The 1995 Giro d'Italia took place in May and June 1995. It was the 78th edition of the event. The Giro began on 13 May with a stage that began in Perugia and ended Terni. The race came to a close on 4 June with a stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. The race was won by the Swiss Tony Rominger of the team. Second and third were the Russian rider Evgeni Berzin and Latvian rider Piotr Ugrumov.
Mario Cipollini won the event's first leg in a bunch sprint, allowing him to be the first rider to don the race leader's maglia rosa (). The following stage was an individual time trial that was won by Rominger, who also gained enough time on Cipollini to take the race lead. Rominger built upon his lead by winning the remaining two time trial stages, along with the hilly stage 4, and retained the lead for the duration of the race. By winning the Giro he became the third Swiss rider to win the event.
In addition to the general classification, Tony Rominger also won the points and intergiro classifications. rider Mariano Piccoli won the mountains classification. finished as the winners of the team classification. The team points classification, a system in which the teams' riders are awarded points for placing within the top twenty in each stage and the points are then totaled for each team, was also won by Gewiss–Ballan.
Teams
A total of 22 teams were invited to participate in the 1995 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 198 cyclists. Italy had the most riders participating with 85, while only Spain (28) and France (15) were represented by more than 10 riders. Of these, 81 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 27.76 years, ranging from 19–year–old Sandro Giacomelli () to 35–year–old Giancarlo Perini (). The team with the youngest average rider age was (25), while the oldest was (29). Of the riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 122 riders made it to the finish in Milan.
The teams entering the race were:
Ceramiche Refin–Cantina Tollo
Sicasal–Acral
ZG Mobili–Selle Italia
Pre-race favorites
The starting peloton included Evgeni Berzin, the 1994 winner. Berzin's team, , also brought Latvian Piotr Ugrumov, a two-time Grand Tour runner-up. The two riders had developed a mutual distaste for each other. El País writers Paolo Viberti and Carlos Arribas believed that Swiss rider Tony Rominger and Latvian Piotr Ugrumov were the favorites to win the race, while several named Rominger as the sole favorite. Author Bill McGann believed that Rominger and Berzin were in great form coming into the race. Specifically, Rominger returned to the Giro after a six-year absence and, more recently, coming off of a victory at the Tour de Romandie. Urgumov was seen as the primary challenger for Rominger for his performances at previous Giros and his knack for showing great form in the final week after remaining quiet in the first two weeks. Aside from Rominger and Berzin, El Punt'''s Luis Simon named 1988 winner Andrew Hampsten, Russian Pavel Tonkov, and Claudio Chiappucci amongst several other riders that could challenge for the overall title.
Italian Marco Pantani was seen by some to be a contender for to win the race. However, Pantani crashed during a training ride on 1 May and did not recover in time to participate. Two-time winner Miguel Induráin chose not to enter the race in favor of preparing for the Tour de France. Instead, Indurain rode the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Twelve of the UCI Road World Cup top 20 ranked cyclists did not compete in the Giro d'Italia.
Route and stages
The route for the 1995 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 12 November 1994 in Milan. It contained three time trial events, all of which were individual. There were thirteen stages containing high mountains, of which five had summit finishes: stage 8, to Massiccio del Sirino; stage 11, to Il Ciocco; stage 14, to Schnals; stage 15, to Lenzerheide; and stage 20, to Gressoney-Saint-Jean. The organizers chose to include one rest day. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was longer, contained one more rest day, and the same number of stages. The nineteenth stage was regarded as the queen stage as it featured the climbs of the Col Agnel, Col d'Izoard, and Colle di Sampeyre.
The race route began in Perugia and traveled throughout the southern half of Italy for the first ten stages. After the stage 10 individual time trial, the riders were transferred to Tuscany by airplane, where the race remained in the northern half of the country and proceeded to cross into the higher and tougher mountains. There were a total of three stages that started outside Italy. Stage 15 ended in the Swiss city Lenzerheide and served as the start for the race's sixteenth stage. The mountainous twentieth stage began in the French city of Briançon.
The nineteenth stage was originally planned to stretch from Mondovì to Briançon over . The stage finish was moved to part way up the ascent of the Col Agnel, due to avalanches. The stage finished in Pontechianale where the day's intermediate sprint had been planned after of racing. The avalanche trapped several fans that had gotten their earlier, along with their cars. Ten spectators were injured and two were taken to the hospital.
Chiappucci believed that the descents of the mountains included in the race were very difficult. An El País writer found the route to be more mountainous than in years past. In addition, the writer mentioned that the increase in mountains within the route coupled with the reduced number of time trial kilometers, including the lack of a prologue, favored Marco Pantani. Three-time winner Gino Bartali believed that the route for the Giro was harder than the same year's Tour de France course.
+Stage characteristics and resultsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner113 MayPerugia to Terni Stage with mountain(s)214 MayFoligno to Assisi Individual time trial315 MaySpoleto to Marotta Plain stage416 MayMondolfo to Loreto Stage with mountain(s)517 MayPorto Recanati to Tortoreto Stage with mountain(s)618 MayTrani to Taranto Plain stage719 MayTaranto to Terme Luigiane Stage with mountain(s)820 MayAcquappesa to Massiccio del Sirino Stage with mountain(s)921 MayTerme La Calda to Salerno Plain stage1022 MayTelese Terme to Maddaloni Individual time trial23 May Rest day1124 MayPietrasanta to Il Ciocco Stage with mountain(s)1225 MayBorgo a Mozzano to Cento Plain stage1326 MayPieve di Cento to Rovereto Stage with mountain(s)1427 MayTrento to Schnals Stage with mountain(s)1528 MaySchnals to Lenzerheide (Switzerland) Stage with mountain(s)1629 MayLenzerheide (Switzerland) to Treviglio Stage with mountain(s)1730 MayCenate Sotto to Selvino Individual time trial1831 MayStradella to Sanctuary of Vicoforte Plain stage191 JuneMondovì to Pontechianale Stage with mountain(s)202 JuneBriançon (France) to Gressoney-Saint-Jean Stage with mountain(s)213 JunePont-Saint-Martin to Luino Stage with mountain(s)224 JuneLuino to Milan Plain stage Total
Race overview
Mario Cipollini won the race's opening stage by several bike lengths to don the race's first maglia rosa (). Cipollini lost the lead to Tony Rominger following the stage 2 individual time trial that was contested in rainy conditions. Rominger was able to gain almost a minute on each of the main general classification contenders including Piotr Ugrumov and Evgeni Berzin. The third stage was Cipollini's second stage victory as he won the bunch sprint. The fourth stage was contested on a set circuit that was covered four times. The day's breakaway managed to get a maximum of 14' 25" before gradually being pulled in. Claudio Chiappucci attacked on the final lap but was pulled back in by the chasing peloton. Ugrumov, Berzin, and Berzin's teammate Vladislav Bobrik then attacked and managed to form a gap. Rominger chased after and caught the riders, then passed them and went on to win the stage.
The event's fifth leg saw a breakaway succeed; the group began with five riders and was reduced to three riders – Erik Breukink, Filippo Casagrande, and Rolf Sørensen – before the finish. Casagrande won the three-man sprint to the line to take the day. The sixth stage resulted in a field sprint that was won by Nicola Minali. The seventh stage featured an undulating stage profile, with a slight uphill finish. On the race's final incline, Rominger attacked but his move was marked by several general classification contenders. Maurizio Fondriest managed to edge out Rominger in a dash for the line which saw him gain four seconds on Rominger due to time bonuses. The eighth stage featured the first summit finish of the race, to Massiccio del Sirino. The day's breakaway was established early on in the day and managed to reach the final climb before the pursuing peloton. Stage winner Laudelino Cubino attacked with eight kilometers to go and rode solo until the finish; the time he gained during the stage allowed him to move into third overall.
The ninth day of racing resulted in a bunch sprint that was won by Sørensen. The next stage of the race was a forty-two kilometer individual time trial. Race leader Rominger won the leg by one minute and twenty-four seconds and increased his overall lead to three minutes over Casagrande, who was in second place overall. Enrico Zaina and Nelson Rodríguez Serna were the first two riders to reach the stage's final climb of Il Cioccio and the two stayed out in front until the finish which saw Zaina win the race to the line. With four kilometers left in the stage, Ugrumov and Berzin attempted to crack Rominger by attacking him repeatedly. After several attacks where the riders moves were marked, the riders agreed to ride to the finish together. The twelfth stage of the race saw the peloton arrive at the finish together ready for a bunch sprint. Cipollini originally won the stage but was relegated to last place on the stage after having been found to have leaned on Mario Manzoni during the dash to the line. Ján Svorada, who had come in second, was then made the stage winner.
The thirteenth stage saw the race begin to enter the smaller mountains within the Dolomites. The day's breakaway formed on the climb of San Valentino. As the riders approached the finish, Pascal Richard edged Oliverio Rincón for the stage victory. The following stage featured a summit finish to Val Senales after a twenty kilometer climb. With eight kilometers to go, Berzin, Rominger, Ugrumov, and Rincón were in the leading group together. Rincón attacked and was allowed to ride solo to victory. Ugrumov attacked shortly after and Rominger was only able to follow initially; however, Berzin was able to merge back with the two riders and the trio then rode to the finish together. Casagrande lost a large amount of time during the stage. Mariano Piccoli won the fifteenth leg after being a part of the day's breakaway that managed to survive until the finish. On the descent of the second to last climb, Berzin attacked in an attempt to join the breakaway. Berzin was caught before the start of the stage's final mountain pass. Ugrumov and Berzin repeatedly attacked Rominger on the final climb, but Rominger was able to neutralize each attack.