1972 was the height of the reign of Eddy Merckx who, it is worth remembering once again, is to this day the greatest rider of all times, with more than 400 victories among the professionals. In that season, criteriums included, he took home a staggering 50 victories, including Milano-Sanremo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Giro di Lombardia and the resounding Giro d’Italia – Tour de France double, which he will achieve three times in his career.
After losing two minutes on the Blockhaus to José Manuel Fuente, the Cannibal had snatched the Maglia Rosa from the Spaniard on Stage 7 in Catanzaro and then reinforced his leadership by winning the time trial in Forte dei Marmi and breaking away on Monte Jafferau.
The Spaniards were waiting for the big mountains to try a last, desperate assault on the Giro, and the first opportunity presented itself in the extremely long Parabiago-Livigno stage of 256 km, with the Foscagno Pass to be tackled in the finale. Fuente attacked and gained a handful of seconds on Merckx, but he was caught and dropped on the descent towards Livigno, also due to an unfortunate puncture that caused him to lose further ground.
Merckx arrived in Livigno in his shining pink jersey, with the certainty that no one would be able to snatch it from him again. The next day on the Stelvio, he would leave the pleasure of winning a stage to Fuente, making it to the final day in Milan with an advantage of 5’30’’ over the latter and 10’39’ over his teammate Francisco Galdós. The Cannibal had done it again!
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