2005 Giro D'Italia

The 2005 Giro d'Italia was the 88th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Reggio Calabria with a 1.15 km (0.7 mi) prologue. The race came to a close with a 119 km (73.9 mi) road stage that stretched from Albese con Cassano to Milan. Twenty two teams entered the race that was won by the Italian Paolo Savoldelli of the Discovery Channel. Second and third were the Italian Gilberto Simoni and Venezuelan José Rujano.

Savoldelli gained the lead of the race after the Giro's thirteenth stage. Before Savoldelli gained the lead, there were five riders who led the race over eight occasions. The Giro was first led by Australian Brett Lancaster, who won the race's opening prologue. He lost the lead the next day to Paolo Bettini, who gained the race lead three separate times before Savoldelli took over. Ivan Basso was the leader of the race for two days, before he lost the lead to Savoldelli.

With Paolo Savoldelli's general classification victories in 2005 and in 2002, Savoldelli became the nineteenth repeat winner of the Giro d'Italia. Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Paolo Bettini of Quick Step-Innergetic won the points classification and Selle Italia Colombia's José Rujano won the mountains classification. Liquigas-Bianchi finished as the winners of the team classification, ranking each of the twenty teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time. The other team classification, the Trofeo Super Team classification, was won by Davitamon-Lotto.

Read more about 2005 Giro D'Italia:  Teams, Route and Stages, Race Overview, Classification Leadership, Final Standings