Doing the Double: Will Cycling Ever Have Another Giro/Tour Winner in the Same Year?

Although doped, Pantani claimed the Giro/Tour double in 1998

The last rider to win both the Giro'd Italia and Tour de France in the same year was the Italian Marco Pantani. 1998 was the year, and Pantani was able to dominate in the giro in May and then destroy a then very young Jan Ullrich in the mountains at the Tour. Anyone who is a serious cycling fan knows that Pantani was doped to the maximum that year, but managed not to get caught. Back then, it was relatively easy to elude the drug testers.

In 2006, Ivan Basso seemed poised to do the double after a dominating win in the Giro that had Gilberto Simoni claiming that Basso was an "Extra-Terrestrial." Basso vehemently railed against Simoni's claims, only to be denied a start at the Tour in July when his name was implicated in the now infamous Operacion Puerto debacle. Since then, no one has even come close to the mythical Giro-Tour double.

So who will be the next rider to challenge for the double. Further, is it even possible to try to win the double. Alberto Contador was able to win both the Giro and Vuelta this past season, but each of those races are far apart from each other, giving a rider time to recover from the massive effort required in a grand tour. There are a small handful of riders that could try for the double, but in today's day and age, it is no small undertaking.

Contador is the most obvious candidate to try the double. A lithe climber and budding tactician, Contador possesses all of the necessary qualities for a run at both titles. He won't even try to double in 2009, but if he can get another Tour win next year why wouldn't he take on the double challenge in 2010? Basso is another possibility, but he has to come back first. He has been away from the top level of the sport for a long time, and he'll need to prove himself in 2009 before there is any talk of him pursuing the double.

After the two aforementioned riders, there aren't many other possible candidates out there that aren't young and untested. Of the very young generation though, there are a few riders that could one day try for the most difficult double in all of cycling. Garmin-Chipotle's young Irish climber Dan Martin may be one. An explosive climber, the 22 year old Martin has been tipped by Garmin director Jonathan Vaughters as a rising grand tour star, and with the proper tutelage, he may be able to hope to one day ride into the record books.

Robert Gesink, the young Dutchman on the Rabobank squad is another who could one day try for the double. Long and lean, Gesink will be a force if he can find the time trialing skills to match his climbing. Also only 22, he has a few years to hone his form before the real pressure of winning encroaches on his career. Finally, maybe Liquigas will find Roman Kreuzinger up to the task in the next few years. At 22 he is one of the most accomplished young riders today in stage races, after taking the overall at this year's Tour de Swiss and an amazing 13th overall at this past year's Tour. If he continues to progress, the Czech rider could one day find himself as a possible double contender.

The Giro/Tour double has been and will remain as one of the most mythical accomplishments in all of cycling. Very few riders can ever dream of achieving the feat, and without luck and the proper circumstances, it is an impossibility. Hopefully one of the above riders will amaze the cycling public by attempting to accomplish the famed double. For the short term though, there doesn't seem to be a legitimate double contender for 2009.