page_title: History of the Giro d'Italia
section_title: 1997–2007: Italians resume conquest
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Giro d'Italia / 1997–2007: Italians resume conquest
caption_attribution_description: Lëtzebuergesch: De Marco Pantani 1997 zu Lëtzebuerg.
context_page_description: The Giro d'Italia is an annual stage race bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; however it is currently run by RCS Sport. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
  The first edition of the race was won by Italian Luigi Ganna who had the fewest total points at the end of the race; the same format was used for the next two years and also resulted in an Italian cyclist winning. The 1912 Giro saw the general classification contested by teams, which Atala-Dunlop won by ten points. The following year they reverted to the original system, before switching to the aggregate time model in 1914. Alfredo Binda won five editions of the race over a period of nine years, before Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi consistently asserted their superiority in the Giro d'Italia.
context_section_description: Pavel Tonkov returned to the Giro in 1997 with ambitions of repeating as winner. Tonkov first led the race after winning the stage three time trial and up until the fourteenth stage's conclusion. During the fourteenth stage, Italian Ivan Gotti attacked and soloed his way to take the stage win in Breuil-Cervinia and the race lead. Gotti extended his lead after performing well in the mountainous nineteenth stage and went on to win the Giro three days later. Swiss rider Alex Zülle was the first rider to lead the 1998 Giro d'Italia and he led for the most part of the race. Zülle was leading the race as it entered the Dolomites. Italians Giuseppe Guerini and Marco Pantani were at the head of the race during the race's mountainous seventeenth stage; the two riders worked together to get to the stage finish in Selva di Val Gardena. Guerini won the stage while Pantani took the overall lead. Pantani went on to win the Giro and subsequently the 1998 Tour de France, thus completing the rare feat of winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same calendar year.
  Pantani returned to the Giro in 1999 while in peak physical form. Pantani gained the lead after the race's fourteenth stage and as the race hit the high mountains, he extended his lead with three stage wins. On the morning of the twentieth stage, Pantani was dismissed from the Giro after having hematocrit levels above 50%. 1997 victor Ivan Gotti, who was second place at the time, subsequently took the lead and wound up winning the Giro for the second time in his career. Francesco Casagrande took the lead in the 2000 Giro d'Italia after a long solo attack during the race's ninth stage. Fatigue set in with Casagrande as the race wore on and on the penultimate stage he lost the lead, and ultimately the Giro, to Stefano Garzelli.
  Dario Frigo took the lead in the 2001 Giro d'Italia after the race's fourth stage. Frigo defended the lead until the thirteenth stage, when the race went over some major passes in the Dolomites. During the thirteenth stage, Gilberto Simoni attacked and his labor bore fruits as he took the race leader's maglia rosa when the stage was over. Frigo gained some time back in the stage fifteen time trial, but it wasn't enough to overcome Simoni's lead. Simoni went on to win the Giro d'Italia by a wide margin after Frigo's withdrawal. Stefano Garzelli took the early lead after winning the 2002 Giro d'Italia's second stage, but soon tested positive for probenecid – a banned substance – and was forced to leave the Giro. In the final major mountain stage of the race, stage seventeen, Paolo Savoldelli attacked with around nine kilometers to go in the stage and managed to take the lead and go on to win the Giro.
  Alessandro Petacchi was the first rider to lead the 2003 Giro d'Italia after winning the opening stage. Petacchi lost the lead to Stefano Garzelli after he won the stage seven summit finish on the Monte Terminillo. Garzelli then lost the lead to Gilberto Simoni after the tenth stage. Simoni went on to win the Giro after expanding his lead through stage wins on the Monte Zoncolan and the Alpe di Pampeago The 2004 Giro d'Italia saw a battle between Damiano Cunego, Serhiy Honchar, and Gilberto Simoni. Simoni gained the lead after the third stage and held it to the seventh stage where he lost it to Cunego. Cunego held the lead until the lengthy stage twelve individual time trial when Yaroslav Popovych took the lead. Cunego regained the lead after the sixteenth stage and went on to win the race, while fellow Italian Alessandro Petacchi won nine out of the 21 stages.
  The 2005 Giro d'Italia saw the race lead change hands multiple times within the first week of racing. Ivan Basso gained the lead after the eleventh stage, which finished in Zoldo Alto. Two days later, Paolo Savoldelli gained the lead after the thirteenth stage that finish in Urtijëi. Savoldelli went on to win his second Giro d'Italia while fending off the attacks of Gilberto Simoni and José Rujano. Ivan Basso won the 2006 Giro d'Italia in a convincing fashion. Basso gained the lead after w
caption: Marco Pantani completed the Giro-Tour double in 1998.
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