Not only Horn at the Stairs, there is another arrival of the next Giro d'Italia that has sparked a memory that is nothing short of special. In fact, it will end in Pian di Pezzé the 19th stage, the real Dolomite stage with climbs such as the Giau and the Falzarego before the final climb, known as Montagna Pantani. Do you know why? We've only gotten up there once: it was 1992, at the head of another Dolomite stage at the amateur Giro d'Italia, when a very young Marco Pantani attacked in his own way and he tore off the leader's jersey to the equally young Wladimir Belli.
«We started from Cavalese – recalls the Bergamo native – then we climbed the Sella, the Gardena, the Campolongo and from there you descended to Alleghe to make the final climbI remember I was the race leader and in the morning I went to Marco and said: “Come on, you finished third in 1990, second last year, you'll have to get another podium”. Instead, he looked at me askance and said: “Belùn, get ready: you'll get by today!”.
Belli, Casagrande, Pantani
End of June 1992, in the summer that heralds the Barcelona Olympics, in which Italy will take part with Rebellin, Gualdi and Fabio Casartelli, who is Belli's teammate at Domus 87. But for now, Spain is further away than the 1.250 kilometers that separate Cavalese from the Catalan capital. On June 30, the future will be discussed among the three Italians who have dominated the race organized by Rinascita di Ravenna in recent seasons. Besides Belli, first in 1990, there is also Francesco Casagrande, winner in 1991. And then Pantani, third and second in the two previous years.
«But let's start from the time trial in Marina di Pietrasanta – says Belli – in which, as always, I gave him a… week, I had a good head startI wasn't going very well that Giro, I wasn't 100 percent fit, because the year before I had signed a professional contract and my mind was already there."
The shirt in Cavalese
It's not cycling for watts, in the morning you eat plain pasta with tomato sauce on the side, even if Pantani sometimes dresses it with jam. His bike is a Carrera with a steel frame., because he also signed the contract and will be on board in August battleship of Boifava and QuintarelliBelli instead will go to Lampre Saronni and Algiers.
«My sports director Locatelli – he recalls – he didn't even want to send me to the Giro, because he knew I wasn't the right weight. But I insisted, the San Pellegrino stage was close to home, and instead that very day I realized I was struggling. Then we arrived in Cavalese and there was the first real selectionIf I'm not mistaken, Marco Serpellini still had the jersey, but Marco took off on the San Lugano Pass and only a few of us remained behind. He won the stage and I wore the jerseyIt went fast, but I thought I would just have to control that rather large lead. I was confident, well, very confident.. Instead, the next day Marco challenged me. And I decided to make him understand right away that there was no way around it."
Frontal attack
The rest is history. Pantani attacks on the Sella and behind him the group explodesHe does what he would do over and over again as a professional, earning his place in history. Casagrande gives in almost immediately, then it's Belli's turnOnly two Colombians resist, and they don't worry him. Sella alone, then Gardena. And when he's on the Campolongo and asks the team car for some sugar, the guys behind him realize they don't have any. It's the day when Orlando Maini, who with Davide Balboni leads the Emilia Romagna team, enters the driveway of a house and asks a lady for a packet of sugar, who is happy to help.
The finish at the foot of Pian di Pezzé still finds him in the company of the last Colombian, but it only takes a few kilometers for him to drop out as well. Pantani has gifted only one stage in his career, the one to Selva Val Gardena, to Guerini. But unlike what happens today with the rainbow cannibal, his attitude was taken as arrogance..
"I was hanging on by a thread," Belli recalls, "and I thought: he'll give up, he'll give up, he'll give up, he'll give up. Instead, I gave up and had a mental crisis too. I felt strong, so I accepted the head-to-head challenge. Instead, for the first time in my career I took a slap not only physically, but above all mentallyI wasn't used to being disconnected. Plus, in the winter of 1991-1992, I started having panic attacks. I didn't know what they were at the time, but I couldn't stay focused on cycling anymore. But this doesn't take away the fact that Marco did something great, once again not waiting for the last climb, but attacking immediately."
Friendship is born
Belli remembers very little of the climb up Pian di Pezzé, because he admits he doesn't have a great photographic memory. And why did he arrive there so dressed up for the holidays that he didn't have the clarity and perhaps not even the desire to look around?Pantani won the stage and took the yellow jersey, which he easily defended the next day in the Gaiarine stage, won by Mariano Piccoli.
«I only know that took a lot of minutes Belli admits, "because when you give up, you give up. I didn't see him after we arrived; I went to congratulate him when we left the next day. Especially in the first few years, we didn't talk much. We met as juniors and then we always had a relationship of mutual respect, even though we didn't talk muchAs professionals, however, you mature, you have more time to spend together and you understand that people come before the riders. As amateurs, we took part in the 1991 Settimana Bergamasca with the national team, which Armstrong won. We were in the room together and a little more confidence was bornFrom then on, we remained adversaries, but ultimately there was something deeper and more human. When it came to laughing and joking, Marco never held back."
Like Pogacar, 20 years earlier
Today that way of racing is Pogacar's signature style. No one has tried for years except Contador and Froome at the 2018 Giro: the calculating athlete from whom it would have been least logical to expect it.
"The trend of racing like a pirate has returned," reflects Belli, a brilliant Eurosport commentator. "The tendency is to start further away. Situations have changed, there's more courage. Pogacar teaches that it can be doneMany try and fail, but others try and then arrive. They've realized they can't wait for the final climb, because the bar is high for everyone. And speaking of Pantani, I remember a scene at the start from Asiago at the 1998 GiroI was a teammate of Zulle, who was wearing the pink jersey and had humiliated him in the time trial and dropped him at Lago Laceno. Marco came to me, and like six years earlier, I told him he could settle for less. He looked at me and said: “Belùn, get ready: I'll get by today!”Cavalese's words came to mind, a shiver ran down my spine, and I thought it was going to be a long day. We all know how it ended that time, too..."
