1937 Giro d'Italia

Participants

Of the 98 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 8 May, 41 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 30 May. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team or group; 65riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed independently. The four teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Fréjus, Ganna, and Legnano. Each team was composed of seven riders. There were also seven groups, made up of five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: Italiani All'Estero, Bertoldo, Il Littoriale, S S. Parioli, Belgi, Svizzeri, and Tedeschi.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured four former Giro d'Italia winners with the 1931 race winner Francesco Camusso, 1934 winner Learco Guerra, Vasco Bergamaschi who won the race in 1935, and returning champion Gino Bartali. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Giovanni Valetti, and Giuseppe Olmo. Notable foreign entrants were the Belgian riders Alfons Deloor, Alfons Schepers, and Antoine Dignef, and also the Swiss rider Leo Amberg who placed high at the 1936 Tour de France.

Race summary

The first two stages were won by grouped riders Troggi and Bernacchi, and they also became the first leaders in the general classification. In the next stages, the Frejus team took control, and Valetti became the leader. After the fourth stage, Valetti was leading with two-and-a-half minute over Bizzi and bartali.

Then came the team time trial, the first in Giro history. It was won by Bartali's team Legnano, and Bartali became the new leader. He lost some time in the second part of the stage later that day, and Valetti returned as race leader.

The eighth stage started with an individual mountain time trial. Bartali was the fastest rider, and took back the lead in the general classification. Valetti was 20 seconds behind, but the other riders were more than five minutes behind, so from then on Bartali and Valetti were the clear favourites for the overall victory.

Bartali was able to leave Valetti behind in the hilly stages, but lost some time when the peloton split and he was on the wrong side.

In the sixteenth stage, the Giro went to the Dolomites, the first time in Giro history. There, Bartali crushed the competition, finishing five minutes clear over all other riders. Bartali finished the Giro more than eight minutes ahead of Valetti, and thus for the second time became the winner of the Giro.

Route and stages

The first part of the fifth stage was the first ever team time trial in the Giro d'Italia.

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.

The liberi (free rider) classification, one similar to the general classification was calculated, using only independent riders and riders that came as members of groups. The leader of this classification wore the white jersey.

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 rider from a team abandoned the race, he could be replaced by a rider who started the 1936 Giro as isolated rider. The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.

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

Final standings

General classification

Liberi classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Group classification

Pinocchio classification

The 1937 had a Pinocchio classification, which worked in a similar way as the combativity classification: a jury gave points to the riders who deserved to win. It was won by Bartali.

References

;Notes

;Citations

;Bibliography

References

1. (8 May 1937). "L'elenco dei concorrenti". Il Littoriale.
2. Bill and Carol McGann. "1937 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
3. Boyce, Barry. "25th Giro d'Italia 1937 (Italy), Bartali in Full Control". Cycling revealed.
4. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
5. "Statistieken van de 1937 Giro d'Italia". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl.
6. (31 May 1937). "Il XXV Giro d'Italia si è chiuso con eccellente successo". Il Littoriale.