Italian rider Gilberto Simoni of the Lampre team shook off his Giro ghosts to win the 84th edition of the Tour of Italy today.
Simoni, who came third overall in the two previous years, sailed over the line in 43rd place behind stage winner Mario Cipollini, who collected hisfourth stage win of the three-week race and 34th Giro stage win overall, to grab his first Giro triumph.
Spanish pair Abraham Olano and Unai Osa came second and third respectively in the overall standings.
The 21st stage was spectacularly won by Saeco's sprint specialist Cipollini, who held off German contender Danilo Hondo and a chasing bunch ofriders who seemed still to be recovering from the shock of a police drugs raid on Wednesday night in San Remo.
Simoni's main threat compatriot Dario Frigo, who sat only 15 seconds behind race leader Simoni on Friday, was banned from taking further part inthe race after he became a victim of that close scrutiny.
He was found to be in possession of banned substances and was banned by race organisers and sacked by his team Fassa Bartolo.
His absence from the final two stages left Simoni to finish with the largest winning margin of 7min 31sec, between him and Olano, since 1973 whenthe Belgian "Cannibal" Eddy Merckx finished 7min 42sec ahead of Italian Felice Gimondi.
AFP