PRESOLANA, Italy, 30 May 2004 — Damiano Cunego is one day away from winning the 2004 Giro d’Italia after retaining his overall race lead on the final mountain stage from Bormio to Presolana yesterday.

Cunego finished fifth on stage 19, 52 seconds behind winner Stefano Garzelli of Italy, and is now two minutes two seconds ahead of Serhiy Honchar of Ukraine in the overall standings.

The Italian is also 2:05 clear of Saeco teammate and compatriot Gilberto Simoni, a gallant but unavailing second yesterday.

Cunego said: “There is still the final stage to Milan before I’m the winner but it is a flat stage and is usually a kind of victory parade stage so I should be okay.”

Before the start of the event in Genoa on May 8 Cunego was considered an important team worker but two-time Giro winner Simoni was clearly viewed as the official Saeco leader.

However, role reversal has been unfolding ever since the 22-year-old Cunego won stage seven two weeks ago to seize the overall lead.

“I’ve almost won the Giro but I’m not superior to Simoni,” Cunego said, playing down the rivalry that has inflamed the sports pages of the Italian media.

“He’s right behind me in the overall standings and he’s taught me a lot in the last two years that we’ve ridden together. He was angry yesterday after I won the stage but that was because he wanted to win.

The final mountain stage of the Giro was a moving day for Italian cycling with the Mortirolo climb dedicated to the memory of the Marco Pantani, winner of the 1998 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, who died of a cocaine overdose in February.

Garzelli, Giro winner in 2000, was a former team mate of Pantani and attacked on the Mortirolo as a sign of remembrance.

Garzelli went to win the stage beating Simoni by two seconds and Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia by 23 seconds.

Garzelli said: “I’ve suffered a lot in this Giro and never found my real form so it was nice to win today when there were lots of people along the roadside remembering Marco.”