Gianni Bugno

Gianni Bugno was undoubtedly one of the strongest riders of the last ten years; he won the Giro leading from start to finish, and his phenomenal long-range sprint saw him beat Indurain for one world title, then Laurent Jalabert for a second, as well as outsprinting Johan Museeuw to win the Tour of Flanders. But it was Indurain that was to prove Bugno's nemesis. After finishing second in the 1991 Tour de France, Bugno staked his entire season on winning the 1992 race. Alas it was not to be; at the Luxembourg time trial, Indurain took four minutes out of Bugno and effectively sealed his domination of the Tour for the next half a decade. Like many others, Bugno never entirely recovered from the psychological drubbing. Great moments were still to come - not least that second World Title later in the same year - but increasingly Bugno concentrated on one day events. In his last few years, he acted with great humility as a domestique for Mapei, rather than retreating to a well earned retirement - it was as if he was scared to give up the bike in case there was nothing else left in his life. There was to be one last great victory; in the 1998 Vuelta, Bugno slipped away one last time for an emotional final victory. He will be sadly missed.