The Tour de France may be the most famous of the three "Grand Tours," but the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) is often even more exciting. 1998's edition of the Giro showcases the captivating character of this race, with the "maglia rosa" (the pink jersey of the leader) hotly contested among a group of highly talented riders. World Cycling Productions presents this excellent race as part of its "Remastered Grand Tour Series," highlighting the fact that a great race is like a great wine, holding up to the test of time.

Readers will know, of course, that the star of the show in 1998 ends up being Marco Pantani, the Italian rider for the Mercatone Uno squad, known as "Il Pirata" (The Pirate). But when the 1998 Giro opens, it's not the diminutive mountain-climbing Pantani who's in the spotlight, but pre-race favorites Alex Zulle, former winner Pavel Tonkov, and defending champion Ivan Gotti. Viewers are advised not to count out the other contenders, however: Guiseppe Guerini turns in a very strong performance, and fans of the Classics will be impressed to see how well Michele Bartoli performs in a stage race.

The stages in this three-week race seem very well balanced, with a nice mix of flat stages that are ideal for sprinters (but also include a few hills in the middle to open up the possibility for a breakaway), time trials, and of course the mountain stages, where the race can often be won or lost in a single day's racing.

What makes this Giro so much fun to watch is the way the pendulum of leadership keeps swinging back and forth: the maglia rosa switches shoulders no fewer than eight times on the road to Milan. Early in the race, it seems like Zulle has it all in the bag... but there's more to the Giro than making a strong appearance in the opening week! And while Gotti disappoints, Tonkov is grimly determined to improve on the previous year's second place. It's an exciting duel: Tonkov counts on his time-trial skills and his steady power to match and surpass the explosiveness of Marco Pantani.

How will it all end up? That's a question that's open to a variety of answers right up to the penultimate stage with its final time trial. The time gaps between the leaders remains tight all the way through the race: there are several crucial days that help to tip the balance first one way, then another way, but no rider takes complete control of the race until the very end. And that's the recipe for a great race, one that stands up very well to repeat viewings.

While the main focus of the race is on the battle for the overall lead, aficionados of sprinting will also get their fill, with a number of exciting bunch sprint finishes, which the Giro always seems to deliver with style. Cycling's playboy Mario Cipollini takes aim at equaling Eddy Merckx's record of 25 stage wins in the Giro, before (of course) bailing out on the first mountain stage.

World Cycling Productions' team of commentators, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, do their usual excellent job of providing interesting live commentary for the race. Liggett and Sherwen offer a great blend of descriptive commentary on the action, insight into the tactics of the riders, and useful background information on the riders and their teams. The 1998 Giro is sure to delight all devoted bicycle racing fans, but it's also a great race to start with if you're new to the sport of cycle racing but are intrigued by it.

The DVD

The 1998 Giro d'Italia is a two-DVD set, packaged very attractively in a slim single-wide plastic keepcase. The program runs 170 minutes, conveniently split between stages across the two DVDs. It is a Region 0 (all-region) DVD in NTSC format.

Video

The 1998 Giro d'Italia, part of World Cycling Productions' Remastered Grand Tour Series, offers a very solid viewing experience. The race, which is presented in its original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1, appears clean and clear throughout the nearly three hours of running time. The images on the first DVD do have an impressive sharpness and clarity that isn't quite matched on the second DVD, but in any case the overall appearance is excellent. Colors are bright and vibrant, with all the team jerseys as well as the Italian landscape coming through in all their glory.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack provides a very pleasing audio environment for the 1998 Giro. The track correctly balances the commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen with the sounds of the race itself. On a few occasions, a touch of background music appears to have been shoehorned into the soundtrack, but this is only occasional and for the majority of the race coverage, we get the great "live experience" without any unnecessary music. The voices of Liggett and Sherwen are always crisp and clean, and overall the race sounds great.

Extras

There are no actual special features here, but viewers will be pleased by the easy-to-navigate menu, which allows you to either play the race from the beginning, or select specific stages. The stages are listed by number and starting/ending points, and I am happy to report that there are no spoilers for any of the stage results.

Final thoughts

The 1998 Giro d'Italia is a fantastic race, certainly one of the most exciting "Grand Tours" in quite a few years. It's a great way to remember the late champion Marco Pantani, affectionately known as "The Pirate," the fantastic climber who seemed to sprout wings as soon as the road headed up into the mountains. More than that, though, the 1998 Giro is just a great race by any standards, with many exciting ups and downs and the final victor still uncertain at the very end of the three-week race. Highly recommended, both for long-time cycle racing fans and those who are just starting to get hooked on the sport.