On June 1, 1968, during the 51st edition of the Giro d’Italia, the cycling world witnessed one of the most iconic performances in Grand Tour history. The stage from Gorizia to Tre Cime di Lavaredo was already set to be a brutal test of endurance, with steep gradients, unforgiving weather, and a finish line atop the formidable Dolomite peaks. But what unfolded that day transcended sport. It was the day Eddy Merckx, only 23 years old, silenced his critics and entered cycling legend. The Italian press called it “Il giorno in cui gli uomini piansero” — the day when men cried.
Stage 12 stretched over 213 kilometers and featured a punishing route through the Dolomites. The weather conditions were nothing short of apocalyptic. Snow, hail, and freezing rain turned the narrow mountain roads into rivers of mud and slush. The final ascent to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, already notorious for its gradients exceeding 15%, became a battlefield of attrition.
Many riders cracked under the strain. Some dismounted and walked. Others were physically pushed by spectators just to stay upright. It was less a race and more a test of survival.
Yet in this chaos, Eddy Merckx emerged
Merckx launched his attack before the final climb, bridging up to and then dropping a strong breakaway group. While seasoned climbers struggled behind him, Merckx danced through the snow and mist, riding as though untouched by the cold or fatigue. He crossed the finish line alone, over four minutes ahead of the next rider. In doing so, he took the maglia rosa, and never relinquished it.
Merckx’s performance that day didn’t just win him the stage or the overall lead. It redefined what was thought possible on a bike. It proved that Merckx was not just a classics rider or a sprinter, but a complete cyclist — a Grand Tour dominator in the making.
The riders were stunned. Felice Gimondi later recalled,
That day, Merckx destroyed us all. I had never seen anything like it.
Italo Zilioli said,
We were not riding — we were surviving.
The following day, Italian newspapers were ablaze with emotion and awe. La Gazzetta dello Sport ran the now-famous line:
Il giorno in cui gli uomini piansero.
— a phrase that captured the mix of pain, surrender, and admiration felt throughout the peloton.
Ugo Colombo of La Gazzetta wrote
It was not a race, it was a pilgrimage of agony. Merckx passed through it like a god among ghosts.
The coverage was unanimous in declaring the arrival of a new era.