Emulating Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Stephen Roche and Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani joins the list of great riders who have won the Giro and the Tour de France in the same season. As he did at the Giro, Pantani bases his victory on a lethal acceleration in the mountains that no one can contain day after day. It not only brings him stage wins at Plateau de Beille and in the rain and mist at Les Deux Alps, but shatters the strength and morale of '97 winner Jan Ullrich whose lack of racing in 1998 finally catches up with him. There's controversy about drug taking throughout, but action aplenty on the road: Chris Boardman takes the prologue, then crashes out in yellow; Australia's Stuart O'Grady duels with US Postal's George Hincapie for the yellow jersey; Ullrich wins the last major time trial denying the USA's Tyler Hamilton and seemingly setting himself up for back-to-back Tour wins.
However, come the Pyrenees and Alps and Pantani shows he's in a class of his own, truly the King of the Mountains. Brutal accelerations send the Italian fans into ecstasy as they finally see an end to a 33-year Tour-winning drought. American Bobby Julich is one of the few who can stay close to the tiny Italian and is rewarded with third place overall, the best US finish since Greg LeMond's victory in 1990.
Color / Approximately 235 minutes.
2-VHS Set includes WCP's "10 Years at the Tour de France" special program!
