1968 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1968 Giro d'Italia

At the route's announcement on 21 March, the organizers announced twelve teams of ten would participate; however, one more team (Peugeot) was later invited. Each team sent a squad of ten riders so the Giro began with a peloton of 130 cyclists. Out of the 130 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 98 riders made it to the finish in Naples where eight riders were subsequently disqualified for testing positive for drugs leaving the general classification tally at 90 riders. The starting peloton consisted of 70 Italians, 16 Belgians, 15 Frenchmen, 11 Spanish, 7 Swiss, four Germans, three Dutch, two Danes, one English, and one Luxembourgian rider. The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager were introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place on 20 May, in the Campione d'Italia at 9:30 AM local time.

The teams entering the race were:

• Faema
• Germanvox–Wega
• Kelvinator

Pre-race favorites

The starting peloton did include the previous year's winner Felice Gimondi. Eddy Merckx was confirmed to participate with his Faema team. Eight-time Grand Tour winner Jacques Anquetil did not participate in the race because of a dispute over pay.

Route and stages

The race route was revealed to the public on 21 March 1968 by race director Vincenzo Torriani. The starting date of the event was moved from 18 or 19 May to the 20th because of the general election taking place within Italy that ended on 19 May. The race was broadcast by RAI throughout Italy. l'Unita writer Gino Sala's felt the route was geared towards climbers, referencing the inclusion of Tre Cime di Lavaredo which had been the previous year and eliminated several riders. Former racer Cino Cinelli felt the Tre Cime di Lavaredo would be the decisive stage, while three-time champion Gino Bartali felt the Spanish would benefit from the route. The average length of the stages was 178 km. The second individual time trial, in San Marino, was seen as an important stage as it featured inclines of 5-6%. Gianni Motta commented that "I've never seen so many mountains in a row one after another." Four mountains approached or exceeded 2000 m: Monte Grappa, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Rocca di Cambio, and Blockhaus. Following the route's unveil, El Mundo Deportivo author Juan Plans Bosch wrote that the Giro would always be second to the Tour de France as it was the first premier bike race, while he felt the Giro had better "historical and geographical illustrations."

To begin race festivities there was a parade through the streets of Campione d'Italia before the prologue started during the night. The race started with a 5.7 km prologue, which consisted of a 2.875 km circuit being crossed twice. The times from this stage were not included in the final times for the general classification, but were just done to determine the first person to wear the race leader's maglia rosa (). This was the first Giro d'Italia to have a prologue to open the race. The 130 starting riders were divided into thirteen groups of ten, with each group of ten contesting the course at the same time. The times of the fastest riders from each group were put together and the fastest of those times was the rider that would wear the first pink jersey. The route finished for the first time in Naples near Mount Vesuvius along the Mediterranean Ocean.

Race overview

The race's twelfth stage saw heavy rain from the start of the stage in Gorizia, which turned to snow as the race began to elevate into the Dolomites. Police lined the sides of the roads of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo as the riders passed through due to incidents that had occurred on the slopes the previous year. The leading group on the road had a ten-minute advantage on Eddy Merckx. Merckx was able to traverse the ten-minute gap, win the stage, and take the lead of the race.

Doping

At a presentation in Campione d'Italia, Torriani announced the measures for doping controls. This was the first Giro d'Italia to administer tests in attempt to catch riders doping, To determine whether a not tests would be administered, a set of twenty-two envelopes were made with each envelope having a slip of paper inside that read either "Yes" or "No". Following the finish of each stage one envelope was opened, if it read "No," then all riders could leave immediately. If it read "Yes," then riders with high placings on the stage and in the overall classification were tested. The results from these tests, however, would be available fifteen days after the conclusion of the race. On 15 June, the Italian Cycling Federation announced that nine riders had tested positive during the race. The riders were Gimondi, Motta, Franco Balmamion, Franco Bodrero, Raymond Delise, Peter Abt, Victor van Schil, Mariano Diaz, Joaquin Galera.{{cite news |url=http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1968/06/16/MD19680616-022.pdf |title=Gimondi, Motta y Balmamion, entre otros, dopados en el |language=es |date=16 June 1968 |page=22|newspaper=El Mundo Deportivo|publisher=El Mundo Deportivo S.A. |access-date=21 April 2013|trans-title=Gimondi, Motta and Balmamion, among others, doped in the |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410193420/http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1968/06/16/MD19680616-022.pdf|archive-date=10 April 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1968/06/17/MD19680617-031.pdf |title=De confirmarse los analisis, se esperan descalificaciones automaticas de los culpables |language=es |date=17 June 1968 |page=31 |newspaper=El Mundo Deportivo|publisher=El Mundo Deportivo S.A. |access-date=21 April 2013|trans-title=If the analyzes are confirmed, automatic disqualifications of the culprits are expected |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410193352/http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1968/06/17/MD19680617-031.pdf|archive-date=10 April 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://dlib.coninet.it/bookreader.php?&c=1&f=13544&p=1#page/19/mode/1up|title=Controllo-si anche per Balmamion|newspaper=Corriere dello Sport|date=20 May 1968|pages=1, 10|access-date=7 July 2013|language=it|trans-title=Control-yes also for Balmamion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410195454/http://dlib.coninet.it/bookreader.php?&c=1&f=13544&p=1#page/1/mode/1up|archive-date=10 April 2019|url-status=live}} Balmamion was cleared of the charges as the substance found in his urine had not been officially banned. Gimondi's ban was overturned on 13 July as he persuaded the authorities he had used Reactivan. Years later, author John Foot wrote "Doubts remain about how much the influence of Gimondi's fame and his ability to employ expensive lawyers and experts had on his case," casting further doubt on the legitimacy of Gimondi's claims of innocence. The Tour de France organizers adopted the Giro's doping control scheme for their 1968 race.

Classification Leadership

Two different leader's jerseys were worn during the 1968 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 no time bonuses in 1968.

For the points classification, which awarded a red jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15.

A major secondary classification was the mountains classification. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. There were a total of nineteen categorized climbs, of which the highest one, the Cima Coppi, was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

There was also an intermediate sprints classification. Stages had one or two sprints, and the first two riders to reach these sprints scored 30 and 10 points.

Another secondary classification was the secret sprint (or surprise sprint) classification. Each stage (excluding time trials) had a midway sprint, whose location was not shared.

Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams. Here riders scored points for their teams for a high stage finish, leading the general classification, or beging amongst the first riders at a mountain pass or intermediate sprint.

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Traguardi a sorpresa classification

Team classification

Minor classifications

Franco Bitossi (Filotex) won the traguardi tricolori classification and Merckx won the Trofeo dei Circuiti.

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (13 June 1968). "Perlas del "Giro"". El Mundo Deportivo S.A..
2. (12 June 1968). "La <> del doping sta per scoppiare?". PCI.
3. (17 June 1968). "Gimondi: <<Giuro, non è vero!>> Motta: <<C'è sotto qualcosa?>>". PCI.
4. Paul Maunder. (25 May 2018). "Part 6: Turning Through the Clouds". Soigneur.
5. Juan Plans Bosch. (22 March 1968). "El <> de Italia de este Ano". El Mundo Deportivo S.A..
6. (20 May 1968). "Partono in 129 (la Pepsi rinuncia al decimo)". Corriere dello Sport.
7. (21 May 1968). "Partono in 130, Brand nella Pepsi". Corriere dello Sport.
8. Gianni Pignata. (19 April 1968). "Un Giro con molte novita e con tanti campioni in lizza". Editrice La Stampa.
9. Bill and Carol McGann. "1968 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
10. (20 March 1968). "Tredici squadre". Editrice La Stampa.
11. Gigi Boccacini. (20 March 1968). "Sarà una corsa dura". Editrice La Stampa.
12. (20 May 1968). "Gimondi fait figure de grand favori mais attention au Belge Eddy Merckx". Feuille d'Avis de Neuchatel.
13. (20 May 1968). "Le duel Gimondi-Merckx". Nouvelliste et Feuille d'Avis du Valais.
14. Gino Sala. (22 March 1968). "Questo il <> del '68". PCI.
15. (20 May 1968). "Ecco il Giro!". Corriere dello Sport.
16. Gianni Pignata. (12 March 1968). "Il Giro d'Italia partira il 20 (o il 21) maggio". Editrice La Stampa.
17. (20 May 1968). "Un Giro ad alta quota". Corriere dello Sport.
18. (22 March 1968). "Questo il <> del '68". PCI.
19. (17 June 1968). "Negen renners gebruikten in Giro doping". [[Friese koerier]].
20. Geoffrey Nicholson. (23 June 1968). "Who will win the Tour this year? Have the British team a chance? Will drugs be an important factor?". The Observer.
21. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
22. (20 May 1969). "Trofeo Dreher Forte". Corriere dello Sport.
23. (19 May 1966). "Regolamento". Corriere dello Sport.
24. (20 March 1968). "Scatta il <>: si decidera in salita". Editrice La Stampa.
25. "Informatie over de Giro d'Italia van 1966". tourdefrancestatistieken.nl.
26. (13 June 1968). "Clasificaciones". El Mundo Deportivo S.A..
27. (12 June 1968). "Adorni punito per aver ingannato l'antidoping?". PCI.
28. (12 June 1968). "Il Giro in cifre". Corriere dello Sport.
29. (11 June 1968). "Il Giro in cifre". Corriere dello Sport.
30. (12 June 1968). "TV a Sorpresa". Corriere dello Sport.
31. (12 June 1968). "Quattro vittorie per Merckx". Corriere dello Sport.