Giro d'Italia
| 250px | |
| Tour of Italy | |
|---|---|
| Local name | Giro d'Italia |
| Region | Italy |
| Date | May, sometimes until early June |
| Type | Stage Race (Great Tour) |
| History | |
| First Edition | 1909 |
| Editions | 88 |
| First Winner | Luigi Ganna 
|
| Most Recent | Paolo Savoldelli
|
| Most Wins | Alfredo Binda , Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx .png){kind=small} , 5 times
|
The Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy), also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. It is one of the three Grand Tours, and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The most recent winner (2009) is Denis Menchov.
History
The Giro was inspired by the Tour de France and, just as the French race was intended to boost circulation of L'Auto, so Emilio Camillo Costamagna, the editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, aimed to increase his circulation. The first Giro d'Italia started on May 13, 1909 at Milan with eight stages totalling 2,448 kilometres (1,521 miles). Luigi Ganna was the first winner.
Along with the Tour de France and the World Cycling Championship, the Giro d'Italia makes up the Triple Crown of Cycling. Along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España it is one of the three Grand Tours.
Jerseys
Whereas the overall leader of the Tour de France is awarded a yellow jersey (originally to correspond with L'Auto 's yellow pages), since 1931 the overall leader in the Giro sports the maglia rosa (pink jersey), which corresponds with newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport 's pink newsprint. The "King of the Mountains" wears the maglia verde (green jersey). The leader of the points classification wears the maglia ciclamino (mauve jersey), the best young rider wears the maglia bianca (white jersey).
Italian Felice Gimondi holds the record for the most podium finishes: nine in total, consisting of three victories, two second places and four third place finishes.
Most wins
The following riders have won the most final jerseys:
Overall (maglia rosa)
The maglia rosa, or pink jersey, is worn each day by the cyclist with the fastest overall time up to that point of the Giro. The rider wearing the jersey may change from day to day, but given the glory and extra exposure for the team, individual and sponsor of the rider who holds the jersey, teams often make extra efforts to keep the jersey on the race leader form day to day. In fact, each team brings several pink jerseys to the race in case one of their riders becomes the leader. The cyclist with the lowest time at the end of the Giro's last stage wins the Giro. This is similar to the Yellow jersey, Maillot Jaune, used in the Tour de France.
- 5 wins: Alfredo Binda (1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933), Fausto Coppi (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953), Eddy Merckx (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974)
- 3 wins: Giovanni Brunero (1921, 1922, 1926), Gino Bartali (1936, 1937, 1946), Fiorenzo Magni (1948, 1951, 1955), Bernard Hinault (1980, 1982, 1985), Felice Gimondi (1967, 1969, 1976)
King of the mountains (maglia verde)
During mountain stages of the race, points are awarded to the rider who is first to reach the top of each significant climb. Points are also awarded for riders who closely follow the leader up each climb. The number of points awarded varies according to the hill classification, which is determined by the steepness and length of that particular hill. The green jersey is worn by the rider who, at the start of each stage, has the largest amount of climbing points. If a rider holds both the pink and green jerseys, the green jersey is worn by the rider in second place. At the end of the giro, the rider holding the most climbing points wins the climbing competition. In fact, some riders, particularly those who are neither sprinters nor particularly good at time-trialing, may attempt only to win this particular competition within the race. This is the same as the Polka dot jersey of the Tour de France. In 2008 it was won by Emanuele Sella.
Climbs rated "hors catégorie" (HC): 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5.
Category 1: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5.
Category 2: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5.
Category 3: 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Category 4: 3, 2 and 1.
For the last climb of a stage, points are doubled for HC and categories one and two.
- 7 wins: Gino Bartali
- 4 wins: José Manuel Fuente
- 3 wins: Claudio Chiappucci, Claudio Bortolotto, Franco Bitossi, Fausto Coppi
Points Competition (maglia ciclamino)
Points are given to the rider who is first to reach the end of, or determined places during, any stage of the giro. The number of points given, vary accordingly to how hard the stage is, determined by the length and number of hills, size of hills etc. in that particular stage. Points are also given to the first following riders, how many varies. The jersey is worn by the rider who at the start of each stage, has the largest amount of points. The rider whom at the end of the giro, holds the most points, wins the points competition. This competition is most often won by specialized sprinters who seldom have a chance in the overall competition. This is the same as the green jersey, maillot vert, of the Tour de France. The 2008 winner was Daniele Bennati.
Flat stages- 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points are awarded to the first 25 riders across the finish.
Medium-mountain stages- 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 20 riders across the finish.
High-mountain stages- 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 15 riders across the finish.
Time-trials- 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the top 10 finishers of the stage.
In addition, stages can have one or more intermediate sprints: 6, 4, and 2 points are awarded to the first three cyclists passing these lines.
- 4 wins: Francesco Moser, Giuseppe Saronni
- 3 wins: Mario Cipollini, Roger De Vlaeminck, Johan Van der Velde
Youth Competition (maglia bianca)
The youth competition is a competition within the giro, celebrating young riders. The white jersey is given to the rider under the age of 25 who gets the highest ranking in the general classification. In 2008 it was won by Riccardo Riccò.
