71st Giro d'Italia 1988 (Italy)

Hampsten Survives the Storm

The 1988 Giro d'Italia was the 71st edition and would be known as one of the more memorable Grand Tours in history.  The contenders for the General Classification were American Andrew Hampsten, Spaniard Pedro Delgado, and Dutchman Erik Breukink.  

After extreme snow storm at the finish line forced the cancellation of stage 11. Andy Hampsten began to take control of race on stage 12 with a minor time gains the American began to climb up the GC standings. Three days later it would be a memorable stage 14 that would confirm Hampsten’s control of the race.

An overnight snow storm dropped a foot of snow on the Gavia Pass and in an effort to avoid a second stage cancellation; the organizers scrambled to plow the snow on the climb and managed to clear the road. The winter type weather remained miserable as the stage set off from Chiesa Val Malenco on JUNE 5!!! 

Dutchman Johan Van Der Velde attacked early on during the climb of the Gavia Pass. Andy Hampsten quickly answered a counter-attack by Franco Chioccioli and Erik Breukink. Van Der Velde was the first to peak the Gavia, but slowed and stopped because of the cold. Hampsten crossed 30” behind Van Der Velde and received a key musette bag with skiing items (heavy gloves and winter cap) to help on the decent. Erik Breukink trailed by 45” over the summit but passed Hampsten, who had stopped to put on the warmer clothing. With the snow still falling Hampsten caught Breukink on the long decent. Erik Breukink won the stage 7” ahead of Hampsten but the breakaway finished 5 minutes ahead of the next contender and 7 minutes ahead of Pedro Delgado. The Maglia Rosa belonged to Andy Hampsten. 

After the brutal exploits of stage 14 the snow continued to fall at 6,000 ft. for stage 15. The organizers were forced to move the stage's departure from Bormio to Spondigna. The stage was also shortened to 83 km with the huge Passo dello Stelvio taken out of the stage.  

The final climb of stage 15 was to the Merano 2000 ski station. Jean-François Bernard, Urs Zimmerman, and Franco Chioccioli attacked early on the climb and rode steadily away from Hampsten and Breukink. Bernard easily won the stage with Hampsten and Breukink a minute behind.

An inspired Andy Hampsten survived several close calls and rode into the finish in Veneto to claim a memorable Giro d’Italia victory.

SPECIAL NOTE: Andy Hampsten became the first American and the first non-European to win the Giro d'Italia.

GdI 1987

GdI 1989

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