1986 Giro d'Italia

in Palermo.|alt=The outside of a stone building. Twenty-two teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1986 edition of the Giro d'Italia. The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager are introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place at the Palazzo dei Normanni on 11 May. The starting riders came from a total of 19 different countries; Italy (103), the Netherlands (13), and Switzerland (10) all had 10 or more riders. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 171 cyclists. Of those starting, 58 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.46 years, ranging from 20–year–old Roy Knickman () to 37–year–old Hennie Kuiper (Skala-Skil). The team with the youngest average rider age was Magniflex-Centroscarpa (23), while the oldest was Supermercati Brianzoli-Essebi (29). From those that started, 143 of them reached the finish line in Merano. The teams entering the race were: • Ariostea-Gres • Atala-Ofmega • • Cilo-Aufina-Gemeaz Cusin • Del Tongo-Colnago • Dromedario-Laminox-Fibok • Ecoflam-Jollyscarpe-BFB Bruc. • Fagor • Gis Gelati-Oece • • Magniflex-Centroscarpa • Malvor-Bottecchia-Vaporella • Murella-Fanini • • Sammontana-Bianchi • Santini-Cierre • Skala-Skil • Supermercati Brianzoli-Essebi • Vini Ricordi-Pinarello ==Pre-race favorites==

The starting peloton did not include the 1985 winner, Bernard Hinault. An El Mundo Deportivo writer believed LeMond, Moser, and Saronni to be the favorites to win the overall crown. ==Route and stages==

hosted the end of the sixteenth stage and the start of the seventeenth stage.|alt=A mountain in the distance. The route for the 1986 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public on television by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani on 8 February 1986. It contained four time trials, three of which were individual and one of which was a team event. In addition, this race contained the same number of stages, but one less set of half stages. ''l'Unita'' writer Gino Sala believed the route to be more challenging than the routes within the past few years. He criticized the route for the stage three team time trial for going over dangerous roads. Author Bill McGann believed Torriani designed the route to be relatively flat in order to increase the likelihood of Italian riders Giuseppe Saronni and Francesco Moser winning the race. Five-time champion Eddy Merckx believed the route to be "decapitated." ==Race overview==

(pictured here at the 2010 Tour de France) won two stages at the 1986 Giro d'Italia. The Giro began with a prologue that navigated through the streets of Palermo, which was won by Urs Freuler by one second over the second-placed finisher. Later that day, the first mass-start stage was raced. The third stage was a team time trial that traveled around Sicily. Gianbattista Baronchelli rode away on a climb late into the fourth stage and rode by himself to victory, earning the race lead in the process. American Greg LeMond won the fifth stage after attacking a few kilometers from the finish. Saronni led the peloton across the finish line two seconds after LeMond crossed the finish line. Saronni regained the race lead after finishing second on the stage and earning a fifteen-second time bonus. The ninth stage contained the climbs of Monte Terminillo and La Forca and was considered one of the tougher stages in the race. Malvor-Bottecchia-Vaporella rider Acácio da Silva won the stage as the top of the general classification rankings remained unchanged from the previous days. The twelfth stage of the race was a individual time trial that stretched from Sinalunga to Siena. Lech Piasecki of Del Tongo-Colnago won the stage and was one of five riders to complete the course in under an hour. The race's fourteenth stage saw the race head back into the mountains, with a summit finish to Sauze d'Oulx. As the peloton made its way up the final climb, Pedro Muñoz, Martin Earley, and Stefano Giuliani formed a breakaway group out in front. (pictured here in August 1982) won one stage at the 1986 Giro d'Italia and came in second in the points classification. The sixteenth stage saw the race travel across several mountain passes in the Alps, with Muñoz winning the stage after attacking on the day's final climb of the day. Visentini, who finished third on the stage, gained enough time on Saronni to take the overall lead from him by over a minute. The next leg of the race was another individual time trial that was in length and very flat. rider Johan van der Velde won the next leg of the race after attacking on a descent before the stage's final climb to Peio. The twentieth stage of the race came down to a field sprint that was won by Bontempi. The penultimate stage of the race traversed several mountain passes in the Dolomites. As the leading group neared the finish, da Silva attacked and went on to win the stage by seven seconds. Belgian Eric Van Lancker won the leg by means of a bunch sprint. Three riders achieved multiple stage victories: Bontempi (stages 7, 10, 11, 17, and 20), da Silva (stages 9 and 21), and the third by Chioccioli (stage 8). ==Classification leadership==

was the Cima Coppi for the 1986 running of the Giro d'Italia. Four different jerseys were worn during the 1986 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro. For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category (first being the highest), with more points available for higher category climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Passo Pordoi. The first rider to cross the Pordoi Pass was Spanish rider Pedro Muñoz. The white jersey was worn by the leader of young rider classification, a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but considering only neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing). Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time. The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run. ==Final standings==

General classification Points classification Mountains classification Young rider classification Team classification Combination classification Premio dell'Agonismo classification Traguardi fiat uno classification Trofeo del 90 anni classification ==References==