Giro d'Italia 2026 spoilers

[No Ta Doctor]

Not sure about bucket list, but if you've won the other two GTs already adding the Giro would put you in a club that currently only has 7 riders in it - all of them at least near-legendary. So I reckon it's worth having a pop at it.

For Vingegaard there's the added bonus that if he wins this year he'll be a member before Pogacar

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I think the most surprising "not in the All 3 Club" rider has to be Big Mig, given he's got 5 Tours (an even more exclusive club) and 2 Giros.
Not only did he never win the Vuelta (came 2nd in '91) in 8 starts, he never even got on the podium for a stage finish - 4th his best placing.

This is despite '91 including no fewer than FOUR ITTs, totalling 133km and TTT of 40km. The race was won by Melchor Mauri, who won the first stage and held the red jersey almost all the way to Madrid - relinquishing it for one day after the stage 2b TTT.

I'm betting @mididoctors remembers more of all that than I do though!

 

[mididoctors]

I think the most surprising "not in the All 3 Club" rider has to be Big Mig, given he's got 5 Tours (an even more exclusive club) and 2 Giros.
Not only did he never win the Vuelta (came 2nd in '91) in 8 starts, he never even got on the podium for a stage finish - 4th his best placing.

This is despite '91 including no fewer than FOUR ITTs, totalling 133km and TTT of 40km. The race was won by Melchor Mauri, who won the first stage and held the red jersey almost all the way to Madrid - relinquishing it for one day after the stage 2b TTT.

I'm betting @mididoctors remembers more of all that than I do though!

Big mig is only rider to do the double double

Tour giro win 2 years running

 

[wakemalcolm]

I think the most surprising "not in the All 3 Club" rider has to be Big Mig, given he's got 5 Tours (an even more exclusive club) and 2 Giros.
Not only did he never win the Vuelta (came 2nd in '91) in 8 starts, he never even got on the podium for a stage finish - 4th his best placing.

This is despite '91 including no fewer than FOUR ITTs, totalling 133km and TTT of 40km. The race was won by Melchor Mauri, who won the first stage and held the red jersey almost all the way to Madrid - relinquishing it for one day after the stage 2b TTT.

I'm betting @mididoctors remembers more of all that than I do though!

Was he not in the era of the spring time Vuelta where it was probably difficult to compete if you were also targeting the Giro and Tour and the parcours wasn't favourable for the big mountain riders?

 

[phreak]

I think the most surprising "not in the All 3 Club" rider has to be Big Mig, given he's got 5 Tours (an even more exclusive club) and 2 Giros.
Not only did he never win the Vuelta (came 2nd in '91) in 8 starts, he never even got on the podium for a stage finish - 4th his best placing.

This is despite '91 including no fewer than FOUR ITTs, totalling 133km and TTT of 40km. The race was won by Melchor Mauri, who won the first stage and held the red jersey almost all the way to Madrid - relinquishing it for one day after the stage 2b TTT.

I'm betting @mididoctors remembers more of all that than I do though!

And famously he was forced to ride it after the 96 Tour and retired shortly after.

 

[phreak]

Was he not in the era of the spring time Vuelta where it was probably difficult to compete if you were also targeting the Giro and Tour and the parcours wasn't favourable for the big mountain riders?

The race moved to August in 1995.

 

[Dogtrousers]

That's interesting. I used to follow the tour each year back then but not the rest of Pro cycling.

Looks like he wasn't particularly arsed about the Vuelta, given the number of DNFs.

 

[phreak]

That's interesting. I used to follow the tour each year back then but not the rest of Pro cycling.

Looks like he wasn't particularly arsed about the Vuelta, given the number of DNFs.

View attachment 806897

In 89, Delgado won. I'm fairly sure that Indurain was a key domestique for Delgado in his early days.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

That's interesting. I used to follow the tour each year back then but not the rest of Pro cycling.

Looks like he wasn't particularly arsed about the Vuelta, given the number of DNFs.

View attachment 806897

Same. I think the only races that existed in cycling at that time were the Tour and Kellog's City Centre Cycling. And the Milk Race of course, can't have Kellog's cornflakes without milk.

Rumours of a bike race around Spain and one around Italy spread occasionally, but "pics or it didn't happen" as the Yoot on Channel 4 might have said.

 

[Aravis]

I think the most surprising "not in the All 3 Club" rider has to be Big Mig, given he's got 5 Tours (an even more exclusive club) and 2 Giros.
Not only did he never win the Vuelta (came 2nd in '91) in 8 starts, he never even got on the podium for a stage finish - 4th his best placing.

This is despite '91 including no fewer than FOUR ITTs, totalling 133km and TTT of 40km. The race was won by Melchor Mauri, who won the first stage and held the red jersey almost all the way to Madrid - relinquishing it for one day after the stage 2b TTT.

I'm betting @mididoctors remembers more of all that than I do though!

Yellow.

 

[mididoctors]

Yellow.

I think they called it gold ...but looked yellow

 

[wakemalcolm]

I think they called it gold ...but looked yellow

Yes, it was referred to as the 'golden fleece'.

 

[Pblakeney]

Rumours of a bike race around Spain and one around Italy spread occasionally, but "pics or it didn't happen" as the Yoot on Channel 4 might have said.

There was interest in the Vuelta when Millar was in with a shout.
Fairly sure there was highlights on C4.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

There was interest in the Vuelta when Millar was in with a shout.
Fairly sure there was highlights on C4.

I don't remember it, and I doubt there were C4 highlights tbh - the Stolen Vuelta was 1985, the year Channel 4 first started broadcasting Tour de France highlights

 

[MadMalx]

I don't remember it, and I doubt there were C4 highlights tbh - the Stolen Vuelta was 1985, the year Channel 4 first started broadcasting Tour de France highlights

Highlights were on ITV4 throughout the twentyteens, until a ski-jumper put the plucky Brits out of contention. There are a few clips on youtube.

 

[Pblakeney]

I don't remember it, and I doubt there were C4 highlights tbh - the Stolen Vuelta was 1985, the year Channel 4 first started broadcasting Tour de France highlights

There was something somewhere as it was watching Millar win the 1984 TdF KoM jersey that first got me interested in watching pro cycling.