1952 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Nineteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1952 edition of the Giro d'Italia, but only seventeen accepted the invitation. It was planned to have a team of seven German riders, sponsored by Paglianti, so they were assigned bib numbers 71 to 77. A few days before the start of the 1952 Giro, it became clear that there had been a miscommunication between the Giro organisation and the German cycling authority: the German cycling organisation was not planning to send riders, because they never reached an agreement on the financial compensation. Each team sent a squad of seven riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 112 cyclists. From the riders that began the race, 98 made it to the finish in Milan.

The teams entering the race were:

• Bianchi
• Garin
• Guerra
• Nilux

Pre-race favorites

The "Big Three" of Italian cycling started the race and were all seen as strong favorites to win the race. Reigning champion Fiorenzo Magni (Ganna) started the race with hopes of winning the race a third time (He also won in 1948). Three-time champion (1940, 1947, & 1949) Fausto Coppi (Bianchi). Gino Bartali (Bartali) made his twelfth start at the race, with a history of winning the race three times (1936, 1937, & 1946) and four second-place finishes.

Due to the participation of several strong riders at the time, including many non-Italian riders, at the race was thought to be very competitive and the event growing into a more international event. Current Swiss road race champion and world road race champion Ferdinand Kübler (Fiorelli) started the race. Kübler entered the race after having won two of the three races comprising the Ardennes classics that took place in early May (Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne). He was seen as a strong favorite to contend for the general classification, along with having a strong team in support. Hugo Koblet (Guerra), who won the 1950 Giro d'Italia, started the race. Attilio Camoriano of l'Unità wrote that Koblet could be a threat in the race if he was not using it as preparation for the upcoming Tour de France. The previous year's runner-up Rik Van Steenbergen and teammate Stan Ockers (Girardengo) were seen as the best Belgian entrants with general classification chances. Milan–San Remo winner Loretto Petrucci (Bianchi) was known to ride for Coppi, but there were thoughts that he would be able to attack after the Dolomites.

The Nilux team featured three Australian riders, who may have been the first Australian riders to participate in the race. The Torpado team featured famed Spanish riders Bernardo Ruiz and Jesús Loroño. It was noted that top French riders at the time were lacking from the race's start list, although Raphaël Géminiani (Bianchi) did participate as a support for Coppi. Géminiani had finished second at the 1951 Tour de France and had the reputation of a climber. Tour de Romandie winner Wout Wagtmans (Garin) was set to ride the Giro, but withdrew at the last moment. It was speculated to be a battle between Swiss and Italian riders.

Route and stages

The route was revealed on 29 February 1952. The race route contained twenty stages, of which two were individual time trials, as well as three rest days. There were twelve categorized climbs that awarded points for the mountains classification across seven stages.

The route was thought to give chances of success to all types of riders as there were several flat stages, "mixed" stages, time trials, and mountainous stages. The first time trial was flat, while the second had a final 7 km that was downhill. The eleventh and nineteenth stages were seen as the most important. The eleventh leg featured three climbs as the race traveled from Venice to Bolzano and climbed the Falzarego, Pordoi Pass, and Passo Sella. Stage 19 stretched from Saint-Vincent to Verbania and featured the climbs of Great St Bernard Pass, which was the highest pass of the race at 2473 m, and Simplon Pass. Camoriano wrote when the route was announced that the route was open and good for those that are "capable and complete."

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 1951.

There were several secondary classification. The highest ranked cyclist riding with a licence for independents was identified by the white jersey; at the end of the Giro this was Donato Zampini. Another classification was calculated in the same method, but was exclusive to foreign riders and awarded a green jersey.

The mountains classification leader wore no leader's jersey. There was one category for mountains which awarded 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point to the first five riders. Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of best three cyclists per team per stage were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time.

Final standings

General classification

Independent rider classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Kubler was the highest ranked non-Italian rider.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (9 June 1952). "Coppi Vencedor De La Vuelta A Italia". El Mundo Deportivo.
2. (9 June 1952). "Trionfo di Coppi nel Giro". Editrice La Stampa.
3. (9 June 1952). "Per la quarta volta Coppi trionfa nel "Giro d'Italia"". [[l'Unità]].
4. (7 May 1952). "Diciannove squadre con corridori di nove nazioni al Giro d'Italia". Corriere dello Sport.
5. (14 May 1952). "Gli inscritti". Corriere dello Sport.
6. Desch.. (17 May 1952). "Le Tour d'Italie debute aujourd'hui". La Sentinelle.
7. (17 May 1952). "Lo schieramento in corsa". Corriere dello Sport.
8. (16 May 1952). "Avant le 35e Tour d'Italie cycliste". L'Impartial.
9. Bill and Carol McGann. "1952 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
10. Attilio Camoriano. (16 May 1952). "6 nomi nel gioco del pronostico Koblet, Coppi, Bartali, Kubler, Magni, e Minardi". [[l'Unità]].
11. Attilio Camoriano. (1 March 1952). "Il Giro '52 ha gia pronto l'abito nuovo ma il Sud (il grande escluso) protesta …". [[l'Unità]].
12. (15 May 1952). "Il Giro d'Italia". Corriere dello Sport.
13. (16 May 1952). "Il Giro d'Italia". Corriere dello Sport.
14. Attilio Camoriano. (15 May 1952). "Il Giro d'Italia 1952 non e perfetto Ma puo essere perfetta una corsa?". [[l'Unità]].
15. Attilio Camoriano. (17 May 1952). "Verso Bologna rotola veloce il Giro alla caccia della prima maglia rosa". [[l'Unità]].
16. (16 May 1952). "I 12 traguardi del G. P. della Montagna". Corriere dello Sport.
17. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
18. (9 June 1952). "La maglia bianca". Corriere dello Sport.
19. (9 June 1952). "La maglia verde". Corriere dello Sport.
20. "Informatie over de Giro d'Italia van 1952". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl.
21. (9 June 1952). "Classifica Generale". Corriere dello Sport.
22. (9 June 1952). "Classifica a squadre". Corriere dello Sport.
23. (8 June 1952). "Scalata in comitiva dei valichi alpini e vittoria di Schaer al traguardo di Verbania". Editrice La Stampa.
24. (9 June 1952). "Classifica finale". Editrice La Stampa.