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1938 Giro d'Italia

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1938 Giro d'Italia
Race details
DatesMay 7–29, 1938
Stages18, including three split stages
Distance3,645.8 km (2,265 mi)
Winning time112h 49' 28"
Results
Winner  Giovanni Valetti (ITA) (Fréjus)
  Second  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) (Gloria)
  Third  Severino Canavesi (ITA) (Gloria)
  Mountains  Giovanni Valetti (ITA) (Fréjus)
  Team Gloria - Ambrosiana
← 1937
1939 →

The 1938 Giro d'Italia was the 26th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 7 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 182 km (113 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 29 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3,645.8 km (2,265 mi). The race was won by the Italian rider Giovanni Valetti of the Fréjus team, with fellow Italians Ezio Cecchi and Severino Canavesi coming in second and third respectively.[1]

Participants

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Of the 94 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 7 May,[2] 50 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 29 May.[3] Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 61 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed as a part of a group.[2] The nine teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Dei, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria-Ambrosiana, Lygie-Settebello, Legnano, Olympia, and Wolsit-Binda.[2][3] The teams ranged from six to eight riders each.[2] There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race.[2] Those groups were: U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, La Voce di Mantova, U.S. Azzini, U.S. Canelli, Dopolavoro Mater, and Gruppo A.[2][3]

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders.[3] The field featured one former Giro d'Italia winners with Francesco Camusso who won the race in 1931.[2][3] Reigning champion Gino Bartali did not enter the race because the Italian government ordered him to race the Tour de France instead.[3] Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Giovanni Valetti, Ezio Cecchi, and Giuseppe Olmo.[2][3] Swiss rider Leo Amberg who placed high at the 1936 and 1937 Tours de France competed in the race.[2][3][4]

Race summary

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The first stage ended in a bunch sprint, won by Marco Cimatti, who became the first leader of the general classification. In the second stage, several groups of riders escaped and beat the peloton by many minutes. The first group consisted of five riders: Mario Vicini, Cesare Del Cancia, Severino Canavesi, Ruggero Balli and Adriano Vignoli, who finished the stage in that order. Vicini also took the lead in the general classification.[3]

In the third stage, another group escaped, but although they stayed away until the finish, they did not win enough time to take over the lead of the general classification. The five riders that were in the leading group of stage two were still on top, but Del Cancia claimed the lead due to a better position in the stage.[3]

The fourth stage was split into two parts. In the first part, Valetti left the rest behind on the Bracco, continued his solo to won the stage,[5] climbing to eighth place; he only had riders in front of him that were part of the big escape in stage two.[3]

The seventh stage was also split into two parts. The first part was an individual mountain time trial to the [[Monte Terminillo ]], won by Valetti. He jumped to fourth place in the general classification, while Del Cancia was still in the pink jersey.[3]

In the ninth stage, Valetti escaped together with Giordano Cottur, and they won almost five minutes on all the other riders. Cottur won the stage, while took the lead in the general classification.[3]

Valetti showed that he was the best climber by coming over the Pian delle Fugazze first, and continuing alone until the finish, winning by more than two minutes.[5]

In the last stages, Valetti increased his lead to almost nine minutes, and became the winner of the 1938 Giro d'Italia.[3]

Route and stages

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Stage results[3]
Stage Date Course Distance Type[Notes 1] Winner
1 May 7 Milan to Turin 182 km (113 mi) Plain stage  Marco Cimatti (ITA)
2 May 8 Turin to Sanremo 204 km (127 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Mario Vicini (ITA)
3 May 9 Sanremo to Santa Margherita Ligure 172 km (107 mi) Plain stage  Giovanni Gotti (ITA)
4a May 10 Santa Margherita Ligure to La Spezia 81 km (50 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
4b La Spezia to Montecatini Terme 110 km (68 mi) Plain stage  Walter Generati (ITA)
May 11 Rest day
5 May 12 Montecatini Terme to Chianciano Terme 184 km (114 mi) Plain stage  Salvatore Crippa (ITA)
6 May 13 Chianciano Terme to Rieti 160 km (99 mi) Plain stage  Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
7a May 14 Rieti to Monte Terminillo 19.8 km (12 mi) Individual time trial  Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
7b Rieti to Rome 152 km (94 mi) Plain stage  Cino Cinelli (ITA)
8 May 15 Rome to Naples 234 km (145 mi) Plain stage  Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
May 16 Rest day
9 May 17 Naples to Lanciano 221 km (137 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Giordano Cottur (ITA)
10 May 18 Lanciano to Ascoli Piceno 149 km (93 mi) Plain stage  Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
11 May 19 Ascoli Piceno to Ravenna 268 km (167 mi) Plain stage  Cino Cinelli (ITA)
12 May 20 Ravenna to Treviso 199 km (124 mi) Plain stage  Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
May 21 Rest day
13 May 22 Treviso to Trieste 207 km (129 mi) Plain stage  Cesare Del Cancia (ITA)
14 May 23 Trieste to Belluno 243 km (151 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
May 24 Rest day
15 May 25 Belluno to Recoaro Terme 154 km (96 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
May 26 Rest day
16 May 27 Recoaro Terme to Bergamo 272 km (169 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Diego Marabelli (ITA)
17 May 28 Bergamo to Varese 154 km (96 mi) Plain stage  Cesare Del Cancia (ITA)
18a May 29 Varese to Locarno 100 km (62 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Leo Amberg (SUI)
18b Locarno to Milan 180 km (112 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
Total 3,645.8 km (2,265 mi)

Classification leadership

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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.[6]

There was a special classification for the grouped riders, calculated in the same way as the general classification. The leader of this classification was given the white jersey.[7]

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the five riders who crossed them first.[6][8]

The winner of the team classification was determined by adding the finish times of the best three cyclists per team together and the team with the lowest total time was the winner.[3][9] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.[9] The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.[9]

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Stage Winner General classification
 Best grouped rider
 Mountains classification Team classification Group classification
1 Marco Cimatti Marco Cimatti Edoardo Molinar not awarded Bianchi Il Littoriale
2 Mario Vicini Mario Vicini Settimo Simonini Mario Vicini U.S. Canelli
3 Giovanni Gotti Cesare Del Cancia Il Littoriale
4a Giovanni Valetti Dopolavoro Mater
4b Walter Generati
5 Salvatore Crippa Michele Benente Giovanni Valetti U.S. Canelli
6 Adolfo Leoni Il Littoriale
7a Giovanni Valetti
7b Cino Cinelli
8 Raffaele Di Paco
9 Giordano Cottur Giovanni Valetti Fréjus Dopolavoro Mater
10 Raffaele Di Paco Il Littoriale
11 Cino Cinelli
12 Raffaele Di Paco U.S. Canelli
13 Cesare Del Cancia Bianchi
14 Olimpio Bizzi
15 Giovanni Valetti Settimo Simonini Gloria-Ambrosiana
16 Diego Marabelli
17 Cesare Del Cancia
18a Leo Amberg
18b Olimpio Bizzi
Final Giovanni Valetti Settimo Simonini Giovanni Valetti Gloria-Ambrosiana U.S. Canelli

Final standings

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Legend
  Pink jersey   Denotes the winner of the General classification   White jersey   Denotes the best grouped rider[10]

General classification

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Final general classification (1–10)[3][10]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Giovanni Valetti (ITA) Pink jersey Fréjus 112h 49' 28"
2  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Gloria + 8' 52"
3  Severino Canavesi (ITA) Gloria + 9' 06"
4  Settimo Simonini (ITA)White jersey U.S. Canelli + 15' 50"
5  Michele Benente (ITA) U.S. Canelli + 19' 40"
6  Walter Generati (ITA) Bianchi + 22' 02"
7  Cesare Del Cancia (ITA) Ganna + 24' 07"
8  Karl Litschi (SUI) Olympia + 29' 24"
9  Ruggero Balli (ITA) Bianchi + 32' 23"
10  Adalino Mealli (ITA) Wolsit + 38' 38"

Grouped rider classification

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Final grouped rider classification (1–10)[10]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Settimo Simonini (ITA)White jersey U.S. Canelli 113h 05' 17"
2  Michele Benente (ITA) U.S. Canelli + 3' 57"
3  Richard Menapace (ITA) Dopolavoro Mater + 1h 04' 56"
4  Remo Cerasa (ITA) Il Littoriale + 2h 05' 29"
5  Zoarino Guidi (ITA) Il Littoriale + 2h 08' 03"
6  Edgardo Scappini (ITA) U.S. Azzini + 2h 09' 54"
7  Fulvio Montini (ITA) U.S. Azzini + 2h 17' 17"
8  Ascanio Arcangeli (ITA) Il Littoriale + 2h 42' 08"
9  Gilberto De Paolis (ITA) Dopolavoro Mater + 2h 43' 12"
10  Walter Fantini (ITA) U.C. Modenese + 3h 15' 28"

Mountains classification

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Final mountains classification (1–8)[3][10]
Name Team Points
1  Giovanni Valetti (ITA) Pink jersey Fréjus 29
2  Giordano Cottur (ITA) Lygie 26
3  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Gloria 18
4  Settimo Simonini (ITA)White jersey U.S. Canelli 13
5  Karl Litschi (SUI) Olympia 9
 Adalino Mealli (ITA) Wolsit
7  Severino Canavesi (ITA) Gloria 8
8  Bernardo Rogora (ITA) Gloria 5
 Michele Benente (ITA) U.S. Canelli
 Olimpio Bizzi (ITA) Fréjus

Team classification

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Final team classification (1–7)[3][9]
Team Time
1 Gloria-Ambrosiana 340h 5' 28"
2 Bianchi + 3' 06"
3 Fréjus + 51' 18"
4 Ganna + 1h 49' 00"
5 Wolsit-S.C. Binda + 4h 22' 32"
6 Dei + 5h 15' 52"
7 Olympia + 9h 11' 44"

Group classification

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Final group classification (1–3)[9]
Rank Team Time
1 U.S. Canelli 243h 17' 44"
2 Il Littoriale + 2h 53' 47"
3 Dopolavoro Mater + 3h 36' 32"

References

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Notes
  1. ^ In 1938, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the stages 2, 4a, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18a, and 18b included major mountains. The stage 7a individual time trial also contained a summit finish.
Citations
  1. ^ "La Stampa - Consultazione Archivio". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "I corridori iscritti" [The runners registered]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 7 May 1938. p. 4. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Bill and Carol McGann. "1938 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  4. ^ Bill and Carol McGann. "1937 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  5. ^ a b "Cycling's Twenty-One Greatest Climbers". BikeRaceInfo. McGann publishing.
  6. ^ a b Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  7. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 62.
  8. ^ van den Akker 2023, p. 88.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Il valore del rinnovato spirito di gara nelle cifre del XXVI Giro d'Italia" [The value of the renewed spirit of competition in the figures of the XXVI Tour of Italy]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 30 May 1938. p. 3. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d "Il Giro-Primato: 3754km. percorsi a 33,272 all'ora è vinto da Valetti" [The Tour-Primacy: 3,754 km ridden at 33.272 km per hour was won by Valetti]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 30 May 1938. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
Bibliography
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