The cycling season steps up a gear as the annual Grand Tours curtain-raiser, the Giro d’Italia roars into life in Venaria Reale, in the Italian region of Piedmont this Saturday. It’s the first of 21 stages. It’s 115 years since the inaugural edition of the Giro and it’s always one of the most prestigious events in the cycling calendar. As well as being one of the three-week Grand Tours events, it’s also part of the important Triple Crown of Cycling, along with the Tour de France and the UCI Road World Championships.
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic stood proudly on top of the podium in Rome twelve months ago. It was a thrilling 2023 edition of the Giro, with the pink jersey/maglia rosa changing hands 7 times. Roglic’s 14-second win (over Britain’s Geraint Thomas) was the smallest margin of victory for 50 years, since saddle legend Eddy Merckx claimed his 5th and last Giro by 12 seconds in 1974. Will we witness another cycling saga on Italian soil this time around?
Giro d’Italia – The Wheels Are Set In Motion
La Gazzetta dello Sport editor Tullo Morgagni was the inspirational figure who first pursued the idea of creating the Giro d’Italia. He had seen how successful the Tour de France had been for cycling (and for the sales of L’Auto, the predecessor of the modern day L’Equipe sports newspaper), since the race had launched in 1903. Thankfully for cycling fans, Morgagni successfully managed to twist the La Gazzetta owner’s (Emilio Costamagna) arm. The first Giro d’Italia would take place in 1909.
On May 13th 1909, 127 riders made history in Milan, setting off for stage 1 of the very first Giro d’Italia. The inaugural Giro may have only been eight stages long, but the route covering a staggering 1500 miles in total. A total of 49 riders finished (all Italian), with Luigi Ganna claiming the plaudits, receiving a winner’s purse of 5,000 lire. Riders in the 1909 race accumulated points based on their stage placings, so the winner (Ganna) was the rider with the fewest points after the eight stages.
The scoring-based system would change in 1914 to the time-based system we have in place today, in which the rider who had the lowest aggregate time at the end of the race will be crowned champion. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened. The modern editions normally consist of 21 stages with two or three rest days included. The peloton was also expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
Homegrown Heroes Dominate The Giro d’Italia
Following Luigi Ganna’s victory in the first ever Giro d’Italia, seventeen other Italian riders would claim the Giro title before we had the first-ever foreign winner. Switzerland’s Hugo Koblet finally ended the homegrown domination in 1950. Alfredo Binda was one of the first Giro d’Italia legends. He won his first Giro in 1925 and was the dominant figure of the race in the 1920s, winning it another four times (1927, 1928, 1929 & 1933). Binda, or the “Trombettiere di Cittiglio” (“The Trumpeter of Cittiglio) as he was nicknamed, due to his musical talents, is one of only three riders in Giro d’Italia history to claim three titles. We’ll come on to the others soon. It was during this era (1931) that the pink jersey was first introduced. The colour was chosen, as La Gazzetta dello Sport, printed it’s papers on pink paper.
Five-Star Binda Blazes A Trail
Some of Binda’s Giro highlights include winning 12 of the 15 stages on the way to his 1927 title and clinching an amazing eight Stages on the spin on the way to his 1929 triumph. He also won the first ever Giro ‘King of the Mountains’ crown, when it was introduced during his final title success. Rumours have it that La Gazzetta dello Sport even offered him money to stop being so dominant, which of course he refused. Although, he did miss the 1930 Giro to race in the Tour de France.
Unfortunately, Binda didn’t receive mass admiration from the Italian public, not until late in his racing career any road. He was perceived as cold and detached in the Italian media and many prayed other Italian riders of the era, such as Costante Girardengo & Learco Guerra, would beat him. Binda wasn’t deterred and by the time he clinched another Cycling World Championship crown in 1932 in Rome, the public finally began to warm to him and his abundant talents.
Fausto Coppi Follows In Binda’s Tyre Tracks
Gino Bartali, the “Iron Man of Tuscany” claimed back-to-back Giro d’Italias in 1936 and 1937, but it was his main rival, Fausto Coppi, who would rule the roost in the pre and post World War 2 era. Bartali was defeated by his younger teammate, Coppi, in the 1940 race and the animosity between the pair would fester and grow from there. The Bartali/Coppi rivalry also divided the Italian nation, with Coppi a hero of the north and Bartali having the backing of the southern rural communities.
Bartali would regain his crown (his third) in 1946, narrowly beating Coppi. However, Coppi, the Piedmont pedaller, returned with a bang in 1947 to claim his second Giro success. He would reign supreme on the Italian roads on another three occasions (1949, 1952 & 1953). In 1949 and 1952, Coppi also won the Tour de France, becoming the first rider two win both Grand Tours in the same year.
Eddy Merckx’s Magical Mystery Tour
As mentioned, Switzerland’s Hugo Koblet became the first non-Italian winner of the Giro d’Italia in 1950. Other notable foreign winners of the Italian race were Charly Gaul from the Netherlands (1956 & 1959) and Jacques Anquetil from France (1960 & 1964). Anquetil, who was nicknamed ‘Monsieur Chrono’ for his exceptional time-trialling abilities, famously went on to become the first rider to win all three Grand Tours. Belgium’s Eddy Merckx stepped it up a further notch when claiming a stranglehold on the Giro in the 1970s. His first success came in the 1968 race. He would also stand tall on the podium in 1970, 1972, 1973 & 1974. In doing so, he would top the all-time Giro winning list with 5 titles, like Binda and Coppi.
Merckx’s victory in 1974 was the first time a rider had won three Giro d’Italias in-a-row since Binda in 1929. No rider has done so ever since. One positive introduction for the Giro during Merckx’s first victory year of 1968, was that drug tests were introduced. ‘Le Cannibale’ amazingly tested positive whilst defending his crown the following year and was disqualified. Merckx who is now 78, still proclaims his innocence to that alleged crime.
He would defiantly roar back the following year, to claim the 1970 crown. In the 1973 race, the Belgian famously led the race from start to finish. The first man to do for almost 50 years. Following his fifth and final Giro success in 1974, Merckx would also claim Tour de France and World Championship honours, all in the same year. The first man to claim the Triple Crown in the same year. Only one man has completed the set since, Ireland’s Stephen Roche in 1987.
Chris Froome & The Long Wait For A British Win
Chris Froome, who had sparkled in the Tour de France, winning the race four times, famously captured the Giro d’Italia crown in 2018. In doing so, the Kenyan-born Brit became only the 7th rider to complete the career Grand Tour grand slam. The other six being Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali. Froome’s success on Italian soil also meant he held all three Grand Tours at the same time. It followed his Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana successes in 2017.
Two years later, in 2020, when COVID was rife, Tao Geoghegan Hart became the second Brit to land the Giro d’Italia crown. For the first time ever, due to the pandemic, the race didn’t take place during May/June, but in October. Geoghegan Hart became the first rider in Giro history to claim the maglia rosa during the final stage of the race.
Rome With A View – Who’s In With A Shot For The 2024 Giro Crown?
A Slovenian is the bookies’ strong favourite to reign supreme on Italian soil for a second year running. However, it’s not last year’s winner, Primoz Roglic, but the two-time Tour de France champ (2020 & 2021), Tadej Pogacar. Unfortunately, Primoz Roglic misses the Giro due to his crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. He sets his sights on hopefully making a return for the Tour de France. Tadej Pogacar is making his Giro d’Italia debut this year. Pog has been sensational in the French Grand Tour winning twice and finishing 2nd twice in the previous four years. He’s also been in top notch form so far in 2024. He won the Volta a Catalunya stage event by almost 4 minutes and stormed to victory in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège one-dayer, less than a fortnight ago.
Britain’s Geraint Thomas returns for another crack at Giro glory. The 2018 Tour de France winner will be hoping for a change of fortune on Italian soil. Many thought he would perform well in previous years too, but he failed to finish in both 2017 & 2020. Thomas also finished a heartbreaking 2nd last year, 14 seconds behind Roglic. The Ineos Grenadiers rider wore the pink jersey for 8 stages in total, only losing it with just a stage to go.
Homegrown Hopefuls
Italian cycling fans will be hoping for another prominent showing from Damiano Caruso. The 36-year-old rider from Ragusa finished 4th (2023) and 2nd (2021) in his previous two Giro outings. At the other end of the age scale is Antonio Tiberi. The 22-year-old, who also rides for Team Bahrain Victorious, is making his Giro debut. He’s produced some promising performances so far in 2024, finishing 3rd in the Tour of the Alps and 8th in the Volta a Catalunya.
Stage 1 of the 2024 Giro d’Italia gets underway on Saturday. Coverage starts from 12:30 on Eurosport. Every stage is live on Eurosport (you can also watch ad-free on Discovery+).
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