1935 Giro d'Italia

Participants

Of the 101 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 18 May, 62 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; 55 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 46 competed independently. There were eight teams that competed in the race: Bianchi, Dei, Fréjus, Gloria, Helyett, Legnano, and Maino.

The peloton was primarily composed of Italians. The field featured seven former Giro d'Italia champions in five-time winner Alfredo Binda, two-time champion Costante Girardengo, and single race winners, Francesco Camusso, Luigi Marchisio, Antonio Pesenti, Learco Guerra, and Vasco Bergamaschi. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Giuseppe Olmo, Raffaele Di Paco, Remo Bertoni, and Domenico Piemontesi. French cyclist and two-time Tour de France champion André Leducq entered the Giro d'Italia for the first time in his career. Other notable non-Italian riders included: Maurice Archambaud, Jef Demuysere, and René Vietto.

At the start of this Giro, there were 6 former Giro winners (Girardengo, Marchisio, Camusso, Pesenti, Binda and Guerra), winning in total eleven stages, a record in Giro history. Also present were Bergamaschi and Bartali, making for a total of 15 Giro victories between 1919 and 1946, another record.

Race summary

Bergamaschi won the sprint in the first stage, and became the first leader. The second stage saw an escape by Piemontesi and Fantini; Piemontesi won the stage by a few seconds, and took the pink jersey.

The third stage ended in a bunch sprint won by Guerra, and Piemontesi stayed in the lead. The fourth stage also ended in a bunch sprint won by Guerra, but Piemontesi lost time in that stage, so Fantini inherited the pink jersey.

The first half of the fifth stage was a time trial. Olmo won, and became the new leader, with Bergamaschi in second place. The sixth stage was the pivotal moment of the 1935 Giro: a group escaped, including Bergamaschi and Bartali. Both were not seen as potential Giro winners, but had started this Giro as domestiques for their team captains Girardengo and Martano. The group was given freedom to ride away; afterwards other teams complained that the Giro organisation did not inform them about the margin. At the finish line, Bartali won his first ever Giro stage, and Bergamaschi won enough time to become the new leader in the general classification.

In the stages that followed, Bergamaschi did not crack. Helped by his strong team, he was even able to win some more time, and became the surprise winner of the 1935 Giro.

Route and stages

For the first time, some stages were split in two. The two parts of each split stage were held on the same day, with a short resting time in between.

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. Time bonuses were removed in the 1935 Giro.

The highest ranked non-Italian cyclist in the general classification and the highest ranked isolati cyclist in the general classification were tracked.

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

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. If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.

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

Final standings

General classification

Foreign rider classification

Isolati rider classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

References

;Notes

;Citations

;Bibliography

References

1. "Edición del Monday 10 June 1935, Página 6 - Hemeroteca - MundoDeportivo.com".
2. (18 May 1935). "Gli iscritti". Il Littoriale.
3. Bill and Carol McGann. "1935 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
4. (25 May 1935). "Bartali e Cecchi danno battaglia sulla salita delle Capannelle e tagliano nell'ordine, separati da 26 secondi, il traguardo di Aquila". Coninet.
5. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
6. (30 May 1933). "Significato e valore delle prove di giovani e di stranieri nel XXI Giro d'Italia che ha celebrato il trionfo di Binda". Il Littoriale.
7. (10 June 1935). "L'epilogo del Giro d'Italia". Il Littoriale.
8. (9 June 1935). "Bartali vince definitivamente il GP della Montagna "Martini e Rossi"". Coninet.