The 1911 Giro d'Italia was the third 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 ...

set up 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 18 May in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with a stage that stretched to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. It was composed of twelve stages that covered a total distance of . The race came to a close back in Rome on 6 June after a stage. The race was won by the Italian rider

Carlo Galetti Carlo Galetti (26 August 1882 – 2 April 1949) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. He was born at Corsico. The highlight of his career was his three consecutive overall wins in the 1910, 1911 and 1912 Giros d'Italia, the la ...

of the

Bianchi Bianchi may refer to: Places *Bianchi, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy Manufacturing *Bianchi Bicycles (F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A.), an Italian manufacturer of bicycles, and former manufacturer of motorcycles and a ...

team. Second and third respectively were the Italian riders

Giovanni Rossignoli Giovanni Rossignoli (3 December 1882 – 27 June 1954) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer who won 3 Giro d'Italia stages during his career. Palmares ;1903 : 1st Corsa Nazionale ;1905 : 1st Milano–Torino ;1906 : 1st Milano� ...

and

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, ...

. Returning champion Carlo Galetti won the race's opening stage into

and was the first to lead the race. He lost the lead to Giovanni Rossignoli after Galetti finished poorly on the race's second stage. Rossignoli held the lead for four days after Galetti took back the lead after the sixth stage. Frenchman

Lucien Petit-Breton Lucien Georges Mazan (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917) was a French racing cyclist (pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton, ), known as the first two-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique, a part of Brittany ...

became the first non-Italian to lead the Giro d'Italia after the race's ninth stage. Petit-Breton lost the lead the next day to Galetti, who then held it all the way to the race's conclusion in Rome.

Changes from the 1910 Giro d'Italia

In both

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

and

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

Milan had served as both the start and finish of the Giro d'Italia. The organizers chose to honor the 50th anniversary of the unification of Italy by holding the start and finish of the Giro in the Italian capital of Rome. The organizers chose to expand the Giro d'Italia from ten to twelve stages after its great success. The race also saw an increase of close to 500 kilometers in length. The organizers also included the first climb above 2000 meters in the race, the

Sestriere Sestriere (/se'strjɛre/) ( oc, Sestrieras, pms, Ël Sestrier, french: Sestrières) is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a ''comune'' (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is situated in Val Susa, from the French border. Its name ...

. This was also the first edition of the Giro to go deep down into the southern part of Italy, specifically the Bari.

Participants

Of the 86 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 15 May, 24 of them made it to the finish in Rome on 6 June. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team. There were five teams that competed in the race: Atala-Dunlop,

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 ...

, Fiat-Pirelli, Legnano-Dunlop, and Senior-Polack. The peloton was composed of primarily Italians. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia champions in the

winner

Luigi Ganna Luigi Ganna (1 December 1883 – 2 October 1957) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular profession ...

and returning champion

. Other notable Italian riders included

Eberardo Pavesi Eberardo Pavesi (2 November 1883 – 11 November 1974) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. Pavesi was born in Colturano, province of Milan. The highlight of his career was at the 1912 Giro d'Italia when he rode with the victorious A ...

, and

. Two-time

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 ...

winner

also competed in the race.

Race overview

Vincenzo Borgarello - Paris-Roubaix 1913

The first stage began on 15 May and stretched from

. The racing that day was marred by heavy rain, which led to ten withdrawals.

won the stage ahead of Giovanni Rossignoli and

Dario Beni Dario Beni (1 January 1889 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist who was born in Rome, Italy. He won the first ever stage in Giro d'Italia history in 1909 Events January–February * January ...

. The next leg was also dogged by rain and very poor conditions on the road and saw the climbing of the Colle de Bacco. Giovanni Gerbi was the first rider to summit the Colle de Bacco. The climb wore Gerbi out and he was caught and passed by three riders and ultimately finished fourth on the stage.

Vincenzo Borgarello Vicenzo Borgarello (9 May 1884, in Cambiano, Piedmont – 6 January 1969) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer. Borgarello was born in Cambiano and died in Turin. He won in total four stages in the Giro d'Italia and two stages in th ...

was the first rider to cross the finish line in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

and won the stage, where a large crowd waited for the riders to finish. Rossignoli took the race lead after finishing two positions in front of Galetti. The race's third day of racing was the first to have clear weather. Race leader Rossignoli bested the likes of Giovanni Gerbi and Carlo Durando to win the stage and consolidate his lead in the general classification. The next stage was hotly contested, with the peloton staying together for the whole stage as Carlo Galetti took the stage win. The race's fifth stage is considered to be the first real mountain stage in Giro d'Italia history. The stage contained the climb of the

which rises over 2,000 meters. As the race entered the

Val Chisone The Val Chisone is one of the Occitan valleys of western Piedmont, situated in the Cottian Alps in the Metropolitan City of Turin in north-west Italy. Geography Traditionally, the valley's entrances are considered the towns of Pinerolo and Ses ...

leading up the Sestriere, the peloton ran into muddy roads, which forced many to walk their bikes. Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton led the riders up the slopes before cracking near the snowy summit. He was passed first by Ezio Corlaita, who was the first to summit the Sestriere, and then by many other riders. Petit-Breton caught up with the leading riders on the long descent and rode into the finish in

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 ...

with Corlaita, Rossignoli, and Galetti. Petit-Breton edged out Galetti for the stage win as Galetti tied Rossignoli for the overall lead. The riders started the sixth stage in Turin with a large number of people in attendance for the sendoff. Giuseppe Santhià took the stage as the riders rolled over the packed finish line 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 ...

soloed to victory in the seventh leg, finishing over a minute ahead of the second-place finisher Santhià. The next stage was won by Lauro Bordin as Galetti extended his overall lead by a single point over Rossignoli. Ezio Corlaita won the Giro's ninth stage, while Lucien Petit-Breton took the race lead and doing so, became the first non-Italian to lead the Giro d'Italia. In the following stage, the leading breakaway contained six riders – race leader Petit-Breton and five Bianchi riders – and rode into the finish in Bari together. Carlo Galetti took the stage win and the race lead, while Petit-Breton finished in sixth place on the day and was pushed down to second overall. The race's penultimate day of racing was scheduled to go from Bari to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. During the stage, Lucien Petit-Breton crashed and was forced to abandon the race. The route had the riders go through rough roads that were heavy with dust and occasional passed over streams, thus flooding the roads. The riders were also chase by enraged buffalo. All of those factors caused the riders to end the stage a few kilometers short of Naples, in Pompeii with Alfredo Sivocci winning the day. The last stage ended back in Rome, where the race began. Ezio Corlaita took his second stage win as 24 riders that began the Giro finished the day. Bianchi's Carlo Galetti became the first rider to win two editions of the Giro d'Italia.

Final standings

Stage results

General classification

There were 24 cyclists who had completed all twelve stages. For these cyclists, the points they received from each of their stage placing's were 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 fewest accumulated points was the winner.

won the prize for best ranked isolati rider in the general classification.

References

Footnotes

Citations

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