1978 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1978 Giro d'Italia

A total of 13 teams were invited to participate in the 1978 Giro d'Italia. In total, 95 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 37 riders came from: Belgium (13), Spain (9), West Germany (4), Switzerland (3), the Netherlands (2), Great Britain (1), New Zealand (1), Norway (1), and Sweden (1). Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists.

Of those starting, 45 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.78 years, ranging from 20–year–old Corrado Donadio (Vibor) to 37–year–old Franco Bitossi (Gis Gelati). The team with the youngest average rider age was Intercontinentale Assicurazioni (22), while the oldest was Bianchi (29). From those that started, a total of 90 riders made it to the finish in Milan.

The teams entering the race were:

• Bianchi
• Fiorella
• Gis Gelati
• Ijsboerke-Gios
• Intercontinentale Assicurazioni
• Magniflex-Torpado
• Mecap-Selle Italia
• Sanson
• Scic
• Selle Royal-Inoxpran
• Teka
• Vibor
• Zonca

Route and stages

The route for the race was revealed on 8 March 1978. The start of the race was moved up one week and three stage were cancelled so the race did not interfere with the World Cup that started on 1 June in Argentina. The fourteenth stage took the race into the Venice for a time trial. As the city was not conducive to the event, four ramps were created to allow for riders to ride up and down on canal crossings, as well as one floating bridge over the Grand Canal. The route will feature 25km of elevation gain.

Classification leadership

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1978 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. The general classification was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Giro. The rider leading the classification wore a pink jersey to signify the classification's leadership.

The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing in the top positions in a stage finish, with first place getting the most points, and lower placings getting successively fewer points. The rider leading this classification wore a purple (or cyclamen) jersey.

The mountains classification was the third classification and its leader was denoted by the green jersey. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. Most stages of the race included one or more categorized climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Passo Valles, which was first summitted by Italian rider Gianbattista Baronchelli.

The fourth classification, the young rider classification, was decided the same way as the general classification, but exclusive to neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing). The leader of the classification wore a white jersey.

Another classification was the team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. This was calculated by adding together points earned by each rider on the team during each stage through the intermediate sprints, the categorized climbs, stage finishes, etc. The team with the most points led the classification.

There were other minor classifications within the race, including the Campionato delle Regioni classification. The leader wore a blue jersey with colored vertical stripes ("maglia azzurra con banda tricolore verticale").

The Fiat Ritmo classification, created in the 1976 edition, was used again, but this year the winner received a Fiat Ritmo. For this classification, there was one intermediate sprint per stage, and the first three riders scored points.

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Young rider classification

Campionato delle Regioni classification

Traguardo Fiat Ritmo classification

Team points classification

Doping

There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1978.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

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