I guess it was the 2001 Giro that I got to see. A stage that departed from Montecatini Terme a cool spa town northwest of Florence.
It was the year Julio Perez knocked out his teeth. Simoni won and did that stupid dye job on his head.. It was also the year of the big drug raid in San Remo that got Frigo kicked out and had riders jumping out of windows to escape the cops.
These photos were all from a disposable camera that I dragged around. I found the Liquigas and Mercantone Uno buses and gear trailers, but the pictures did not come out so sweet.
I remember emptying the camera on this corner as the race jumped off. If I remember quickly, I was out of film when Jan Ullrich rolled out-after all the team cars with a couple Telekom riders to bring him up to the race.
Wish I had a digital cam back then but here are some of the shots.
Lotto were riding GTs and from the looks of this team car most of the spare wheels were Paves? Unless they were on the ugly green michelins. Can't remember. Rik Verbrugghe killed the prologue this year and lotto was in pink for a minute.
Pantani was there(look hard, I am not a great photog. I think his spare bike is up front on the team car shot)
Mapei was riding for Garzelli this year.
Finally would it be a Giro without Saeco? This was they heyday of the Red Train and Super Mario!
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