Michele Scarponi, who was going to be the leading man for his team Astana, just died a few weeks before the start of the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia.
His team decided to start with 8 riders instead of the usual 9 as a tribute to him
The Giro d’Italia cannot possibly forget a big champion, friend and a fantastic person like Scarponi. He was the overall winner in the Giro back in 2011. Therefore, the organization assigned the climb of the Mortirolo in stage 16 to him “Salita Scarponi”. In 2010 this was the springboard to Michele’s last stage victory at the Giro d’Italia at Aprica. He was ahead of Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali.
