Stefano Garzelli remembers Briançon

"It will be a beautiful Giro," confirmed 2000 Giro d'Italia winner Stefano Garzelli. "It is not very hard, and it will be open. The Zoncolan will be spectacular."

The bald-headed climber, who was one of the selected few to sit on stage during the unveiling of the 2007 parcours, had a pleasant flash-back when the organizers showed stage 12, from Scalenghe to Briançon. The route will be almost identical to stage 19 in 2000, when Marco Pantani helped his teammate Garzelli advance towards the overall win.

"It gave me goose bumps to remember that incredible day," said Garzelli to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "It was the rhythm of Pantani up front, after a year of torment. That Giro I won thanks to Marco because he made himself available to help me."