Two half-stages inaugurate the 1976 Giro d’Italia in Sicily: the first, in the morning, starts and arrives in Catania after 64 kilometres. The second, however, goes from Catania to Syracuse in the afternoon. May 21st is a Friday and it will be a Black Friday in the history of the pink race. In fact, right in the opening half-stage, near Acireale, after just over an hour of racing the thirty-one-year-old Spaniard Juan Manuel Santisteban, the son of farmers torn away from cycling and working in the fields, falls downhill and loses his life.
the drama
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Called at the last moment to replace his out-of-form teammate Eulalio Garcia in Kas-Campagnolo, Santisteban is in his seventh season among professionals and has won 13 races, including, by separation, two stages in the Vuelta a Espana. He is in his first Giro d’Italia and in the stretch between Aci Sant’Antonio and Aci Catena, while he is trying to bring his teammate Gonzalez Linares back to the group, who was down due to a puncture, he slips in a curve and hits the guardrail . Immediately rescued, his body will arrive at Acireale Hospital.
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Gimondi’s victory
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However, the race does not stop. Both semi-stages were won by Patrick Sercu, the Belgian number one of the Six Days. In the end, Felice Gimondi will prevail in the general classification, capable of winning his third Giro at the age of 34, accompanied by a beautiful sprint victory in his native Bergamo ahead of Eddy Merckx, Giambattista Baronchelli and Francesco Moser. The pink jersey will be his for just 19” against the Belgian Johan De Muynck.
