1987 Giro d’Italia

1987 Giro d'Italia

The 1987 Giro d’Italia was a cycling competition and the 70th edition of the race. It began on 21 May with a 4 km prologue in San Remo, and concluded on 13 June with a 32 km individual time trial in Saint-Vincent. A total of 180 riders from 20 teams entered the 22-stage, 3,915 km -long race, which was won by Irishman Stephen Roche of the Carrera Jeans–Vagabond team.

About 1987 Giro d’Italia in brief

Summary 1987 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1987 Giro d’Italia was a cycling competition and the 70th edition of the race. It began on 21 May with a 4 km prologue in San Remo, and concluded on 13 June with a 32 km individual time trial in Saint-Vincent. A total of 180 riders from 20 teams entered the 22-stage, 3,915 km -long race, which was won by Irishman Stephen Roche of the Carrera Jeans–Vagabond team. Second and third places were taken by British rider Robert Millar and Dutchman Erik Breukink, respectively. It was the second time in the history of the Giro that the podium was occupied solely by non-Italian riders. Reigning champion Roberto Visentini returned to the race in 1987 to defend his crown, despite not winning many races in his spring campaign. The average age of riders was 26. 52 years, ranging from 21–year–old Andreas Kappes from Toshiba–Look to 38–year-old Hennie Kuiper of Roland–Skala. The team with the youngest average rider age was Magniflex–Centroscarpa, while the oldest was Fagor–MBK. The starting peloton featured riders from 17 different countries. Of those starting, 74 were riding the GIRO d’ italia for the first time. The teams entering the race were: Panasonic–Isostar, Toshiba Look, and Robert Tosin-Mondar. The winner of the Tour de France was Greg LeMond, who did not participate in the race due to injuries sustained in a hunting accident due to a dark horse hunting accident.

The runner-up was Giuseppe Saronni, who was named as a contender for the overall classification by El Mundo Deportivo and La Stampa. Several other riders were expected to contend for the mountains classification, such as Giuseppi Saronini and Robert Millin-World champion Greg Moreno, but none of them finished in the top three. The overall winner was Stephen Roche, who became the second rider ever to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling – winning the Tour, Giro, and the World Championship road race in one calendar year – in 1987. The final winner was Roberto Conti of Selca–Conti, who finished fifteenth overall in the general classification, finishing fifteenth in the overall standings. The fifteenth stage of the1987 Giro has been recognized as an iconic event in the history of the race because Roche rode ahead of teammate Roberto Visentini, despite orders from the team management, and took the race lead. Roche successfully defended the overall lead until the event’s finish in Saint Vincent, where he was eventually overtaken by Erik Breukink. In addition to the general classification, Roche also won the combination classification, and Johan van der Velde of Gis Gelati–Jollyscarpe won the points classification.