91st Giro d' Italia Unveiled Tomorrow

Italian cycling fans will be glued to their TVs tomorrow afternoon beginning at 5:45 p.m. to view the RAI3 live broadcast of the unveiling of the 2008, 91st edition, of the Giro d' Italia.

Among the celebrities at the Teatro Arcimboldi in Milan will be Bettini, Garzelli, Simoni, Di Luca, Petacchi, Pozzato, Bennati, Riccò, plus many of the top foreign cyclists.

It is already known that the Giro will begin in Palermo, Sicily, on May 10th and end at the now traditional finish in Milan on June 1st. Details about the first three stages, all in Sicily, have been leaked: May 10: Team Time Trial in Palermo, 28.5km; May 11th: stage Cefalù-Agrigento, 207 km; May 12: stage Catania-Milazzo, 208 km. The word in Verona is that a stage will begin here about May 24th and head north to the Lessinia region of northern Verona province. Hopefully, that will be confirmed tomorrow.

Past stages of the Giro, and winners, in Sicily:

1930 (vincitore Luigi Marchisio, Legnano) Messina-Catania (km 174) 1. MARA Michele Catania-Palermo (km 280) 1. FRASCARELLI Leonida Palermo-Messina (km 257) 1. MARCHISIO Luigi

1949 (vincitore Fausto Coppi, Bianchi) Palermo-Catania (km 261) 1. FAZIO Mario Catania-Messina (km 263) 1. MAGGINI Sergio

1954 (vincitore Carlo Clerici, Guerra) Cronosquadre Palermo (km 36) 1. BIANCHI (Coppi, Gismondi, Filippi) Palermo-Taormina (km 280) 1. MINARDI Giuseppe

1961 (vincitore Arnaldo Pambianco, Fides) Marsala-Palermo (km 144) 1. PROST Louis (Bel) Palermo-Milazzo (km 224) 1. DEFILIPPIS Nino

1965 (vincitore Vittorio Adorni, Salvarani) Messina-Palermo (km 260) 1. MELDOLESI Domenico Palermo-Agrigento (km 146) 1.CARLESI Guido Agrigento-Siracusa (km 230) 1. MARCOLI Raffaele Catania-Taormina (crono km 50) 1. ADORNI Vittorio

1967 (vincitore Felice Gimondi, Salvarani) Circuito M. Pellegrino (km 63) 1. ALTIG Rudy (Ger) Catania-Etna (km 169) 1. BITOSSI Franco

1972 (vincitore Eddy Merckx, Molteni) Circuito Peloritani (km 110) 1. VAN VLIERBERGHE Albert (Bel)

1976 (vincitore Felice Gimondi, Bianchi-Campagnolo) Semitappa Catania (km 64) 1. SERCU Patrick (Bel) Semitappa Catania-Siracusa (km 78) 1. SERCU Patrick (Bel) Siracusa-Caltanisetta (km 210) 1. DE VLAEMINCK Roger (Bel) Caltanisetta-Palermo (km 163) 1. VAN LINDEN Rik (Bel) Cefalù-Messina (km 192) 1. MOSER Francesco

1982 (vincitore Bernard Hinault, Renault-Elf-Gitane) Taormina-Agrigento (km 248) 1. ARGENTIN Moreno Agrigento-Palermo (km 151) 1. SARONNI Giuseppe Cefalù-Messina (km 197) 1. FREULER Urs (Svi)

1986 (vincitore Roberto Visentini, Carrera) Millemetri Palermo (crono km 1) 1. FREULER Urs (Svi) Palermo-Sciacca (km 140) 1. SANTIMARIA Sergio Sciacca-Catania (km 259) 1. VAN POPPEL Jean Paul (Ola) Catania-Taormina (cr.sq. km 50) 1. DEL TONGO-COLNAGO (Saronni)

1989 (vincitore Laurent Fignon, System U) Taormina-Catania (km 123) 1. VAN POPPEL Jean Paul (Ola) Catania-Etna (km 132) 1. DA SILVA Acacio (Por) Villafranca T.-Messina (cr.sq. km 32,5) 1. ARIOSTEA

1993 (vincitore Miguel Indurain, Banesto) Villafranca T.-Messina (km 130) 1. BONTEMPI Guido Capo d'Orlando-Agrigento (km 240) 1. RIJS Bjarne (Dan) Agrigento-Palermo (km 140) 1. BAFFI Adriano

1999 (vincitore Ivan Gotti, Team Polti) Agrigento-Modica (km 175) 1. QUARANTA IvanNoto-Catania (km 133) 1. CIPOLLINI MarioCatania-Messina (km 176) 1. BLJILEVENS Jeroen