Being the second stage after the last rest day and already the last mountain top finish, only 142 kms in length and without any big difficulty on the route, there were perfect conditions for a very fast ascent of the terrifying, Monte Zoncolan. It was the very first time it was used from the Ovaro side. One of the most difficult climbs of the cycling world makes its appearance. "La porta per l'inferno" is opened to the riders.
Liquigas, the team of the maglia rosa, Danilo Di Luca rode the first few kilometers at the front, shredding the peloton to pieces. But the race really exploded when Gibo put one of his crazy brutal attacks. With six kms to go, the inevitable has happened. The great fighter, Il Killer di Spoltore, has been dropped. In the front of the ridiculous steep ramps, only three survived: Simoni, his teammate Piepoli and Andy Schleck. 200 meters to the finish line, "Il trullo volante" Piepoli started the turbo with Gibo on his wheel. The youngster Luxembourgish couldn't follow. The rest is history. 1-2 for Saunier Duval and a very solid record ascent.
Monte Zoncolan 2007:9,8 km@12,2%---39:03---average speed 15.06 km/h(Simoni-Piepoli)-RECORD
When cycling fans think about the greatest and the most spectacular performances of Il Pirata, Oropa '99 usually comes to mind in the top 3, if not the first. The first event which brought that day straight into cycling's history books happened before hitting the difficult part of the climb, with 10 km remaining. The maglia rosa, Pantani, alone, working at his bike at the side of the road is showed from the helicopter. "Salto di catena!". This is the reason according to the quite nervous Italian commentators. Indeed, apparently the chain blocked when Marco tried to change gears.
30 seconds are lost, not quite the scenario Mercatone Uno envisaged for this day. Soon after, Pantani's guard stopped and waited for him. Garzelli, Podenzana, Borgheresi, Zaina and Velo, in this exact order, managed to deliver their leader to the back of the front group after an extremely furious chase. None of the Giro rivals waited for Pantani though, at the front of the race it was full-gas, no looking back. Micelli, Gotti, Heras and Jalabert upped the pace to a very high speed. But Pantani went even faster, much faster. With 3 kilometers remaining to the top, he flies past all of them. Something unseen.
Passing over the finish line, Marco doesn't celebrate, not wanting to made a fool of himself. He was afraid that someone remained up front and took the win. There was no one. He caught and dropped all of them, one by one. 49 riders, according to some sources. The performance remains known as "la rimonta del secolo"(the comeback of the century). Just like in most of the cases with Il Pirata attacking, he set the all-time record of the ascent of Santuario di Oropa. Just a little more than 17 minutes, 17 minutes of emozioni and spettacolo. Grazie Pirata!
Santuario di Oropa 1999:6,7 km@8%---17:04---average speed 23.55 km/h(Marco Pantani)-RECORD
