Giro di Lombardia 1987 | One last hope to save Italy's disastrous season
Milan, October 17, 1987. The last Monument of the season: 265 kilometers from Como to the Piazza Duomo. For Italian cycling, it has been a season to forget. Stephen Roche wins the Giro d'Italia on an all-foreign podium, only the second in the race's history without a single Italian. His own teammate, defending champion Roberto Visentini, feuds with him in public and never reaches the finish. Roche then takes the Tour and the Worlds too, with Moreno Argentin second, one second behind. Argentin had won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, but the big prizes have gone abroad. Seventy kilometers from the finish, ten riders break away. Argentin is Italy's last hope. Against him: three Système U riders, including French champion Marc Madiot, plus Belgians Eric Van Lancker and Claude Criquielion, and Flavio Giupponi, the best Italian of that Giro. With 2 kilometers to go, Argentin and Madiot catch Van Lancker. Nobody wants to work with the fastest man in the group. Madiot launches the sprint under the last kilometer. Argentin comes from behind on the left and wins, with Van Lancker second and Madiot third.
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