The Giro d'Italia (; Tour of Italy) is an annual stage race bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; however it is currently run by RCS Sport. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
The first edition of the race was won by Italian Luigi Ganna who had the fewest total points at the end of the race; the same format was used for the next two years and also resulted in an Italian cyclist winning. The 1912 Giro saw the general classification contested by teams, which Atala–Dunlop won by ten points. The following year they reverted to the original system, before switching to the aggregate time model in 1914. Alfredo Binda won five editions of the race over a period of nine years, before Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi consistently asserted their superiority in the Giro d'Italia. Italians dominated the race for forty years before the first non-Italian, Hugo Koblet, in 1950.
After Koblet became the first foreigner to win the Giro, the Italians won the majority of the races held until 1968. In 1968, the Belgian Eddy Merckx won his first Giro d'Italia, which were soon followed by four more victories. Bernard Hinault won the first of his three Giros d'Italia in 1980. Ireland's Stephen Roche won the 1987 race en route to winning the Triple Crown of Cycling. Spanish rider Miguel Induráin won two consecutive Giros d'Italia, in 1992 and 1993, with his victories being followed by wins by Evgeni Berzin, Tony Rominger, and Pavel Tonkov. The next ten editions of the race were won by Italian riders, including the likes of Marco Pantani, Paolo Savoldelli, and Gilberto Simoni.
Spain's Alberto Contador won the 2008 Giro d'Italia en route to completing the rare Giro-Vuelta double for the season. The 2009 race celebrated the hundredth year since the first edition of the Giro d'Italia and was won by the Russian Denis Menchov. The following year saw Ivan Basso win his second overall race. Contador originally won the 2011 Giro d'Italia, but after a positive drug test result was found, his victory was stripped and given to Michele Scarponi. Vincenzo Nibali, the winner of the 2013 race, led the event from the race's eighth stage and on.
1908–1909: The idea and first race
The idea of the holding a bicycle race that navigated around Italy was first suggested when La Gazzetta dello Sport editor Tullo Morgagni sent a telegram to both the paper's owner, Emilio Costamagna, and cycling editor, Armando Cougnet, stating the need for an Italian tour. At the time La Gazzetta'''s rival, Corriere della Sera was planning on holding a bicycle race of its own, after the success they had gained from holding an automobile race. Morgagni then decided to try and hold their race before Corriere della Sera could hold theirs, but La Gazzetta lacked the money. However, after the success La Gazzetta had with creating the Giro di Lombardia and Milan–San Remo, the owner Costamagna decided to go through with the idea. Their bike race was announced on August 7, 1908 in the first page of that day's edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race was to be held in May 1909. The idea of the race was inspired by the Tour de France and the success that L'Auto had gained from it.
Since the organizers lacked the funds, 25,000 lira, needed to hold the race, they consulted Primo Bongrani, an accountant at the bank Cassa di Risparmio and friend of the three organizers. Bongrani proceeded to go around Italy asking for donations to help hold the race. Bongrani's efforts were largely successful, he had procured enough money to cover the operating costs. The money that was to be given out as prizes came from a casino in San Remo after Francesco Sghirla, a former Gazzetta employee, encouraged it to contribute to the race. Even Corriere, La Gazzetta's rival, gave 3,000 lire to the race's fund.
On 13 May 1909 at 02:53 am 127 riders started the first Giro d'Italia at Loreto Place in Milan. The race was split into eight stages covering . A total of 49 riders finished, with Italian Luigi Ganna winning. Ganna won three individual stages and the General Classification. Ganna received 5325 lira as a winner's prize, with the last rider in the general classification receiving 300 lira. The Giro's director received only 150 lira a month, 150 lira fewer than the last-placed rider.
1910–1953: Italian domination
During these years, and up until 1950, the winners of the Giro d'Italia were exclusively of Italian descent. The inaugural race was such a success that the organizers added two more stages and over to the race. In addition, the organizers restructured the point distribution to determine the overall leader; the stage winner would get one point for finishing first, second place got two points, and so on until the 51st and up finishers, who would just receive 51 points. The first non-Italian stage winner, Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq, came in the 1910 edition of the race; he won the second stage of the race. Carlo Galetti led from stage two until the finish. The 1911 Giro d'Italia was the first Giro to not have the start or finish of the race in Milan. The start and finish for the race was moved to the Italian capital Rome to celebrate Italy's 50th anniversary of unification. This race also saw the first foreign rider to lead the race, the Frenchmen Lucien Petit-Breton, as well as the first repeat winner of the race in Carlo Galetti.
The 1912 Giro d'Italia saw some big changes to how the general classification was to be run; the race was to be centered around the team instead of the individual, meaning that the leader of the race would be a single team. Teams were allowed only four riders for each squad and were awarded points towards the general classification based on stage placings. The changes to the general classification were met with strong opposition from the start. Fourteen teams lined up at the start in Milan. Atala–Dunlop, which consisted of Luigi Ganna, Carlo Galetti, Eberardo Pavesi, and Giovanni Micheletto, led the race in all but one stage. Ganna was the only member of Atala–Dunlop that didn't finish the race, as he dropped out during the fifth stage. Galetti became the first three-time winner of the Giro d'Italia.
The following year's race was the last Giro to be run with a points system. The race saw the first appearance of Costante Girardengo, who won the sixth stage, and would come to dominate the Giro in the future. Carlo Oriani — who had just gotten out of serving the Italian military in the Italo-Turkish War — won the event by six points over the second-place finisher, Eberardo Pavesi. The 1914 Giro d'Italia saw the calculation of the general classification shift from a points system to a time based system. In the new system, every rider's finishing time for each stage is totaled together and the rider with the lowest total time is the overall leader. Out of the eighty-one riders entered the race only eight of them finished. The grueling race was won by Alfonso Calzolari, who won by almost two hours over the second-place finisher. A Giro was planned for 1915, but the plans were scrapped when Italy entered World War I.
After the Great War ended, the race resumed in 1919. This edition of the race navigated through the ruined parts of Northern Italy, which made it hard for the organizers and riders. Costante Girardengo — the eventual winner — became the first rider to lead the Giro from start to finish. En route to winning overall, Girardengo won seven of the ten stages that composed the event. In addition, the Belgian Marcel Buysse became the first foreigner to finish on the podium; Buysse finished third overall, over an hour slower than Girardengo. The following year's Giro began with close to fifty riders and finished with ten. The first stage of the 1920 Giro d'Italia briefly went into Switzerland, which was the first time that the Giro had ever left its home country of Italy. Girardengo came into the race the favorite, but injuries sustained from crashing in the second stage forced him to withdraw. During the second stage, Gaetano Belloni capitalized on Girardengo's, race leader Giuseppe Olivieri's, Carlo Galetti's withdrawal to win the second stage and take the lead. Belloni, known by many as "the Eternal Second, went on to win the Giro and proved he could win a race.
Costante Girardengo won the first four stages of the 1921 Giro d'Italia and was leader after the fourth day. During the fifth stage, Girardengo was involved in a crash, and when Gaetano Belloni saw this, he attacked. Girardengo chased for before quitting. Belloni was then the new leader after stage 5's conclusion. After the fifth stage, Giovanni Brunero was the only rider close to Belloni. Brunero attacked during the race's seventh stage to win the day and take the overall lead by fifty-two seconds, which proved enough to last until the race's conclusion in Milan. The 1922 Giro d'Italia saw some controversy amongst the general classification contenders. In the race's first stage, Giovanni Brunero received an illegal wheel change – Brunero took a wheel from his teammate Alfredo Sivocci – which he was penalized 25 minutes for. Costante Girardengo and Gaetono Belloni, along with their respective teams Maino and Bianchi, wanted Brunero to be expelled from the Giro for the incident. Both the Bianchi and Maino squads eventually withdrew from the Giro due to their outrage with the organizer's decision to only give Brunero a 25-minute penalty. Brunero went on to win the Giro d'Italia, the second one of his career.
The 1923 Giro d'Italia was dominated by Costante Girardengo, who won eight out of the ten race's stages. Despite the large number of stage victories, Girardengo's margin of victory was thirty-seven seconds over the second-place finisher Giovanni Brunero. This was Girardengo's second career Giro victory. Girardengo, Brunero, and Gaetano Belloni didn't start the 1924 edition due to an argument over their compensation. Their decision not to participate gave the other general classification hopefuls a bigger chance to win the Giro. After the event's eighth leg that saw awful road and weather conditions, Giuseppe Enrici emerged as the overall leader and eventual winner. In addition, this Giro saw the first and only woman ever to compete in the race's history in Alfonsina Strada. She was eliminated from the race after the seventh stage; however, the organizers allowed her to continue the race thought she wouldn't be included in the general classification. Strada made it all the way to the event's finish in Milan and finished around twenty hours slower than the winner Enrici.
1925–1935: The Binda years
The 1925 Giro d'Italia saw the emergence of a new star, Alfredo Binda. Despite winning six legs of the event, Costante Girardengo did not win the race. Binda gained the lead after the fifth stage, after he and a few other general classification contenders attacked while Girardengo was repairing a flat tire. Binda won the Giro in his first attempt. Reigning champion Binda started off the following year's race with a crash in the first stage, which cost him much time. Due to the crash, Binda worked as a domestique for his teammate Giovanni Brunero. With Binda's aid, Brunero won the whole event, while Binda won six stages.