1920 Giro d'Italia

Participants

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1920 Giro d'Italia

Of the 49 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 23 May, ten of them made it to the finish in Milan on 6 June. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team. There were three teams that competed in the race: Bianchi-Pirelli, Legnano-Pirelli, and Stucchi-Pirelli .

The peloton was almost completely composed of Italians. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia champions in the three-time winner Carlo Galetti and returning champion Costante Girardengo. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Angelo Gremo, Giovanni Gerbi, and Giovanni Rossignoli. Frenchman Jean Alavoine who had some high placings in the Tour de France, along with the successful Belgian cyclist Marcel Buysse started the race.

Events

The first stage was won by Giuseppe Oliveri, who beat his two teammate Gremo and Belloni in a sprint, having distanced the rest of the field by more than ten minutes. In that stage, the defending champion Costante Girardengo had an accident, which made him lose time.

In the second stage, Oliveri and Girardengo both abandoned. Belloni won the second stage, and became the new leader in the race. Belloni also won the third stage; Girardengo's team had left the race at that point.

In the fourth stage, Alavoine attacked, and won by more than half an hour.

In the fifth stage, Alavoine sprinted to the victory, but second-placed Torricelli complained to the jury. The jury accepted Torricelli's complaints, and Torricelli became the winner of the stage. The Legnano team did not think that this penalty was sufficient, and left the race. This meant that only the Bianchi-Pirelli team was left in the race, together with some isolated riders. Commenters said that this Giro had been sick since the second stage, but that it was dead after the fifth stage. In that fifth stage, Belloni lost time, and Gremo became the new leader.

The seventh stage was the deciding stage: Belloni won much time on his competitors.

In the last stage, there were only ten riders left. They stayed together for most of the stage. Near the end, Schierano was left behind, and the nine other riders rode to the finish together, in the hippodrome Trotter in Via Padova, Turin. When they reached the hippodrome, they were sent to the wrong entrance. Schierano, coming slightly later, used the correct entrance, and he reached the finish first. Initially, the jury said that Schierano won the stage, and that all other riders were ex aequo in second place, but later the jury decided to nullify the results. Times taken at the entrance of the velodrome were used for the general classification, and stage prizes were shared among all riders.

Final standings

Stage results

General classification

There were ten cyclists who had completed all ten stages. For these cyclists, the times they had needed in each stage was added up for the general classification. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the winner. Emilio Petiva won the prize for best ranked independent rider in the general classification.

References

Footnotes

Citations

References

1. Bill and Carol McGann. "1920 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
2. (24 May 1920). "Lo "sprinter" Oliveri vince la 1a tappa del Giro d'Italia". La Stampa.
3. (26 May 1920). "La 2a tappa del Giro d'Italia - Girardengo e Oliveri si ritirano". La Stampa.
4. (2 June 1920). "Le VIIIe Tour d'Italie - Alavoine distancė". L'Auto.
5. (3 June 1920). "Il Giro d'Italia e morto". La Stampa.
6. (7 June 1920). "Le VIIIe Tour d'Italie". L'Auto.
7. (7 June 1920). "La fine disastrosa del Giro d'Italia - Disorganizzazione enorme a Milano, Schierano taglia primo il traguardo?". La Stampa.
8. (14 June 1950). "I vincitori delle categorie speciali". Corriere dello Sport.
9. (7 June 1920). "La fine disastrosa del Giro d'Italia". Editrice La Stampa.