Italian joy for Simoni

Gilberto Simoni celebrates with his Lampre team-mates

Click here for stage result and overall positions

Mario Cipollini rode to victory in the 21st and final stage of the troubled Giro d'Italia cycle race on Sunday.

But the renowned sprinter could do nothing to prevent his fellow Italian Gilberto Simoni from taking overall victory in the race.

The Lampre rider had a seven-minute advantage over second-placed Abraham Olano of Spain.

We all have a hope within us that cycling can be clean

  Gilberto Simoni

Cipollini, dubbed the "king of sprints", held off the challenge of Telekom rider Danilo Hondo for the final stage win in Milan.

But the 2001 race will be forever remembered for another chapter in the continuing drugs saga which has plagued the sport.

Leading contender Dario Frigo was expelled from the race after he was caught with illegal substances during a police raid on his hotel room in San Remo.

And organisers cancelled the 18th stage of the race on Thursday after competitors called an emergency meeting to decide the fate of this year's Giro.

"I'm clean, my conscience is clean," insisted Simoni. "This victory is the happiest moment in my life."

The 29-year-old wore the leader's pink jersey for the last eight stages of the race.

But Simoni's post-race comments referred mostly to the drugs drama, lamenting what the riders have had to endure.

Simoni celebrates his triumph

He said: "We've had a terrible time of it here.

"We gave the impression that we were responsible and we started the race again with the hope that something had changed.

"If the Giro had finished in San Remo, my win would have been meaningless.

"I'm happy that the other riders wanted to continue the race. We all have a hope within us that cycling can be clean, " he added.

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Giro d'Italia: Final stage results

1. Mario Cipollini (Italy) Saeco 3 hours five minutes and one second
2. Danilo Hondo (Germany) Deutsche Telekom
3. Marco Zanotti (Italy) Liquigas
4. Mauro Gerosa (Italy) Tacconi Sport
5. Ivan Quaranta (Italy) Alexia
6. Stefano Casagranda (Italy) Alessio
7. Andrej Hauptman (Slovenia) Tacconi Sport
8. Stefano Zanini (Italy) Mapei
9. Guido Trenti (U.S.) Cantina Tollo
10. Paolo Bossoni (Italy) Tacconi Sport all same time

Giro d'Italia: Final classification

1. Gilberto Simoni (Italy) Lampre 89 hours two minutes 58 seconds
2. Abraham Olano (Spain) Once 7:31 behind
3. Unai Osa (Spain) ibanesto.com 8:37
4. Sergej Honchar (Ukraine) Liquigas 9:25
5. Jose' Azevedo (Portugal) Once 9:44
6. Andrea Noe' (Italy) Alessio 10:50
7. Ivan Gotti (Italy) Alessio 10:54
8. Carlo Contreras (Colombia) Selle Italia 11:44
9. Pietro Caucchioli (Italy) Alessio 13:34
10. Giuliano Figueras (Italy) Panaria 14:08