1939 Giro d'Italia

1939 Giro d'Italia

Race details
Dates		28 April - 18 May
Stages		17, including two split stages
Distance		3,011.4 km (1,871 mi)
Winning time		88h 02' 00"
Results
	Winner	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)	(Fréjus)
	Second	Gino Bartali (ITA)	(Legnano)
	Third	Mario Vicini (ITA)	(Lygie)
	Mountains	Gino Bartali (ITA)	(Legnano)
	Team	Fréjus

The 1939 Giro d'Italia was the 27th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a cycling race organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 28 April in Milan with a stage that stretched 182 km (113 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 18 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3,011.4 km (1,871 mi). The race was won by the Italian rider Giovanni Valetti of the Fréjus team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Mario Vicini coming in second and third respectively.

Valetti had the lead halfway the race. Bartali then took over the lead in the mountains, but Valetti took it back in the penultimate stage. Bartali attacked on the last stage, but Valetti stayed in his wake and managed to win the race.

Participants

Of the 89 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 28 April,^[1] 54 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 18 May.^[2] Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 56 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed as a part of a group.^[1] The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria, Legnano, Lygie, Olympia, and Belgium.^[1][2] The teams ranged from six to eight riders each.^[1] There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race.^[1] Those groups were: U.S. Azzini, Dopolavoro Di Novi, S.S. Genova 1913, Il Littoriale, La Voce Di Mantova, U.C. Modenese, and S.C. Vigor.^[1][2]

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders.^[2] The field featured three former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winner Gino Bartali, Vasco Bergamaschi who won the 1935 edition, and reigning champion Giovanni Valetti.^[1][2] Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Cino Cinelli.^[1][2]

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and winners^[2]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type[Notes 1]		Winner
1	28 April	Milan to Turin	180 km (112 mi)		Plain stage	Vasco Bergamaschi (ITA)
2	29 April	Turin to Genoa	226.7 km (141 mi)		Plain stage	Gino Bartali (ITA)
3	30 April	Genoa to Pisa	187 km (116 mi)		Plain stage	Cino Cinelli (ITA)
4	1 May	Pisa to Grosseto	154 km (96 mi)		Plain stage	Carmine Saponetti (ITA)
5	2 May	Grosseto to Rome	222 km (138 mi)		Plain stage	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
	3 May	Rest day
6a	4 May	Rome to Rieti	85.7 km (53 mi)		Plain stage	Carmine Saponetti (ITA)
6b		Rieti to Monte Terminillo	14 km (9 mi)		Individual time trial	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
7	5 May	Rieti to Pescara	191.3 km (119 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
8	6 May	Pescara to Senigallia	177 km (110 mi)		Plain stage	Diego Marabelli (ITA)
9a	7 May	Senigallia to Forlì	116.5 km (72 mi)		Plain stage	Glauco Servadei (ITA)
9b		Forlì to Florence	106.6 km (66 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Gino Bartali (ITA)
	8 May	Rest day
10	9 May	Florence to Bologna	120 km (75 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
11	10 May	Bologna to Venezia	231.8 km (144 mi)		Plain stage	Pietro Chiappini (ITA)
12	11 May	Venezia to Trieste	173.8 km (108 mi)		Plain stage	Giordano Cottur (ITA)
	12 May	Rest day
13	13 May	Trieste to Gorizia	39.8 km (25 mi)		Individual time trial	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
14	14 May	Gorizia to Cortina d'Ampezzo	195 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Secondo Magni (ITA)
15	15 May	Cortina d'Ampezzo to Trento	256.2 km (159 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Gino Bartali (ITA)
	16 May	Rest day
16	17 May	Trento to Sondrio	166 km (103 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
17	18 May	Sondrio to Milan	168 km (104 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Gino Bartali (ITA)
	Total		3,011.4 km (1,871 mi)

Classification leadership

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.^[3]

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first.^[3]

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.^[4] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.^[4] The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.^[4]

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

Stage	Winner	General classification	Mountains classification	Team classification	Group classification
1	Vasco Bergamaschi	Vasco Bergamaschi	not awarded	?	S.C. Vigor
2	Gino Bartali	Gino Bartali		Legnano
3	Cino Cinelli	Cino Cinelli		?	?
4	Carmine Saponetti			Fréjus	La Voce di Mantova
5	Olimpio Bizzi
6a	Carmine Saponetti
6b	Giovanni Valetti		Giovanni Valetti
7	Adolfo Leoni		Giovanni Valetti & Gino Bartali		S.C. Vigor
8	Diego Marabelli
9a	Glauco Servadei	Secondo Magni
9b	Gino Bartali	Giovanni Valetti	Enrico Mollo
10	Olimpio Bizzi		Enrico Mollo & Michele Benente
11	Pietro Chiappini
12	Giordano Cottur
13	Giovanni Valetti
14	Secondo Magni		Gino Bartali
15	Gino Bartali	Gino Bartali
16	Giovanni Valetti	Giovanni Valetti
17	Gino Bartali
Final		Giovanni Valetti	Gino Bartali	Fréjus	S.C. Vigor

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[2][4]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)	Fréjus	88h 02' 00"
2	Gino Bartali (ITA)	Legnano	+ 2' 59"
3	Mario Vicini (ITA)	Lygie	+ 5' 07"
4	Severino Canavesi (ITA)	Gloria	+ 7' 55"
5	Settimo Simonini (ITA)	Il Littoriale	+ 16' 40"
6	Salvatore Crippa (ITA)	Ganna	+ 17' 52"
7	Giordano Cottur (ITA)	Lygie	+ 18' 40"
8	Cesare Del Gancia (ITA)	Ganna	+ 24' 34"
9	Cino Cinelli (ITA)	Fréjus	+ 26' 10"
10	Bernardo Rogora (ITA)	Gloria	+ 27' 40"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–9)^[2][4]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Gino Bartali (ITA)	Legnano	22
2	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)	Fréjus	19
3	Michele Benente (ITA)	Olympia	14
4	Enrico Mollo (ITA)	Olympia	10
	Settimo Simonini (ITA)	Il Littoriale
6	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)	Fréjus	6
	Giordano Cottur (ITA)	Lygie
	Secondo Magni (ITA)	Fréjus
9	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)	Bianchi	5
	Aladino Mealli (ITA)	S.C Vigor

Team classification

Final team classification (1–8)^[2][4]

	Team	Time
1	Fréjus	265h 00' 13"
2	Ganna	+ 27' 53"
3	Gloria	+ 29' 52"
4	Lygie	+ 57' 35"
5	Legnano	+ 1h 03' 55"
6	Bianchi	+ 3h 03' 19"
7	Olympia	+ 5h 55' 57"
8	Belgio	+ 9h 11' 50"

Group classification

Final group classification (1–3)^[4]

	Team	Time
1	S.C. Vigor	269h 46' 52"
2	La Voce di Mantova	+ 1h 23' 36"
3	Il Littoriale	+ 4h 20' 42"

References

Notes

1. In 1939, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the stages 7, 9b, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 17 included major mountains. The stage 6b individual time trial also contained a summit finish to Monte Terminillo.

Citations

1. "Gli iscritti" [Subscribers]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 28 April 1938. p. 4. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
2. Bill and Carol McGann. "1939 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
3. Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
4. "Tutto finito: Valetti l'ha spuntata su Bartali" [All finished: Valetti won the day on Bartali]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 19 May 1939. p. 4. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.