1940 Giro d'Italia

1940 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates17 May – 9 June 1940
Stages20
Distance3,574 km (2,221 mi)
Winning time107h 31' 10"
Results
Winner  Fausto Coppi (ITA) (Legnano)
  Second  Enrico Mollo (ITA) (Fréjus)
  Third  Giordano Cottur (ITA) (Lygie)
  Mountains  Gino Bartali (ITA) (Legnano)
  Team Gloria

The 1940 Giro d'Italia was the 28th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 17 May 1940 in Milan with a stage that stretched 180 km (112 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 9 June 1940 after a 180 km (112 mi) stage and a total distance covered of 3,574 km (2,221 mi).

The race was won by Fausto Coppi (at his first participation) of the Legnano team, with fellow Italians Enrico Mollo and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.

Coppi, who was 20 years old at the time, is the youngest winner of the Giro.

Participants

Of the 91 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 17 May 1940,[1] 47 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 9 June May.[2] Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 41 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 50 competed as a part of a group.[1] The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Legnano, Gloria, Olympia, Lygie, Gerbi.[1][2] Each team started with either six or seven riders.[1] The Ganna team did not start the race due to the team's Belgian riders not being cleared to enter the country.[2] There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race.[1] Those groups were: S. C. Binda, G. S. Battisti-Aquilano, U. S. Azzini-Universal, Cicli Viscontea,[Notes 1] Dopolavoro Az. Bemberg, U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, Dopolavoro Az. Vismara, S. S. Parioli, and G. S. Mater.[1][2]

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders.[2] The field featured two former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winners Gino Bartali and Giovanni Valetti, who was the reigning champion.[1][2] Bartali studied the route for the Giro intensely during the winter before the race and during reconnaissance rides, he befriended local business owners with the hopes of contacting for local road and weather conditions during the race.[3] Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Fausto Coppi.[1][2] The only non-Italian riders to compete in the race were Luxembourgian Christophe Didier and Swiss rider Walter Diggelmann.[2] Bartali and Valetti were both seen a strong contenders for the overall title.[2]

Originally, a team sponsored by Ganna would have joined, formed by mostly Belgian riders. After the German invasion of Belgium, travel became difficult, and these Belgian riders were unable to reach Italy; from this team only Christophe Didier from Luxembourg was able to reach Italy. Didier was then allowed to race as member of the Olympia team, which was short three riders because three Swiss riders were also not able to reach Italy.[4]

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and winners[2]
Stage Date Course Distance Type[Notes 2] Winner
1 17 May Milan to Turin 180 km (112 mi) Plain stage  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
2 18 May Turin to Genoa 226 km (140 mi) Plain stage  Pierino Favalli (ITA)
3 19 May Genoa to Pisa 188 km (117 mi) Plain stage  Diego Marabelli (ITA)
4 20 May Pisa to Grosseto 154 km (96 mi) Plain stage  Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
5 21 May Grosseto to Rome 224 km (139 mi) Plain stage  Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
22 May Rest day
6 23 May Rome to Naples 238 km (148 mi) Plain stage  Glauco Servadei (ITA)
7 24 May Naples to Fiuggi 178 km (111 mi) Plain stage  Walter Generati (ITA)
8 25 May Fiuggi to Terni 183 km (114 mi) Plain stage  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
9 26 May Terni to Arezzo 183 km (114 mi) Plain stage  Primo Volpi (ITA)
10 27 May Arezzo to Florence 91 km (57 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
28 May Rest day
11 29 May Florence to Modena 184 km (114 mi) Plain stage  Fausto Coppi (ITA)
12 30 May Modena to Ferrara 199 km (124 mi) Plain stage  Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
13 31 May Ferrara to Treviso 125 km (78 mi) Plain stage  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
14 1 June Treviso to Abbazia (Yugoslavia) 215 km (134 mi) Plain stage  Glauco Servadei (ITA)
15 2 June Abbazia (Yugoslavia) to Trieste 179 km (111 mi) Plain stage  Mario Vicini (ITA)
3 June Rest day
16 4 June Trieste to Pieve di Cadore 202 km (126 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Mario Vicini (ITA)
17 5 June Pieve di Cadore to Ortisei 110 km (68 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Gino Bartali (ITA)
6 June Rest day
18 7 June Ortisei to Trento 186 km (116 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Glauco Servadei (ITA)
19 8 June Trento to Verona 149 km (93 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Gino Bartali (ITA)
20 9 June Verona to Milan 180 km (112 mi) Plain stage  Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
Total 3,574 km (2,221 mi)

Race overview

During the second stage, Bartali crashed into a dog that ran onto the road, throwing him from the bike.[3] He returned to his bike, but a doctor examination after finishing the stage, led the diagnosis of a strained muscle and a recommendation to withdraw from the race.[3] Bartali elected to remain the race, but knew he could not win.[3] Bartali's team mate Fausto Coppi, originally selected to help Bartali, finished this stage in second place, and climbed to the second place in the general classification.[2]

Coppi stayed in the top of general classification in the first half of the Giro, although not without problems. In the eighth stage, he had an accident with a car, and his bike was broken. He only lost three minutes, because his team mate Mario Ricci was told to give his bike to Coppi.[2]

After the tenth stage, Coppi was in third place, with only Enrico Mollo and Severino Canavesi in front of him. In the eleventh stage, Coppi attacked on the Abetone, and rode a solo to the finish, winning the stage by almost four minutes, becoming the new race leader. From then on, the Legnano team fully worked for Coppi.[2][5]

Bartali was fifteen minutes behind in the general classification, and considered abandoning the race. His team director Eberardo Pavesi requested him to stay in the race, to work for the team in case Coppi was unable to stay in the lead. In the sixteenth stage, Coppi was not feeling well, and when the climbing started, had to stop on the side of the road to vomit. When Bartali reached Coppi, Bartali was able to convince Coppi to get back on his bike and ride on. Coppi reached the finish, losing only a few seconds to his closest rival Mollo.[2][5]

On the seventeenth stage, Coppi was feeling better, and together with Bartali he rode away from all other riders. Coppi had a flat tire twice, and Bartali waited for him both times. When Bartali had a flat tire, Coppi did not wait until he was told to wait by his team director Eberardo Pavesi. Coppi listened and waited for Bartali; they rode to the finish together and Bartali won the stage, while Coppi cemented his lead.[2]

In the final stages, there were no big changes in the general classification, so Coppi became the winner of the 1940 Giro in his first participation, only twenty years old.[5]

Classification leadership

The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.[6] There were no time bonuses in 1940.[7]

There was a special classification for the grouped riders, calculated in the same way as the general classification. The leader of this classification was given the white jersey.[8] In 1940, one stage was won by a grouped rider: stage 3 by Maribelli for GS Battisti.[8]

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the five riders who crossed them first.[6][9]

The winner of the team classification was determined by adding the finish times of the best three cyclists per team together and the team with the lowest total time was the winner.[2][10][11]If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.[2][10] The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.[10][8]

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Classification leadership table[12]
Stage Winner General classification
 Best grouped rider
 Mountains classification Team classification Group classification
1 Vasco Bergamaschi Olimpio Bizzi Marcello Spadolini not awarded Bianchi UC Modenese
2 Gino Bartali Osvaldo Bailo Fulvio Montini multiple shared Cicli Viscontea
3 Diego Marabelli Giovanni De Stefanis Legnano
4 Adolfo Leoni Pierino Favalli Giovanni Gotti Gloria UC Modenese
5 Adolfo Leoni
6 Glauco Servadei Cicli Viscontea
7 Walter Generati
8 Olimpio Bizzi Enrico Mollo U.S. Azzini-Universal
9 Primo Volpi
10 Olimpio Bizzi Primo Volpi
11 Fausto Coppi Fausto Coppi Giovanni De Stefanis Fausto Coppi
12 Adolfo Leoni
13 Olimpio Bizzi
14 Glauco Servadei
15 Mario Vicini
16 Mario Vicini
17 Gino Bartali
18 Glauco Servadei Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi
19 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali
20 Adolfo Leoni
Final Fausto Coppi Giovanni De Stefanis Gino Bartali Gloria U.S. Azzini-Universal

Final standings

Legend
  A pink jersey   Denotes the winner of the General classification
  White jersey   Denotes the best grouped rider

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)[2][13][5]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Fausto Coppi (ITA) Pink jersey Legnano 107h 31' 10"
2  Enrico Mollo (ITA) Olympia + 2' 40"
3  Giordano Cottur (ITA) Lygie + 11' 45"
4  Mario Vicini (ITA) Bianchi + 16' 27"
5  Severino Canavesi (ITA) Gloria + 16' 50"
6  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Gloria + 22' 30"
7  Walter Generati (ITA) Gloria + 25' 03"
8  Giovanni De Stefanis (ITA) White jersey Dop. Azzini Bamberg + 27' 50"
9  Gino Bartali (ITA) Legnano + 46' 09"
10  Settimio Simonini (ITA) U.S. Azzini-Universal + 48' 37"

Group rider classification

Final group rider classification (1–10)[13][14][5]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Giovanni De Stefanis (ITA) White jersey Dop. Azzini Bamberg 107h 59' 00"
2  Settimo Simonini (ITA) U.S. Azzini-Universal + 19' 47"
3  Adriano Vignoli (ITA) Cicli Viscontea + 29' 52"
4  Diego Marabelli (ITA) G. S. Battisti-Aquilano + 37' 28"
5  Cesare Del Cancia (ITA) Cicli Viscontea + 1h 06' 24"
6  Mario De Benedetti (ITA) Dopolavoro Az. Bemberg + 1h 14' 58"
7  Francesco Patti (ITA) Il Littoriale + 1h 18' 03"
8  Primo Volpi (ITA) U. S. Azzini-Universal + 1h 20' 53"
9  Fulvio Montini (ITA) S. S. Parioli + 1h 24' 19"
10  Eduardo Stretti (ITA) Dopolavoro Az. Vismara + 1h 34' 00"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–9)[2][15][5]
Name Team Points
1  Gino Bartali (ITA) Legnano 25
2  Fausto Coppi (ITA) Pink jersey Legnano 21
3  Enrico Mollo (ITA) Olympia 13
4  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Gloria 13
5  Mario Vicini (ITA) Bianchi 12
6  Giordano Cottur (ITA) Lygie 7
 Primo Volpi (ITA) U.S. Azzini-Universal
8  Giovanni De Stefanis (ITA) White jersey Dop. Azzini Bamberg 5
9  Diego Marabelli (ITA) GS Battisti-Aquilano 2
 Walter Diggelmann (ITA) Olympia

Team classification

Final team classification (1–6)[2][10]
Team Time
1 Gloria 306h 14' 23"
2 Legnano + 1h 51' 40"
3 Bianchi + 3h 30' 57"
4 Gerbi + 3h 32' 44"
5 Olympia + 3h 33' 18"
6 Lygie + 5h 03' 30"

Group classification

Final group classification (1–4)[10]
Team Time
1 U.S. Azzini-Universal 327h 34' 59"
2 Cicli Viscontea + 16' 41"
3 Dopolavoro Az. Vismara + 33' 41"
4 G.S. Battisti-Aquilano + 1h 15' 37"

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Cicli Viscontea was also known as Comando Generale M.V.S.N. or M.V.S.N.-Viscontea.
  2. ^ In 1940, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the tenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth stages included major mountains.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "I corridori che hanno punzonato" [Runners who punched]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 17 May 1940. p. 1. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Bill and Carol McGann. "1940 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d McConnon & McConnon 2012, p. 96.
  4. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 24.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Boyce, Barry. "28th Giro d'Italia 1940 (Italy), A Youthful Coppi Wins Before the War". Cycling Revealed.
  6. ^ a b Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  7. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 68.
  8. ^ a b c van den Akker 2023, p. 62.
  9. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 88.
  10. ^ a b c d e "L'ultima tappa in una immensa cornice di folla e la vittoria di Leoni" [The final step in a huge frame of the crowd and the victory of Leoni]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 10 June 1940. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  11. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 80.
  12. ^ "Informatie over de Giro van 1939". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl. Archived from the original on 10 October 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Con la vittoria d'un nuovo "asso,,: Fausto Coppi e con l'irresistibile volata di Adolfo Leoni il 28 Giro d'Italia ha avuto epilogo all'Arena" [With the victory of a new "ace,: Fausto Coppi and the irresistible sprinter Adolfo Leoni on the 28th Tour of Italy had epilogue Arena]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 10 June 1940. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  14. ^ "I vincitori delle categorie speciali" [The winners of the special categories]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 14 June 1950. p. 6. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Gino Bartali vince il Gran Pr. della Montagna "Martini e Rossi"" [Gino Bartali won the Mountains Classification "Martini and Rossi"]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 10 June 1940. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.

Bibliography

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