1994 Giro D'Italia - Race Overview

Race Overview

This edition of the Giro began with a split stage, with the morning stage consisting of a 86 km (53 mi) flat stage and the afternoon stage being a 7 km (4 mi) flat individual time trial. Italian Endrio Leoni won the morning stage by means of a sprint finish where the speeds were so high the peloton split in the final kilometer. Armand de Las Cuevas won the afternoon time trial by two seconds over Evgeni Berzin and in the process took the overall lead away from Leoni. Stage two featured an uphill finish into the city of Osimo. Moreno Argentin attacked close to the line and was able to distance himself from the rest of the peloton and win the stage, while also taking the lead of the race. Stage 3 winner Gianni Bugno failed several times during the stage to get away from the peloton. His efforts proved successful when he broke away from the peloton on the climb into Loreto Aprutino and managed to win the stage.

Stage 4 featured the race's first summit finish, with a final climb to the top of Campitello Matese. While on the climb, Evgeni Berzin attacked and made his way up to the top in first place. Due to his efforts, Berzin gained the overall lead of the race. The next two stages, 5 and 6, both came down to sprint finishes that were won by Endrio Leoni and Marco Saligari, respectively. The race's seventh stage saw the Spaniard Laudelino Cubino outsprint his fellow breakaway members for the stage victory. Stage 8 was a 44 km (27 mi) individual time trial that stretched from Grosseto to Follonica. The race leader Evgeni Berzin dominated the time trial as he won the stage by over a minute than the second place finisher, which also allowed him to extend his lead in the general classification further.

The next three stages of the race were all primarily flat, had no real impact on the overall standings, and all came down to a bunch sprint. Ján Svorada won stage nine and then stage eleven after dodging a crash not that marred the stage's finish. Djamolidine Abdoujaparov out-sprinted the rest of the field to win the race's tenth stage. The Giro's twelfth stage featured a few categorized climbs as the race made its way into Slovenia for the stage's finish in Kranj. Despite the climbs, the stage came down to a field sprint that was won by Andrea Ferrigato. Italian Michele Bartoli won the race's undulating thirteenth stage by being a part of the stage's initial breakaway and then attacking later on and soloing to the stage's conclusion in Lienz, Austria.

As the Giro left Austria, the race began to enter the Dolomites during stage fourteen. The eventual stage winner Marco Pantani was in a chasing group on the final climb of the stage, the Passo di Monte Giovo. He attacked, bridged the gap to the leading group, and left them in the dust to claim his first professional victory of his career. The next stage saw Pantani win again after he left the attack group in the dust on the last climb of the Valico di Santa Cristina and he then soloed to the finish in Stradella. Pantani's efforts on the day moved him up to second overall in the race. The race's sixteenth stage took a break from the mountains with the stage being primarily fled, which ultimately led to the sprint finish that was won by Italian Maximilian Sciandri. Ján Svorada won the next day's stage after attacking from the breakaway group in the closing seconds.

The Giro's eighteenth stage was a 35 km (22 mi) individual time trial that stretched from Chiavari to the summit finish on the Passo del Bocco. The race leader Evgeni Berzin won the stage by twenty seconds over Miguel Indurain. Stage 19 saw the day of racing come down to a sprint finish that was won by Massimo Ghirotto. The twentieth stage saw the Giro race through the Alps and up to the summit of Les Deux Alpes for the stage finish. The lead group up Les Deux Alpes contained the likes of Evgeni Berzin, Marco Pantani, and Miguel Indurain who had attacked each other multiple times but to no avail. The trio was later joined by Vladimir Poulnikov and Nelson Rodriguez who both eventually left them to go on for the stage win. Poulkinov edged out Rodriguez to the stage win atop the mountain. The penultimate stage of the Giro saw a summit finish atop the Sestriere. The stage saw snow and chilling temperatures which led to the general classification contenders sticking together, while Pascal Richard went on to win the summit finish and solidify his lead atop the mountains classification. The Giro's final stage came down to a sprint finish that was won by Stefano Zanini as Evgeni Berzin won the Giro d'Italia.

Success in stages was limited to eleven of the competing teams, six of which achieved multiple stage victories, while four individual riders won multiple stages. The riders that won more than once were Endrio Leoni in stages 1a and 5, Evgeni Berzin in stages 4, 8, and 18, Ján Svorada in stages 9, 11, and 17, and Marco Pantani in stages 14 and 15. Jolly Componibili-Cage won two stages with Leoni. Gewiss-Ballan won multiple stages, with Moreno Argentin in stage 2 and three stages with Berzin. Team Polti-Vaporetto won two stages, with Gianni Bugno in stage 3 and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov in stage 10. GB-MG Maglificio won three stages, with Marco Saligari in stage 6, Maximilian Sciandri in stage 16, and Pascal Richard in stage 21. Lampre-Panaria won three stages with Ján Svorada. ZG Mobili-Selle Italia won two stages, with Andrea Ferrigato in stage 12 and Massimo Ghirotto in stage 19. Carrera Jeans-Tassoni also won multiple stages, with Marco Pantani in winning two stages and Vladimir Poulnikov in stage 20.

Castorama, Kelme-Avianca-Gios, Mercatone Uno-Medeghini, and Navigare-Blue Storm each won one stage apiece. Castorama rider Armand de Las Cuevas won stage 1b individual time trial, Kelme-Avianca-Gios's Laudelino Cubino won stage 7, Mercatone Uno-Medeghini rider Michele Bartoli won stage 13, and Navigare-Blue Storm's Stefano Zanini stage 22 by means of a sprint finish.