1929 Giro d'Italia

Participants

Of the 166 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 19 May, 99 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 9 June. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team. There were eight teams that competed in the race: Bianchi-Pirelli, Gloria-Hutchinson, Ideor-Pirelli, Legnano-Hutchinson, Maino-Clément, Prina-Pirelli, Touring-Pirelli, and Wolsit-Hutchinson.

The peloton was primarily composed of Italians. Alfredo Binda, a three-time winner and reigning champion, came in as the favorite to win the race. Outside of Binda, the field featured only one other Giro d'Italia winner in Gaetano Belloni who won the 1920 running. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Giuseppe Pancera, Antonio Negrini, and Domenico Piemontesi.

Race summary

The first stage was won by Belloni, who was 36 years old. He was the oldest stage winner in the Giro at that point, and would hold this record until Alessandro Bertolini won a stage in the 2008 Giro d'Italia. Belloni automatically also became the first leader of the general classification, where he also took the record for oldest leader; this record would be broken in 1971 by Aldo Moser.

From the second to the ninth stage, Binda set a record of eight consecutive stage victories. Belloni lost six minutes in stage 4, handing over the lead to Binda, and lost an hour in stage 5.

On the eighth stage, Belloni was behind the peloton after a crash, and while he was chasing them back, a young boy jumped in front of his bike. Belloni collided with the young boy, killing the young boy. Belloni abandoned the race.

After the ninth stage, Binda's lead in the general classification was not large, because most stages had finished in a large sprint.

In the thirteenth stage, Binda won the sprint. The jury however decided that the sprint of the first four riders had been irregular, giving the victory to the fifth rider.

After the last stage had finished in the Arena stadium in Milan, the spectators turned against Binda, because fans were tired of his hegemony. For the next Giro, Binda would be paid by the Giro organisation to stay away, with the goal of making the Giro more exciting for the fans.

Final standings

Stage results

This Giro was the first Giro to have an extended visit to the South of Italy.

General classification

There were 99 cyclists who had completed all fourteen 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.

Junior rider classification

Independent rider classification

References

;Footnotes

;Citations

;Bibliography

References

1. (10 May 1929). "Ciclismo". Il Littoriale.
2. Bill and Carol McGann. "1929 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
3. Boyce, Barry. "17th Giro d'Italia 1929, Binda Time 4!". Cycling Revealed.
4. (10 June 1929). "Alfredo Binda ha vinto per la quarta volta il Giro d'Italia". Il Littoriale.