten had been specifically training for the individual time trial in his home in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
in the weeks preceding the race's start.
When asked about the inclusion of the
Passo di Gavia – which was crossed the previous year in blizzard conditions on a day where Hampsten secured the race lead – Hampsten hoped to "... cross that mountain when the sun shines."
Breukink was seen as the best hope for a Dutch rider to win the Giro due to third and second-place finishes in 1987 and 1988, respectively.
Fignon and Zimmmermann were seen as strong contenders to compete for the victory following their joint attack on the
Col de la Croix in the
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...
.
Fignon, a two-time winner of the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
, entered the Giro for the first time since his controversial loss to
Francesco Moser
Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition.
Moser ...
in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
.
In the years after his first Tour victory in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
, Fignon's seasons were plagued by poor performances due to a variety of injuries.
He had returned to form starting in 1988 with a win in
Milan–San Remo
Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...
, which he repeated as champion in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
.
Fignon's teammates were regarded as a weak point for his title hopes as they were felt to be weaker than his previous teams in the early 1980s.
Urs Freuler was seen as a rider to contend for his fourteenth Giro stage win, while Dutch sprinter
Jean-Paul van Poppel
Jean-Paul van Poppel (born 30 September 1962 in Tilburg, North Brabant) is a Dutch former racing cyclist, who was nicknamed ''Popeye''.
Van Poppel was one of the most successful Dutch road sprinters. He won stages in mass sprints in all three G ...
was seen as a prominent challenger for Freuler in the sprint stages.
Zimmermann was seen as a candidate to win if he could limit his losses in the time trials.
Herrera, Criquielion, and
Maurizio Fondriest
Maurizio Fondriest (born 15 January 1965) is a retired Italy, Italian professional road racing cyclist.
Career
Born in Cles, Trentino, Fondriest turned professional in 1987 with the Ecoflam team. He subsequently rode for Alfa Lum cycling team, ...
all rode their first Giro.
''Limburgsch dagblad'' felt the race attracted most top tier riders to participate except for
Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989.
Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5& ...
,
Charly Mottet
Charly Mottet (born 16 December 1962 in Valence, Drôme) is a French former professional cyclist (1983 to 1994). He was one of the best French road cyclists of his era.
His daughter, Eva Mottet, was also a road racing cyclist. She competed as a ...
, and
Steven Rooks
Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995.
Career
In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish on ...
, among others.
Luis Gómez of ''El País'' felt the main novelty of the race was the presence of the Alfa Lum team rostered with Soviet riders, including the likes of 23-year old
Dimitri Konyshev
Dimitri Konyshev (Russian Дмитрий Борисович Конышев; born 18 February 1966 in Gorky) is a Russian former road bicycle racer. During the 1989 World Championship he can be seen in a rather famous photo of cycling history s ...
whom they hoped would finish high overall.
He also felt LeMond's form was poor.
Herrera came to the Giro hoping for success as the stages were shorter than the Tour's and the general pace of the Giro is slower than the Tour.
Lejaretta hoped to challenge for stage wins in the mountains due to the toughness climbs.
Fondriest was seen as the main Italian hope as he was an all-rounder who was only 24-years of age.
Route and stages
![Sapienza Refuge Etna 060313](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Sapienza_Refuge_Etna_060313.JPG)
The route for the 1989 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public on television by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani, on 21 January 1989.
It contained four time trial events, three of which were
individual
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...
and one a
team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...
event. There were fourteen stages containing thirty-five categorized climbs, of which three had summit finishes: stage 2, to
Mount Etna
Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina a ...
; stage 8, to
Gran Sasso d'Italia
Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande (2,912 metres), is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies wit ...
; and stage 13, to
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (; ), also called the Drei Zinnen (; ), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, f ...
.
Another stage with a mountain-top finish was stage 18, which consisted of a climbing time trial to
Monte Generoso
Monte Generoso (also known as ''Calvagione'') is a mountain of the Lugano Prealps, located on the border between Switzerland and Italy and between Lake Lugano and Lake Como. The western and southern flanks of the mountain lie in the Swiss cant ...
.
The organizers chose to not include any rest days. When compared to the
previous year's race, the race was shorter, contained the number of rest days and time trials, and had one more stage. In addition, this race contained one less set of half stages. After the route had been announced in January, former winner
Francesco Moser
Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition.
Moser ...
– who joined the race organizing staff – received criticism as the route was thought to be very difficult and "heavy."
This criticism was due to Moser's history of complaining routes were too difficult in the past, when many viewed them not as such.
The sixteenth day of racing was thought to be the
queen stage of the race as it featured several categorized climbs, including the ''
Cima Coppi The ''Cima Coppi'' is the title given to the highest peak in the yearly running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The mountain that is given this title each year awards more mountains classification points to the first rider ...
'', the
Passo di Gavia.
Due to harsh weather the day of the sixteenth stage and beforehand, much snow had been deposited along the roads that were to be used.
Organizers made the choice to cancel the stage because of the conditions that also included sub-freezing temperatures.
Riders primarily agreed with the decision as it was best for rider safety, but Hampsten believed that the stage could have provided some chances to attack then race leader Fignon.
A ''L'Impartial'' writer described how race organizer Torriani had been creating race routes that favored sprinters and average climbers like
Francesco Moser
Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition.
Moser ...
and
Giuseppe Saronni
Giuseppe Saronni (born 22 September 1957), also known as Beppe Saronni, is an Italian former racing cyclist. He had remarkable success riding in the Giro d'Italia. In 1980 he won 7 stages and finished 7th overall, in 1981 he won 3 stages and fin ...
in the early 1980s and late 1970s, but had made the race more exciting as of late.
Classification leadership
Four different jerseys were worn during the 1989 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the
general classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...
– calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.
There were no time bonuses awarded for stage placings.
![Gavia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Gavia.jpg)
For the
points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...
, which awarded a purple (or
cyclamen
''Cyclamen'' ( or ) is a genus of 23 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. ''Cyclamen'' species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to the Caucasus and Iran, with one species in Somalia. They grow ...
) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the
mountains classification
The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...
leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The ''
Cima Coppi The ''Cima Coppi'' is the title given to the highest peak in the yearly running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The mountain that is given this title each year awards more mountains classification points to the first rider ...
'', the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.
''The Cima Coppi'' for this Giro was the
Passo di Gavia, but due to inclement weather, the stage containing the Gavia was cancelled. The white jersey was worn by the leader of
young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...
, a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but considering only neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).
The
intergiro classification was introduced as a means of making the race more interesting and its leader was denoted by a blue jersey.
The calculation for the intergiro is similar to that of the general classification, in each stage there is a midway point that the riders pass through a point and where their time is stopped.
As the race goes on, their times compiled and the person with the lowest time is the leader of the intergiro classification and wears the blue jersey.
The first three to cross the sprint line would receive five, three, and two second time bonuses towards the general classification.
Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time.
The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.
Final standings
General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Young rider classification
Intergiro classification
Combativity classification
Intermediate sprints classification
Final kilometer classification
Team classification
References
Citations
{{Giro d'Italia
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
Giro d'Italia, 1989
Giro d'Italia, 1989
Giro d'Italia
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