Our Giro stage 5: The Supernovas

Our Giro is still on the island of Sicily and Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe turn their attention to the ‘Prosecco Supernovas’, or one-hit wonders: riders who burnt brightly but briefly at the Giro d’Italia. 

They include Ivan Quaranta, the sprinter who upstaged Mario Cipollini at the 1999 Giro. Twenty-one years later, Daniel caught up with Quaranta to find out where – or, indeed, if – it all went wrong. 

We look at the strange case of the Swedes at the Giro, recalling Gosta Pettersson’s surprise win in 1971 and speaking to Tommy Prim who, a decade later, twice finished second overall. 

Then there is Damiano Cunego, who was just 22 when he won the 2004 race. Cunego looked set to become Italian cycling’s next big star but, in a career that continued another 14 years, he never again went close – we investigate why.

Amarcord is our regular look back at The Cycling Podcast’s previous experiences at the Giro and in this one we join Lionel and Daniel in the midst of a casino in the Dolomites. 

The Cycling Podcast is supported by iwoca and Science In Sport.

In stage six of Our Giro we’ll be looking at the 2002 race and Cadel Evans’ doomed attempt to win his debut Grand Tour. In Bonk! we speak to Evans about his time with the Mapei team, the controversial 2002 Giro and his infamous collapse while wearing the pink jersey. 

Our first film, And So We Rode… is available for Friends of the Podcast to watch now. This is the story of Larry Warbasse and Conor Dunne packing their bags and going on a bikepacking trip in the French and Italian Alps after their pro team Aqua Blue Sport folded mid-season. It costs £15 to sign up as a Friend of the Podcast and you will be able to watch the film as well as listen to all our special episodes. thecyclingpodcast.com/join

iwoca became The Cycling Podcast’s title sponsors in March 2020. Iwoca specialises in supporting small businesses and can lend between £1,000 and £250,000. Applications can take only a few minutes to complete and they promise a fast and fair decision. To find out more, go to iwoca.co.uk

Science In Sport is The Cycling Podcast’s longest-standing supporter. It’s a relationship that stretches back to the 2016 Giro d’Italia. Listeners can get 25% off Science In Sport’s range of energy drinks, bars, gels and cakes at scienceinsport.com with the code SISCP25

If you have a smart turbo trainer, you can ride Our Giro on the RGT digital platform. Each stage is around 30 kilometres long and will be online for three days. Go to RGTcycling.com/our-giro for details of how to download the app and sign up. Thanks to RGT and Veloviewer.com for helping us create Our Giro.

Our friends at Dvinecellars.com have put together a ‘Selezione Our Giro’ case of 12 wines from around Italy. There’s also a ‘Baby Giro’ case of six bottles. Use the code ‘Our Giro’ when ordering. Cases can be delivered in the UK, excluding the Highlands and Northern Ireland, and a donation from each case will be made to the Scuola Ciclismo in Cene.