1956 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Fifteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1956 edition of the Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of seven riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 105 cyclists. From the riders that began the race, 43 made it to the finish in Milan.

The Giro organisation invited five national teams (most of which for the duration of the Giro were sponsored by an Italian company) and ten Italian teams:

• Arbos-Bif-Clément
• Atala-Pirelli
• Bianchi-Pirelli
• Carpano-Coppi
• Eldorado (Belgium)
• Faema-Guerra (International)
• Francia
• Fréjus-Superga
• Girardengo-ICEP (Spain)
• Italcover (the Netherlands)
• Ignis
• Legnano
• Leo-Chlorodont
• Nivea-Fuchs
• Torpado-Pirelli The "international" team was a combined Swiss-Luxembourgish team.

Pre-race favorites

The race was thought to be more open in previous years due to notable absences of top riders like Louison Bobet due to sickness, 1950 winner Hugo Koblet as he was recovering from a back injury and desired to focus on the Tour de France, Stan Ockers, Ferdinand Kübler, and Raphaël Géminiani, along with the innovations regarding the race route. A Feuille d'Avis de Neuchatel writer felt that the race would offer a great opportunity for the younger riders to succeed as the previous great riders like Coppi are getting too old. Previous year's winner Fiorenzo Magni (Nivea-Fuchs) was one of the older generation of riders to enter the race in great form, coming off of a win at the Tour of Piedmont. In addition, Magni had announced that this would be his last Giro as he would retire as the season's end. The writer continued naming young Italians with potential to contend like Gastone Nencini (Leo–Chlorodont), following his performance in last Giro, amateur road race champion Sante Ranucci (Legnano), and Aldo Moser (Torpado). Jean Brankart lead the primarily Belgian Eldorado team and was viewed as a rider who would win a Tour de France. Some viewed Charly Gaul (Faema) as a favorite to contend for the overall. Spanish contenders were thought to be climber Federico Bahamontes (Girardengo), while sprinter Miguel Poblet (Faema) was thought to be a favorite for the flatter stages.

Route and stages

The route was revealed on 24 February 1956. The race contained eight stages with mountains, which contained sixteen categorized climbs.{{cite news|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,5/articleid,1586_02_1956_0080_0005_22114360/|title=Una tappa di tre chilometri novita del Giro d'Italia '56|language=it|date=4 April 1956|page=5|newspaper=La Stampa|publisher=Editrice La Stampa|access-date=27 May 2012|format=PDF|trans-title=A three-kilometer stage of the '56 Italian Tour

When interviewed about the route several current and former riders said that the route was thought to be difficult.{{cite news |url=https://archivio.unita.news/assets/main/1956/05/18/page_006.pdf |title=Sara pesante la strada dei "girini"!|language=it |date=18 May 1956 |page=6 |newspaper=l'Unità |publisher=PCI |access-date=27 May 2012 |format=PDF |trans-title=The road of the "tadpoles" will be heavy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501033541/https://archivio.unita.news/assets/main/1956/05/18/page_006.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2019 |url-status=dead }}

Classification leadership

One jersey was worn during the 1956 Giro d'Italia. 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 three mountains classifications in the 1956 Giro d'Italia, one for the Dolomites, Apennines, and one for the highest mountain in the race, the Passo dello Stelvio. The rider that was the first over the Stelvio was Ignis' Aurelio Del Rio. In all mountains classifications, points were earned by the first five riders over a mountain.

There was an intermediate sprints classification. Unlike in the years before, points could only be scored at intermediate sprints, and no longer at the finish. The first three riders at each intermediate sprint received points, 5 for the winner down to 1 for the third.

Newly introduced was the piste classification, in Italian known as Trofeo della plata. There were seven stages that ended on a velodrome, and the first five riders on those stages received points (5 for the winner, down to 1 for the fifth).

There was also one classification for the teams, based on stage positions: the stage positions of the three best riders per team were added, and the team with the lowest total rank was the best team. There was no jersey for this classifications.

There was also a time trial award in 1956, calculated by adding the times of each time trial, this was won by Pasquale Fornara.

Final standings

General classification

Trofeo Dolomiti

Trofeo Appennini

Intermediate sprints classification

Trofeo della plata

Team classification

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (14 June 1956). "Gaul Vencedor Del "Giro"". El Mundo Deportivo.
2. Herbie Sykes. (3 May 2017). "Part 3: Gaul & Monte Bondone". Soigneur.
3. John Wilcockson. (23 May 2006). "50 years later: Remembering Charly Gaul’s great ride". Competitor Group, Inc.
4. (19 May 1956). "I Partenti". Corriere dello Sport.
5. (19 May 1956). "La vieille garde (Coppi et Magni) résistera-t-elle une nouvelle fois aux assauts de la génération montante?". Feuille d'Avis de Neuchatel.
6. Bill and Carol McGann. "1956 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
7. (19 May 1956). "Sei i nomi per il gioco del pronostico". PCI.
8. (19 May 1956). "Les coureurs "du Giro" s'élancent pour une ronde de 3520 km". L'Impartial.
9. (25 February 1956). "Struttura, novita e percorso del Giro d'Italia 1956". Corriere dello Sport.
10. (25 February 1956). "Varato il Giro al fruscio delle prime corse". PCI.
11. (25 February 1956). ""La Gazzetta dello Sport" ofrece la patrocincion del equipo espanol en el <>". El Mundo Deportivo.
12. (25 February 1956). ""La Gazzetta dello Sport"". El Mundo Deportivo.
13. (19 May 1956). "Su Queste Montagne Si Decidera". PCI.
14. (19 May 1956). "Speranze e timori". PCI.
15. Ennio Mantella. (18 May 1956). "Sette candidati per un posto solo". Corriere dello Sport.
16. Ennio Mantella. (19 May 1956). "C'e nell'aria qualcosa di nuovo". Corriere dello Sport.
17. Mario de Angelis. (19 May 1956). "La parola... ai modesti". Corriere dello Sport.
18. Mario de Angelis. (19 May 1956). "Hoy se Inicia La Vuelta a Italia". El Mundo Deportivo.
19. Mario de Angelis. (19 May 1956). "Hoy se Inicia La Vuelta a Italia". El Mundo Deportivo.
20. Enrico Vignolini. (7 April 1956). "Il Giro d'Italia di ieri di oggi". Corriere dello Sport.
21. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
22. (8 June 1956). "Del Rio primo sul valico dello Stelvio e Maule vincitore in volata a Merano". Editrice La Stampa.
23. "Informatie over de Giro d'Italia van 1956". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl.
24. (11 June 1956). "Gaul ha vinto il Giro d'Italia". Editrice La Stampa.
25. (14 June 1956). "Gaul, Vencedor Del "Giro"". El Mundo Deportivo.
26. (9 June 1956). "Trofeo delle Dolomiti". Corriere dello Sport.
27. (5 June 1956). "Magni sara in gara nella "grande boucle"?". Editrice La Stampa.
28. (11 June 1956). "Trofeo Traguardi Volanti". Corriere dello Sport.
29. (11 June 1956). "Trofeo della Pista". Corriere dello Sport.
30. (11 June 1956). "G. P. Dell'Industria". Corriere dello Sport.