Gaetano Belloni (26 August 1892 – 9 January 1980) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlights of his career were his overall win in the 1920 Giro d'Italia, the two victories in Milan–San Remo (1917 and 1920), and the three victories in the Giro di Lombardia (1915, 1918 and 1928).
Belloni was born at Pizzighettone, near Cremona, and made his debut in the road cycling world in the wake of his elder brother Amleto. As an amateur, in 1914 he won the "Small" Giro di Lombardia and the Coppa del Re, as well as the Italian championship.
Having avoided to be called to the front, Belloni won surprisingly, the overall Giro di Lombardia in 1915 (a feat he repeated in 1918 and 1928) and the Milan–San Remo of 1917.
In 1920 he obtained his greatest victory, the Giro d'Italia. In the 1920s Belloni constantly rivalled with his friend Costante Girardengo, being almost always defeated and gaining for this reason the nickname of "Eterno secondo" ("Eternal second"). In 1921 he finished second in the Giro, only 41 seconds behind, and he had to retire in 1922 while he was leading the race.
The latest Giro where he played a big role was the 1929 Giro d'Italia, where he won the first stage, and was leader of the general classification for the first three stages. In that Giro, Belloni collided with a young boy, killing the boy, and Belloni left the race after this accident.
He won a total of 43 races as a professional, including 12 stages at the Giro d'Italia. Belloni retired when he was 40 years old, and went on to become director of the Velodromo Vigorelli.
Major results
1914 1st National Road Championships, Road Race (Amateurs) 1st Piccolo Giro di Lombardia 1st Coppa del Re
1915 1st Giro di Lombardia
1916 1st Milano–Bellagio–Varese
1917 1st Overall Giro della Provincia Milano (with Alfredo Sivocci) 1st Stage 1 1st Milan–San Remo 1st Milano–Bellagio–Varese 2nd Milano–La Spezia
1918 1st Giro di Lombardia 1st Milano–Modena 1st Milano–Torino 1st Torino-Arquata (with Lauro Bordin, Costante Girardengo & Luigi-Natale Lucotti) 2nd Milan–San Remo 3rd Milano–Bellagio–Varese
1919 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 5 2nd Overall Roma–Trento–Trieste 2nd Giro di Lombardia 2nd Giro del Piemonte 2nd Roma–Trente–Trieste 3rd Giro della Provincia Milano
1920 1st Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 2, 3, 7 & 8 1st Overall Giro della Provincia Milano (with Giuseppe Azzini) 1st Stage 1 1st Milan–San Remo 2nd National Road Championships, Road Race 2nd Milano–Torino 3rd Giro di Lombardia 3rd Giro del Piemonte
1921 1st Overall Giro della Provincia Milano 1st Stage 1 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 5, 9 & 10 1st Milano–Modena 2nd Giro di Lombardia 2nd Roma–Napoli–Roma 8th Milan–San Remo
1922 1st Overall Giro della Provincia Milano (with Giovanni Brunero) 1st Stage 1 1st Six Days of New York City 1st Stages 1 & 3 Giro d'Italia 2nd Giro della Romagna 2nd Tour du lac Léman
1923 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Milano–Torino
1924 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Giro del Veneto 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
1925 1st Giro del Piemonte 1st Milano–Modena 1st Stages 5 & 12 Giro d'Italia 2nd Roma–Napoli–Roma 3rd National Road Championships, Road Race
1926 1st Grosser Strassenpreis von Hannover 1st Rund um die Hainleite 1st Groβer Sachsenpreis 2nd Berlin–Cottbus–Berlin 2nd Rund um Frankfurt 2nd Six Days of New York City 3rd Rund um Köln 4th Milan–San Remo
1927 1st Rund um Köln 2nd Quer durch Thüringen 2nd Thüringen-Rundfahrt 2nd Berlin–Cottbus–Berlin 3rd Stuttgart Criterium
1928 1st Giro di Lombardia 2nd Six Days of New York City 3rd Groβer Sachsenpreis
1929 1st Roma–Napoli–Roma 1st Six Days of Chicago 1st Stage 1 Giro d'Italia 3rd Six Days of New York City
1930 1st Six Days of New York City
1935 3rd Six Days of New York City
Results timelines Grand Tour 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 Giro d'Italia — — — —212 DNF — DNF4 — — — DNF — — DNF Tour de France — — — — — DNF — — — — — — — — — DNF — — Vuelta a España — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —Monument 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932Milan–San Remo — —12 —18 —22 —8 — — — — — 13Tour of Flanders — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —Paris–Roubaix — — — — — — 37 6 — — — — — — — — — —Liège–Bastogne–Liège — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —Giro di Lombardia1 —61232 — —6 — — —1 — — — —
References
External links Museum of cycling bio (in Italian)