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2000 Results    Start list    Past winners

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By Jeff Jones

Last year's winner, Raimondas Rumsas
Photo: © AFP

This 97 year old autumn classic is the last race of the season on the Italian calendar, also serving as the 10th and final round of the UCI World Cup. That competition has been all but won by Erik Dekker (Rabobank), although if Latvian sprinter Romans Vainsteins (Domo) wins the Giro di Lombardia and Dekker finishes outside the top 15, then Vainsteins will be the World Cup Champion for 2001. That's unlikely, given that the 258 kilometre Giro di Lombardia is far more suited to Dekker's abilities than Vainsteins'...but anything could happen, and Vainsteins does have the pedigree of being a former World Champion.

It is one of the hillier classics, including the climbs of Madonna del Ghisallo (754 m, km 72) and the Selvino (962 m, km 195.8). The latter is 12 kilometres at 5.4% - not a terrible gradient, but much depends on how fast it is raced. The final 30 kilometres are punctuated by the Berbenno (665 m) and the Largo Colle Aperto (375 m), that greets the riders with just 4 kilometres to go. It's often this climb that will cause the final selection, and mass sprint finishes have been non-existent for the past five years (at least) of this race.

Last year it was the unlucky Swede, Nicklas Axelsson (Panaria) who made what looked like the winning move with 30 km to go. He held off the chasing group, containing the likes of Casagrande, Rumsas, Bartoli, Rebellin and Beat Zberg, until 300 metres to go when he was caught by Rumsas and Casagrande, who sprinted round him to take first and second respectively. Behind, Axelsson slammed his bars in frustration as he came third with a rear flat, which he got on the pavé section in the Citta Alta with 4 km to go...

This year Axelsson may figure again, trying to salvage the last part of his season by riding for the Alessio team, after he left the cash-strapped Mercury outfit over a month ago. There are other riders with similar ambitions, as there are a lot of UCI points to be had from a World Cup. Mirko Celestino (Saeco, winner in 1999) and Niki Aebersold (Team Coast) both showed good form in Wednesday's Milano-Torino race, while 1996 winner Andrea Tafi (Mapei) is on the hunt for a big win after spending most of the season out due to injury.

Recently crowned World Champion, Oscar Freire (Mapei) will ride the Giro di Lombardia and can be counted as one of the favourites - he is mentally fresh and can often get it right in a big one day race. His Mapei teammate Paolo Bettini is also a strong candidate, after finishing second to Oscar in the World's road race. It is impossible to rule out World Cup leader Erik Dekker, who if sufficiently motivated, could easily take his second World Cup win of the season.

Others to watch include Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Danilo di Luca (Cantina Tollo), who both showed some form during the World's, ostensibly while working for others.

Team List

Rabobank                               Alessio
 
1 Erik Dekker (Ned)                    9 Nicklas Axelsson (Swe)
2 Michael Boogerd (Ned)                10 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita)
3 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned)             11 Ivan Gotti (Ita)
4 Karsten Kroon (Ned)                  12 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita)
5 Geert Verheyen (Bel)                 13 Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
6 Marc Lotz (Ned)                      14 Alexandre Shefer (Kaz)
7 Marc Wauters (Bel)                   15 Paolo Valoti (Ita)
8 Beat Zberg (Swi)                     16 Aleksandar Nikacevic (Yug)
 
Alexia Alluminio                       Cantina Tollo - Acqua&Sapone
 
17 Dario Andriotto (Ita)               25 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
18 Giacomo Battistel (Ita)             26 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita)
19 Alessandro Guerra (Ita)             27 Massimo Giunti (Ita)
20 Antonio Salomone (Ita)              28 Roberto Conti (Ita)
21 Corrado Serina (Ita)                29 Simone Masciarelli (Ita)
22 Daniele Righi (Ita)                 30 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr)
23 Gianluca Valoti (Ita)               31 Filippo Simeoni (Ita)
24 Mauro Zinetti (Ita)                 32 Guido Trenti (USA)
 
Ceramiche Panaria - Fiordo             Cofidis
 
33 Giuliano Figueras (Ita)             41 Médéric Clain (Fra)
34 Vladimir Duma (Ukr)                 42 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz)
35 Thomas Leaper (Aus)                 43 Peter Farazijn (Bel)
36                                     44 Claude Lamour (Fra)
37 Paolo Bertoglio (Ita)               45
38 Domenico Romano (Ita)               46 Chris Peers (Bel)
39 Filippo Perfetto (Ita)              47 J. Michel Tessier (Fra)
40 Stefano Guerrini (Ita)              48 Guido Trentin (Ita)
 
CSC - Tiscali                          Domo - Farm Frites
 
49 Michael Blaudzun (Den)              57 Dave Bruylandts (Bel)
50 Marcellino Garcia Alonso (Spa)      58 Enrico Cassani (Ita)
51 Danny Jonasson (Den)                59 Steven Klejnen (Bel)
52 René Joergensen (Den)               60 Romans Vainsteins (Lat)
53 Michael Rasmussen (Den)             61 Richard Virenque (Fra)
54 Bjarke Nielsen (Den)                62 Axel Merckx (Bel)
55 Nicki Sorensen (Den)                63 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)
56 Rolf Sorensen (Den)                 64 Tomas Konecny (Cze)
 
Fassa Bortolo
                                       iBanesto.com
65 Michele Bartoli (Ita)
66 Ivan Basso (Ita)                    73 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol)
67 Wladimir Belli (Ita)                74 Santiago Blanco Gil (Spa)
68 Francesco Casagrande (Ita)          75 José Vincente Garcia Acosta (Spa)
69 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus)               76 Eladio Jimenez Sanchez (Spa)
70 Luca Mazzanti (Ita)                 77 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa)
71 Oscar Pozzi (Ita)                   78 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa)
72 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)                79 Aitor Osa Eizaguirre (Spa)
                                       80 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa)
 
Lampre - Daikin                        Liquigas - Pata
 
81 Gilberto Simoni (Ita)               89 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
82 Simone Bertoletti (Ita)             90 Gianni Faresin (Ita)
83 Massimo Codol (Ita)                 91 Ramon Bianchi (Ita)
84 Marco Pinotti (Ita)                 92 Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita)
85 Mariano Piccoli (Ita)               93 Cristiano Frattini (Ita)
86 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr)           94 Marco Zanotti (Ita)
87 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat)           95 Fausto Dotti (Ita)
88 Marco Serpellini (Ita)              96 Stefano Cattai (Ita)
 
Lotto - Adecco                         Mapei - Quick Step
 
97 Mario Aerts (Bel)                   105 Luca Paolini (Ita)
98 Serge Baguet (Bel)                  106 Paolo Bettini (Ita)
99 Christophe Brandt (Bel)             107 Dario David Cioni (Ita)
100 Glenn D'hollander (Bel)            108 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa)
101 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus)           109 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita)
102 Andrei Tchmil (Bel)                110 Daniele Nardello (Ita)
103 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel)           111 Luca Scinto (Ita)
104 Kurt Van Lancker (Bel)             112 Andrea Tafi (Ita)
 
Mercatone Uno                          Mobilvetta Des.- Formaggi Trentini
 
113 Daniele De Paoli (Ita)             121 Devis Miorin (Ita)
114 Massimo Cigana (Ita)               122 Alberto Ongarato (Ita)
115 Roberto Savoldi (Ita)              123 Sergei Lelekin (Rus)
116                                    124 Uros Murn (Slo)
117 Luca De Angeli (Ita)               125 Guido Trombetta (Ita)
118 Maurizio Caravaggio (Ita)          126 Michele Gobbi (Ita)
119 Gian Mario Ortenzi (Ita)           127 Massimo Strazzer (Ita)
120 Giuseppe Di Fresco (Ita)           128 Milan Kadlec (Cze)
 
O.N.C.E. - Eroski                      Saeco Macchine Per Caffe'
 
129 Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (Spa)     137 Mirko Celestino (Ita)
130 Rafael Diaz Justo (Spa)            138 Alessio Galletti (Ita)
131 David Arroyo Duran (Spa)           139 Jorg Ludewig (Ger)
132 Jorg Jaksche (Ger)                 140 Cadel Evans (Aus)
133 Isidro Nozal Vega (Spa)            141 Massimiliano Mori (Ita)
134 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) 142 Igor Pugaci (Mda)
135 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa)            143 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu)
136 Jan Hruska (Cze)                   144 Fabio Sacchi (Ita)
 
Selle Italia - Pacific                 Tacconi Sport - Vini Caldirola
 
145 Fredy Gonzalez Martinez (Col)      153 Massimo Donati (Ita)
146                                    154 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita)
147 Fortunato Baliani (Ita)            155 Diego Ferrari (Ita)
148 Gianluca Tonetti (Ita)             156 Peter Luttenberger (Aut)
149 Dimitri Pavi Degl'innocenti (Ita)  157 Andrej Hauptman (Slo)
150 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita)           158 Mauro Gerosa (Ita)
151 Mykhaylo Khalilov (Ukr)            159 Mauro Radaelli (Ita)
152 Csaba Szekeres (Hun)               160 Gianluca Sironi (Ita)
 
Team Coast                             Team Colpack - Astro
 
161 Niki Aebersold (Swi)               169 Fabio Bulgarelli (Ita)
162 Aitor Garmendia Arbilla (Spa)      170 Matteo Carrara (Ita)
163 Mauro Gianetti (Swi)               171 Michele Colleoni (Ita)
164 Rolf Huser (Swi)                   172 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita)
165 Fernando Escartin (Spa)            173 Denis Lunghi (Ita)
166 Raphael Schweda (Ger)              174 Renzo Mazzoleni (Ita)
167 Anton Chantyr (Rus)                175 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn)
168 Thorsten Rund (Ger)
 
Team Deutsche Telekom
 
177 Rolf Aldag (Ger)
178 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)
179 Andrei Mizourov (Kaz)
180
181 Matthias Kessler (Ger)
182 Andreas Klier (Ger)
183 Stephan Schreck (Ger)

Past Winners

2000

 1. Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Fassa Bortolo   258 kms (40.892 km/h)
 2. Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Sidermec
 3. Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Ceramica Panaria-Gaerne

1999 

 1. Mirko Celestino (Ita) Polti            262 kms (41.17 km/h)
 2. Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Cantina Tollo
 3. Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco  

1998

 1. Oscar Camenzind (Swi)                  253 kms (42.282 km/h)
 2. Michael Boogerd (Ned)
 3. Felice Puttini (Swi)

1997

 1. Laurent Jalabert (Fra)                 250 kms (43.013 km/h)
 2. Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita)
 3. Francesco Casagrande (Ita)

1996

 1. Andrea Tafi (Ita)                      250 kms (42.642 km/h)
 2. Fabian Jeker (Swi)
 3. Axel Merckx (Bel)

1995

 1. Gianni Faresin (Ita)                   252 kms (42.116 km/h)
 2. Daniele Nardello (Ita)
 3. Michele Bartoli (Ita)

1994

 1. Vladislav Bobrik (Rus)                 244 kms (34.378 km/h)
 2. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita)
 3. Pascal Richard (Swi)

1993

 1. Pascal Richard (Swi)                   242 kms (39.821 km/h)
 2. Giorgio Furlan (Ita)
 3. Max Sciandri (Ita)

1992

 1. Tony Rominger (Swi)                    241 kms (39.311 km/h)
 2. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita)
 3. David Cassani (Ita)

1991

 1. Sean Kelly (Ire)                       242 kms (39.176 km/h)
 2. Martial Gayant (Fra)
 3. Franco Ballerini (Ita)

1990

 1. Gilles Delion (Fra)                    246 kms (39.704 km/h)
 2. Pascal Richard (Swi)
 3. Charly Mottet (Fra)

1989

 1. Tony Rominger (Swi)                    260 kms (38.368 km/h)
 2. Gilles Delion (Fra)
 3. Luc Roosen (Bel)

1988

 1. Charly Mottet (Fra)                    260 kms (38.134 km/h)
 2. Gianni Bugno (Ita)
 3. Marino Lejaretta (Spa)

1987

 1. Moreno Argentin (Ita)                  265 kms (38.576 km/h)
 2. Eric Van Lancker (Bel)
 3. Marc Madiot (Fra)

1986

 1. G.B. Baronchelli (Ita)                 262 kms (37.329 km/h)
 2. Sean Kelly (Ire)
 3. Phil Anderson (Aus)

1985

 1. Sean Kelly (Ire)                       255 kms (41.208 km/h)
 2. Adri Van Der Poel (Ned)
 3. Charly Mottet (Fra)

1984

 1. Bernard Hinault (Fra)                  251 kms (40.831 km/h)
 2. Ludo Peeters (Bel)
 3. Tuen Van Vliet (Ned)

1983

 1. Sean Kelly (Ire)                       253 kms (39.164 km/h)
 2. Greg Lemond (USA)
 3. Adri Van Der Poel (Ned)

1982

 1. Giuseppe Saronni (Ita)                 248 kms (40.754 km/h)
 2. Pascal Jules (Fra)
 3. Francesco Moser (Ita)

1981

 1. Hennie Kuiper (Ned)                    259 kms (39.642 km/h)
 2. Moreno Argentin (Ita)
 3. Alfredo Chinetti (Ita)

1980

 1. Alfons de Wolf (Bel)                   255 kms (35.747 km/h)
 2. Alfredo Chinetti (Ita)
 3. Ludo Peeters (Bel)

1979 Bernard Hinault (Fra)
1978 Francesco Moser (Ita)
1977 G.B. Baronchelli (Ita)
1976 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1975 Francesco Moser (Ita)
1974 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1973 Felice Gimondi (Ita)
1972 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1971 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1970 Franco Bitossi (Ita)
1969 Jean-Pierre Monseré (Bel)
1968 Herman Van Springel (Bel)
1967 Franco Bitossi (Ita)
1966 Felice Gimondi (Ita)
1965 Tom Simpson (GB)
1964 Gianni Motta (Ita)
1963 Jo De Roo (Ned)
1962 Jo De Roo (Ned)
1961 Vito Taccone (Ita)
1960 Emile Daems (Bel)
1959 Rik Van Looy (Bel)
1958 Nino Defilippis (Ita)
1957 Diego Ronchini (Ita)
1956 André Darrigade (Fra)
1955 Cleto Maule (Ita)
1954 Fausto Coppi (Ita)
1953 Bruno Landi (Ita)
1952 Giuseppe Minardi (Ita)
1951 Louison Bobet (Fra)
1950 Renzo Soldani (Ita)
1949 Fausto Coppi (Ita)
1948 Fausto Coppi (Ita)
1947 Fausto Coppi (Ita)
1946 Fausto Coppi (Ita)
1945 Mario Ricci (Ita)
1942 Aldo Bini (Ita)
1941 Mario Ricci (Ita)
1940 Gino Bartali (Ita)
1939 Gino Bartali (Ita)
1938 Cino Cinelli (Ita)
1937 Aldo Bini (Ita)
1936 Gino Bartali (Ita)
1935 Enrico Mollo (Ita)
1934 Learco Guerra (Ita)
1933 Domenico Piemontesi (Ita)
1932 Antonio Negrini (Ita)
1931 Alfredo Binda (Ita)
1930 Michele Mara (Ita)
1929 Piero Fossati (Ita)
1928 Gaetano Belloni (Ita)
1927 Alfredo Binda (Ita)
1926 Alfredo Binda (Ita)
1925 Alfredo Binda (Ita)
1924 Giovanni Brunero (Ita)
1923 Giovanni Brunero (Ita)
1922 Costante Girardengo (Ita)
1921 Costante Girardengo (Ita)
1920 Henri Pelissier (Fra)
1919 Costante Girardengo (Ita)
1918 Gaetano Belloni (Ita)
1917 Philippe Thijs (Bel)
1916 Leopodo Torricelli (Ita)
1915 Gaetano Belloni (Ita)
1914 Lauro Bordin (Ita)
1913 Henri Pelissier (Fra)
1912 Carlo Oriani (Ita)
1911 Henri Pelissier (Fra)
1910 Giovanni Micheletto (Ita)
1909 Giovanni Cuniolo (Ita)
1908 Francois Faber (Lux)
1907 Gustave Garrigou (Fra)
1906 Giuseppe Brambilla (Ita)
1905 Giovanni Gerbi (Ita)

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