1974 Giro d'Italia

1974 Giro d'Italia

Race details
Dates		16 May – 9 June
Stages		22, including one split stage
Distance		4,001 km (2,486 mi)
Winning time		113h 09 '13"
Results
	Winner	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	(Molteni)
	Second	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)	(Scic)
	Third	Felice Gimondi (ITA)	(Bianchi)
	Points	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)	(Brooklyn)
	Mountains	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	(Kas)
	Team	Kas

The 1974 Giro d'Italia was the 58th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours races. The Giro started in Vatican City, on 16 May, with a 164 km (102 mi) stage and concluded in Milan, on 8 June, with 257 km (160 mi) leg. A total of 140 riders from fourteen teams entered the 22-stage race, that was won by Belgian Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Gianbattista Baronchelli and Felice Gimondi, respectively.^[1][2] Merckx's victory in the 1974 Giro was his first step in completing the Triple Crown of Cycling – winning the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, and the World Championship road race in one calendar year – becoming the first rider ever to do so.

Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Brooklyn's Roger De Vlaeminck won the points classification and José Manuel Fuente of KAS won the mountains classification. KAS finished as the winners of the team points classification.

Teams

A total of fourteen teams were invited to participate in the 1974 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 140 cyclists.^[3] Three riders from Rokado did not start the race after enrolling, which reduced the starting field to 137.^[3] From the riders that began this edition, 96 made it to the finish Milan.^[3]

The teams entering the race were:

Molteni Bianchi Brooklyn Dreher Filcas

Filotex Vibor Jolly Ceramica KAS Magniflex

Ovest Rokado Sammontana Scic Zonca

Pre-race favorites

Reigning champion and four-time winner Eddy Merckx returned to the race in 1974 to defend his crown.^[3] He arrived to the race the day before after racing in the Four Days of Dunkirk.^[4] Merckx came into the Giro d'Italia after not having won a single spring classic for the first time since 1965.^[3] In March, he was forced to take a rest from cycling due to a respiratory ailment.^[5] Merckx gradually returned to racing after beating the illnes in late March, and writer Giuliano Califano stated that several experts found him to be in great form coming into the Giro.^[5]

José Manuel Fuente was thought to have entered the Giro in good form after winning the Vuelta a España weeks earlier.^[3][4][6] l'Unita interviewed several of the riders and many named Merckx as the favorite to take the victory.^[7] Gino Sala named Baronchelli, Battaglin, and Moser as three young riders who have the potential to become stars during the race.^[8][9] The peloton also featured 1971 winner Gösta Pettersson.^[3] Giuliano Califano of La Stampa believed that Merckx's biggest rival would be reigning world champion Felice Gimondi.^[5] Amidst rumors of not participating, Luis Ocaña confirmed three days before the start that he would not be racing this edition of the Giro.^[10]

Route and stages

Monte Generoso hosted the end of the 158 km (98 mi) sixteenth stage.

The route for the 1974 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public by race director Vincenzo Torriani on 29 March 1974.^[11][12] It contained one were individual time trial.^[11][12] There were eleven stages containing twenty three categorized climbs, of which four had summit finishes: stage 11a, to Il Cioccio; stage 16, to Monte Generoso; stage 18, to Borgo Valsugana; and stage 20, to Tre Cime di Lavaredo.^[13][14] In total the race route contained 26.78 km (17 mi) of official climbing across the twenty-three climbs.^[14] The organizers chose to include two rest days, in Capri and Sanremo.^[15] When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 200 km (124 mi) longer, lacked a prologue, and had the same number of rest days and individual time trials. In addition, this race contained two more stages, as well as one more set of half stages. In Italy, the race was televised daily in thirty-minute segments at during the evening on the second channel of RAI.^[16] The race, however, was still to be broadcast normally over radio.^[16]

Upon the release of the route in March, La Stampa writer Gianni Pignata believed that the first leg of the split eleventh stage, to Il Cioccio, along with stages 20 and 21, which featured eight total climbs in the Dolomites, would be decisive in determining the race's winner.^[11] Pignata believed this edition of the Giro d'Italia was geared towards climbers.^[11] He added that if a rider wanted to best Merckx, he would need to make his move earlier in the race and not wait for the Dolomites, as Merckx would likely be in top form by then.^[17] After looking over the race route, Italian rider Marino Basso stated that there were few opportunities for sprinters to try and win a stage.^[11] Two-time winner Felice Gimondi felt the race started off hard and agreed with Pignata and Basso, in that the race favored climbers and lacked chances for sprint finishes.^[18] He stated that the route suited the riding styles of Luis Ocaña, Eddy Merckx, and José Manuel Fuente.^[18] In addition, Gimondi criticized Torriani for placing a rest day in after the third day of racing, stating that there was no justification for it there.^[18]

Stage characteristics and results^[3][15]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	16 May	Vatican City (Vatican City) to Formia	164 km (102 mi)		Plain stage	Wilfried Reybrouck (BEL)
2	17 May	Formia to Pompei	121 km (75 mi)		Plain stage	Patrick Sercu (BEL)
3	18 May	Pompei to Sorrento	137 km (85 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)
	19 May	Rest day
4	20 May	Sorrento to Sapri	208 km (129 mi)		Plain stage	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
5	21 May	Sapri to Taranto	215 km (134 mi)		Plain stage	Piermattia Gavazzi (ITA)
6	22 May	Taranto to Foggia	206 km (128 mi)		Plain stage	Franco Bitossi (ITA)
7	23 May	Foggia to Chieti	257 km (160 mi)		Plain stage	Ugo Colombo (ITA)
8	24 May	Chieti to Macerata	150 km (93 mi)		Plain stage	Franco Bitossi (ITA)
9	25 May	Macerata to Carpegna	191 km (119 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)
10	26 May	Carpegna to Modena	205 km (127 mi)		Plain stage	Patrick Sercu (BEL)
11a	27 May	Modena to Il Ciocco	153 km (95 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)
11b		Il Ciocco to Forte dei Marmi	62 km (39 mi)		Plain stage	Patrick Sercu (BEL)
12	28 May	Forte dei Marmi to Forte dei Marmi	40 km (25 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
13	29 May	Forte dei Marmi to Pietra Ligure	231 km (144 mi)		Plain stage	Enrico Paolini (ITA)
14	30 May	Pietra Ligure to Sanremo	189 km (117 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giuseppe Perletto (ITA)
15	31 May	Sanremo to Valenza	206 km (128 mi)		Plain stage	Ercole Gualazzini (ITA)
	1 June	Rest day
16	2 June	Valenza to Monte Generoso	158 km (98 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)
17	3 June	Como to Iseo	158 km (98 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Santiago Lazcano (ESP)
18	4 June	Iseo to Sella Valsugana	190 km (118 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Franco Bitossi (ITA)
19	5 June	Borgo Valsugana to Pordenone	146 km (91 mi)		Plain stage	Enrico Paolini (ITA)
20	6 June	Pordenone to Tre Cime di Lavaredo	163 km (101 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)
21	7 June	Misurina to Bassano del Grappa	194 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
22	8 June	Bassano del Grappa to Milan	257 km (160 mi)		Plain stage	Marino Basso (ITA)
	Total		4,001 km (2,486 mi)

Race overview

The first day of racing was gearing up to finish with a bunch sprint, when Wilfried Reybrouck attacked with 400 meters to go.^[3] Reybrouck managed to hold off the chasing sprinters Roger De Vlaeminck and Marino Basso, amongst others.^[3] A strike had been rumored to happen on the race route near Naples, which caused the riders to stick together and not attack.^[3] The pack of riders finished together, with Belgian Patrick Sercu taking the stage victory.^[3]

Classification leadership

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo was the Cima Coppi for the 1974 running of the Giro d'Italia.

Three different jerseys were worn during the 1974 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.^[19]

For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. 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. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.^[19] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.^[13][14] The first rider to cross the Tre Cime di Lavaredo was Spanish rider José Manuel Fuente.

Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the awarded points to each team based off their riding's finishing position in every stage; the leading team was the one with the most points.^[19]

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

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Team classification
1	Wilfried Reybrouck	Wilfried Reybrouck	Wilfried Reybrouck	not awarded	not awarded
2	Patrick Sercu		Roger De Vlaeminck		?
3	José Manuel Fuente	José Manuel Fuente		José Manuel Fuente
4	Roger De Vlaeminck
5	Pierino Gavazzi
6	Franco Bitossi
7	Ugo Colombo
8	Franco Bitossi
9	José Manuel Fuente
10	Patrick Sercu
11a	José Manuel Fuente
11b	Patrick Sercu
12	Eddy Merckx
13	Enrico Paolini
14	Giuseppe Perletto	Eddy Merckx
15	Ercole Gualazzini
16	José Manuel Fuente
17	Santiago Lazcano
18	Franco Bitossi
19	Enrico Paolini
20	José Manuel Fuente
21	Marino Basso
22	Gianni Motta
Final		Eddy Merckx	Roger De Vlaeminck	José Manuel Fuente	Kas

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification		Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification
	Denotes the winner of the Points classification

General classification

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

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	113h 08' 13"
2	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)	Scic	+ 12"
3	Felice Gimondi (ITA)	Bianchi	+ 33"
4	Tino Conti (ITA)	Zonca	+ 2' 14"
5	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	KAS	+ 3' 22"
6	Giovanni Battaglin (ITA)	Jolly Ceramica	+ 4' 22"
7	Francesco Moser (ITA)	Filcas	+ 6' 17"
8	Vicente López Carril (ESP)	KAS	+ 10' 28"
9	Franco Bitossi (ITA)	Scic	+ 16' 05"
10	Gösta Pettersson (SWE)	Magniflex	+ 17' 08"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–5)^[1][20]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)	Brooklyn	295
2	Franco Bitossi (ITA)	Scic	209
3	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	KAS	171
4	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	161
5	Francesco Moser (ITA)	Filcas	152

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)^[1][20][21]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	José Manuel Fuente (ESP)	KAS	510
2	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	330
3	Santiago Lazcano (ESP)	KAS	230
4	Giuseppe Perletto (ITA)	Sammontana	160
5	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)	Scic	120
6	Tino Conti (ITA)	Zonca	100
7	José-Luis Uribezubia (ESP)	KAS	80
	Franco Bitossi (ITA)	Scic
	Vicente López Carril (ESP)	KAS
10	Gonzalo Aja (ESP)	KAS	70

Neo-professional classification

Final neo-professional classification (1–5)^[20]

	Rider	Team	Time
1	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)	Scic	113h 08' 25"
2	Claudio Bortolotto (ITA)	Filcas	+ 1h 19' 22"
3	Johann Ruch (GER)	Rokado	+ 1h 26' 24"
4	Raphael Nino (ITA)	Jolly Ceramica	+ 1h 28' 46"
5	Simone Fraccaro (ITA)	Filcas	+ 1h 52' 48"

Traguardi tricolori classification

Final traguardi tricolori classification (1–5)^[20]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Marcello Osler (ITA)	Sammontana	210
2	Wilmo Francioni (ITA)	Sammontana	100
3	Ercole Gualazzini (ITA)	Brooklyn	80
4	Pietro Campagnari (ITA)	Dreherforte	70
	Giuseppe Perletto (ITA)	Sammontana
	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)	Brooklyn

Team classification

Final team classification (1–5)^[20]

	Team	Points
1	KAS	5,915
2	Brooklyn	5,151
3	Scic	3,821
4	Molteni	2,938
5	Jolly Ceramica	2,734

Aftermath

This victory in the race gave Merckx five career victories at the Giro d'Italia, equaling the record of Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi.^[3] In July, Merckx entered the Tour de France.^[22] He emerged victorious, winning eight stage en route to his fifth career Tour victory, again equaling the record for career Tour victories.^[22][23] He won the Tour by a margin of eight minutes and four seconds over the second-place finisher and thus became the only cyclist to win the Giro and Tour in the same year three times in a career.^[23] In August, he won the men's road race at the 1974 UCI Road World Championships and became the first rider to achieve the Triple Crown of Cycling, which consists of winning two Grand Tour races and the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in a calendar year.^[24][25] For his career successes in the Giro d'Italia, Merckx became the first rider inducted into the race's Hall of Fame in 2012.^[26][27] When being inducted, Merckx was given the modern-day trophy with the winners engraved until 1974, the last year he won the race.^[26][27]

References

Citations

1. "Quinto Triunfo de Merckx En El "Giro"" [Merck’s Fifth win in the "Tour"] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. 9 June 1974. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
2. Gino Sala (9 June 1974). "Con Merckx ha vinto anche Baronchelli" [With Merckx also won Baronchelli] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
3. Bill and Carol McGann. "1974 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
4. Giuliano Califano (15 May 1974). "Una corsa che ritrova entusiasmo" [A race that finds enthusiasm]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 11. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
5. Giuliano Califano (14 May 1974). "A meta corsa vedrete Merckx" ["In mid-race you will see Merckx"]. Stampa Sera (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 11. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
6. Maurizio Caravella (15 May 1974). "E noi faremo di tutto perché si illogico" ["And we will do everything because it illogical"]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 11. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
7. "Hanno firmato i loro pronostici" [The signed their predictions] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 16 May 1974. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
8. Gino Sala (16 May 1974). "La promessa di una grande corsa e di un nuovo ciclismo" [The promise of a great race and a new cycling] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
9. http://hemeroteca-paginas.mundodeportivo.com/EMD01/HEM/1974/05/16/MD19740516-019.pdf
10. Alfredo Giorgi (14 May 1974). "Ocana ha confermato il suo no al Giro d'Italia" [Ocana confirmed his opposition to the Tour of Italy]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 17. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
11. Gianni Pignata (30 March 1974). "Giro italiano, una sorpresa" [Italian Giro, a surprise]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 21. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
12. Gino Sala (30 March 1974). "Questo il <<Giro>> 1974" [This is the <<Tour>> 1974] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
13. "Le Montagne" [The Mountains] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 30 March 1974. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
14. "Le 23 montagne e l'altimetria" [The 23 mountains and altitude] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 16 May 1974. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
15. "Le 22 giornate di corsa" [The 22 days of racing] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 16 May 1974. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
16. "Snobbato alla tv" [Snubbed on TV]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 15 May 1974. p. 11. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
17. Gianni Pignata (15 May 1974). "Fuente gia in fuga all'inizio" [Fuenta already beginning fleeing]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 11. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
18. Gianni Pignata (30 March 1974). "Duro l'inizio dice Gimondi" ["Tough start says Gimondi"]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 21. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
19. 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.
20. "Statistiche, episodi, curiosità, del Giro d'Italia di ieri e di oggi" [Statistics, episodes, curiosity, the Tour of Italy of yesterday and today] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 13 May 1975. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
21. "Merckx, vencedor, y Fuenta, quinto clasificado" [Merckx, winner, and Fuenta fifth-placed] (PDF). Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Diari de Girona Media, S.L. 9 June 1974. p. 20. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
22. Bill and Carol McGann. "1974 Tour de France". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
23. "Clasificaciones oficiales" [Official classifications] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. 22 July 1974. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
24. "Merckx logro su tercer titulo mundial batiendo a Poulidor" [Merckx achieving his third world title beating Poulidor] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. 26 August 1974. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
25. Cycling News (16 March 2012). "Gallery: Eddy Merckx turns 70". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
26. VeloNews.com (15 March 2012). "Giro d'Italia Hall of Fame inducts Eddy Merckx as its first member". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
27. Cycling News (16 March 2012). "Merckx inducted into Giro d'Italia Hall of Fame". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2013.