The Bugno “Tour”
He won the “Maglia Rosa” on the first day in the short time trial in Bari. Then she never gave it up until the final in Milan; same performance Eddy Merckx did in 1973.
73ª Edition
The Pink Run
The 1990 Giro d’Italia took place in twenty stages from 18 May to 6 June 1990, for a total distance of 3.450 km. It was won by Gianni Bugno with a time of 91h 51′ 04″at an average of 37.609 km/h.
The podium was completed by the second and third position of the French Charly Mottet and the Italian Marco Giovannetti respectively with a delay of 6′ 33″and 9′ 01″.
History of a Great Performance
Crono
Let’s start with the Bari time trial where Bugno surprises everyone, (maybe even himself). Gianni won with 3″ on Thierry Marie and 9″ on Lech Piasecki, two super specialists. LeMond grants him 29″,” Professor “Fignon loses 31”.
Everyone wonders how far the new “Maglia Rosa” champion can go.
At 26, Bugno runs in search of his limits never sparing himself. While various commentators and advisors suggest him to leave the jersey symbol of the command in order not to wear out the team, Gianni continues to amaze gaining ground everywhere. He conquered a second stage in Vallombrosa and closed the door in the face of everyone in the Cuneo maxi-chrono, where he was only beaten by Luca Gelfi for 6”. Fignon was forced to retire, while Vladimir Pulnikov, first in Langhirano, became the first Soviet to win a stage (signing an historical event in the Pink History).
Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport
Mountains
The last rival to outpace was Charlie Mottet, who tried to put Bugno in difficulty in the dolomitic section between Dobbiaco and the Pordoi Pass. The Frenchman attacked him twice on the Marmolada, but Bugno responded well and on the climb to Pordoi, Bugno marked an agile and imposing step at the same time. At the top, according to the unwritten rules of tradition, he pretended a mechanical trouble and left the success of the day to the most irreducible of his opponents.
He has already won the Tour, when Gianni Bugno decided to “decorate the cake” by conquering the time trial of the Sacro Monte di Varese. In Milan he could celebrate the Tour where he has dominated from the first to the last stage as only Girardengo (in 1909), Binda (1927) and Merckx (1973) had managed to do before. Bugno won after that two World Championships (Stuttgart 1991 and Benidorm 1992), climbed twice on the podium of the Tour de France (second in ’91 and third in ’92), had super days in one-day races, but will not be able to repeat himself in the Great Tour.
