1979 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1979 Giro d'Italia

Thirteen of the fourteen teams invited to the 1979 Giro d'Italia participated in the race. Kas were forced to decline their invitation, in favor of racing the Vuelta a España, by the Spanish Federation which wanted the "best Hispanic" peloton to be competing in Vuelta that year. In total 12 countries were represented, 84 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 66 riders came from: Belgium (15), Switzerland (12), France (8), Denmark (3), Australia (2), Germany (1), Great Britain (1), the Netherlands (1), Norway (1), South Africa (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, 43 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.42 years, ranging from 20–year–old Orlando Maini (Mobilificio San Giacomo) to 34–year–old Renato Laghi (CBM Fast-Gaggia). The team with the youngest average rider age was Sapa Assicurazioni (23), while the oldest was Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV (30). From the riders that began this edition, 111 made it to the finish in Milan.

The teams entering the race were:

• Bianchi-Faema
• CBM Fast-Gaggia
• G.B.C.-Galli-Castelli
• Gis Gelati
• Magniflex-Famcucine
• Mecap-Hoonved
• Mobilificio San Giacomo
• Peugeot-Esso-Michelin
• Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV
• Sapa Assicurazioni
• Scic-Bottecchia
• Willora-Piz Buin-Bonanza
• Zonca-Santini

Pre-race favorites

The starting peloton did include the 1978 winner, Johan De Muynck. Successful French rider Bernard Hinault did not enter the race.

Route and stages

The route was unveiled on 22 March 1979. Covering a total of 3301 km, it included five individual time trials, and nine stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points. The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 309 km shorter and contained one more time trial. In addition, this race contained one less stage.

Classification leadership

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1979 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 Pordoi, which was first crossed by Italian rider Leonardo Natale.

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. In addition, the rider had to be aged 24 and younger.

The team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. In 1979, the rules of this team classification changed: it was no longer based on points, but based on time.

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 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

Traguardi Fiat Ritmo classification

Campionato delle Regioni classification

Team classification

Doping

There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1979.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

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25. (12 May 1980). "Pagelle del '79". PCI.