1940 Giro d'Italia

Participants

Of the 91 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 17 May 1940, 47 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 9 June May. Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 41 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 50 competed as a part of a group. The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Legnano, Gloria, Olympia, Lygie, Gerbi. Each team started with either six or seven riders. The Ganna team did not start the race due to the team's Belgian riders not being cleared to enter the country. There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: S. C. Binda, G. S. Battisti-Aquilano, U. S. Azzini-Universal, Cicli Viscontea,Cicli Viscontea was also known as Comando Generale M.V.S.N. or M.V.S.N.-Viscontea. Dopolavoro Az. Bemberg, U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, Dopolavoro Az. Vismara, S. S. Parioli, and G. S. Mater.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winners Gino Bartali and Giovanni Valetti, who was the reigning champion. Bartali studied the route for the Giro intensely during the winter before the race and during reconnaissance rides, he befriended local business owners with the hopes of contacting for local road and weather conditions during the race. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Fausto Coppi. The only non-Italian riders to compete in the race were Luxembourgian Christophe Didier and Swiss rider Walter Diggelmann. Bartali and Valetti were both seen a strong contenders for the overall title.

Originally, a team sponsored by Ganna would have joined, formed by mostly Belgian riders. After the German invasion of Belgium, travel became difficult, and these Belgian riders were unable to reach Italy; from this team only Christophe Didier from Luxembourg was able to reach Italy. Didier was then allowed to race as member of the Olympia team, which was short three riders because three Swiss riders were also not able to reach Italy.

Route and stages

Race overview

During the second stage, Bartali crashed into a dog that ran onto the road, throwing him from the bike. He returned to his bike, but a doctor examination after finishing the stage, led the diagnosis of a strained muscle and a recommendation to withdraw from the race. Bartali elected to remain the race, but knew he could not win. Bartali's team mate Fausto Coppi, originally selected to help Bartali, finished this stage in second place, and climbed to the second place in the general classification.

Coppi stayed in the top of general classification in the first half of the Giro, although not without problems. In the eighth stage, he had an accident with a car, and his bike was broken. He only lost three minutes, because his team mate Mario Ricci was told to give his bike to Coppi.

After the tenth stage, Coppi was in third place, with only Enrico Mollo and Severino Canavesi in front of him. In the eleventh stage, Coppi attacked on the Abetone, and rode a solo to the finish, winning the stage by almost four minutes, becoming the new race leader. From then on, the Legnano team fully worked for Coppi.

Bartali was fifteen minutes behind in the general classification, and considered abandoning the race. His team director Eberardo Pavesi requested him to stay in the race, to work for the team in case Coppi was unable to stay in the lead. In the sixteenth stage, Coppi was not feeling well, and when the climbing started, had to stop on the side of the road to vomit. When Bartali reached Coppi, Bartali was able to convince Coppi to get back on his bike and ride on. Coppi reached the finish, losing only a few seconds to his closest rival Mollo.

On the seventeenth stage, Coppi was feeling better, and together with Bartali he rode away from all other riders. Coppi had a flat tire twice, and Bartali waited for him both times. When Bartali had a flat tire, Coppi did not wait until he was told to wait by his team director Eberardo Pavesi. Coppi listened and waited for Bartali; they rode to the finish together and Bartali won the stage, while Coppi cemented his lead.

In the final stages, there were no big changes in the general classification, so Coppi became the winner of the 1940 Giro in his first participation, only twenty years old.

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. There were no time bonuses in 1940.

There was a special classification for the grouped riders, calculated in the same way as the general classification. The leader of this classification was given the white jersey. In 1940, one stage was won by a grouped rider: stage 3 by Maribelli for GS Battisti.

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the five 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 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

Group rider classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Group classification

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (17 May 1940). "I corridori che hanno punzonato". Il Littoriale.
2. Bill and Carol McGann. "1940 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
3. Boyce, Barry. "28th Giro d'Italia 1940 (Italy), A Youthful Coppi Wins Before the War". Cycling Revealed.
4. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
5. (10 June 1940). "L'ultima tappa in una immensa cornice di folla e la vittoria di Leoni". Il Littoriale.
6. "Informatie over de Giro van 1939". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl.
7. (10 June 1940). "Con la vittoria d'un nuovo "asso,,: Fausto Coppi e con l'irresistibile volata di Adolfo Leoni il 28 Giro d'Italia ha avuto epilogo all'Arena". Il Littoriale.
8. (14 June 1950). "I vincitori delle categorie speciali". Corriere dello Sport.
9. (10 June 1940). "Gino Bartali vince il Gran Pr. della Montagna "Martini e Rossi"". Il Littoriale.