The 1920 Giro d'Italia was the eighth edition of the Giro d'Italia, a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

organized and sponsored by the

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

'' La Gazzetta dello Sport''. The race began on 23 May in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with a stage that stretched to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, finishing back in Milan on 6 June after a stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by the Italian rider

Gaetano Belloni 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 ...

of the Bianchi team. Second and third respectively were Italian Angelo Gremo and Frenchman Jean Alavoine. Of the 49 riders who started the race only 10 crossed the finish line in

Participants

Of the 49 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 23 May, ten of them made it to the finish in

on 6 June. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team. There were three teams that competed in the race:

Bianchi-Pirelli Bianchi was an Italian professional cycling team that was sponsored by and cycled on Bianchi Bicycles. A Bianchi cycling team existed in 1899 which implies that Bianchi was sponsoring professional cycling at a very early stage in the sport. It ...

Legnano-Pirelli Legnano was an Italian professional cycling team active from 1906 to 1966. It is ranked as the 6th most successful cycling team in history. Many famous cyclists rode for the team including Alfredo Binda, Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali and Fausto Copp ...

, and Stucchi-Pirelli . The peloton was almost completely composed of Italians. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia champions in the three-time winner Carlo Galetti and returning champion

Costante Girardengo Costante Girardengo (; 18 March 1893 – 9 February 1978) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a "Campionissimo" or " ...

. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Angelo Gremo,

Giovanni Gerbi Giovanni Gerbi (20 May 1885 – 6 May 1955) was an Italian road racing cyclist. He was nicknamed the "red devil", due to his red jersey and his "never-say-die" attitude. In 1905, he won the first Giro di Lombardia. In 1911 Giro d'Italia, 1911, ...

, and Giovanni Rossignoli. Frenchman Jean Alavoine who had some high placings in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, along with the successful Belgian cyclist Marcel Buysse started the race.

Final standings

Stage results

General classification

There were ten cyclists who had completed all ten stages. For these cyclists, the times they had needed in each stage was added up for the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the winner. Emilio Petiva won the prize for best ranked independent rider in the general classification.

References

Footnotes

Citations

{{Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia by year Giro d'Italia, 1920 Giro d'Italia, 1920 Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia