The 1934 Giro d'Italia was the 22nd edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports a ...

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

''. The race began on 19 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 language, 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 ...

, finishing back in Milan on 10 June after a stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by the

Learco Guerra Learco Guerra (14 October 1902 - 7 February 1963) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1934 Giro d'Italia. He was born in San Nicolò Po, a ''frazione'' of Bagnolo San Vito in L ...

of the Maino team. Second and third respectively were the Italian riders

Francesco Camusso Francesco Camusso (9 March 1908 – 23 June 1995) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. Camusso was born in Cumiana, Piedmont, and is ranked among the best Italian climbers ever. In his second year as professional, he won the 1931 ...

and

Giovanni Cazzulani Giovanni Cazzulani (5 August 1909 – 22 October 1983) was an Italian cyclist. He competed in the individual road race event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. He finished in third place in the 1934 Giro d'Italia The 1934 Giro d'Italia was the 2 ...

. Favourite

Alfredo Binda Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986) was an Italian road cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of the Giro d'Italia, and a three-time world champion. In addition he won Milan–San Remo twice, and the ...

retired during the 6th stage. Guerra took over the lead in 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 ...

from the climb specialist

in the decisive

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

stage from Bologna to Ferrara.

Participants

Of the 109 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 19 May, 52 of them made it to the finish in

on 10 June. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team; 52 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 66 competed independently. There were eight teams that competed in the race: Bianchi-Pirelli, Dei-Pirelli, Ganna-Dunlop, Gloria-Hutchinson, Legnano-Hutchinson, Maino-d'Alessandro, Olympia-Spiga, and Olmpique. The peloton was primarily composed of Italians, but contained many French and Belgian riders. The field featured three former Giro d'Italia champions in five-time winner and current champion

and single race winners,

and

Vasco Bergamaschi Vasco Bergamaschi (29 September 1909 – 24 September 1979) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. Career Born in San Giacomo delle Segnate, Lombardy, Bergamaschi turned professional in 1930. The highlight of his career was his ov ...

. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included

Giuseppe Olmo Giuseppe Olmo (22 November 1911 – 5 March 1992) was an Italian road bicycle racer. He competed at the 1932 Olympics and won a gold medal in the team road race, placing fourth individually. In October 1935 he set a new hour record at 45.090 ...

Remo Bertoni Remo Bertoni (21 June 1909 – 18 September 1973) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer. Bertoni was born in Borgomanero. He is best known for his silver medal in the Elite race of the 1932 UCI Road World Championships. He d ...

, and

Domenico Piemontesi Domenico Piemontesi (11 January 1903 – 1 June 1987) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer. He is most known for his 12-stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and a bronze medal at the 1927 World Championships.

Félicien Vervaecke Félicien Vervaecke (; 11 March 1907 – 31 October 1986, in Brussels) was a Belgian professional cyclist from 1930 to 1939. In the Tour de France he showed good results, finishing three times on the podium (second once, third twice). In 1935 and ...

, a Belgian rider who went on to achieve great success at 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 ...

, entered the race. Belgian

Jef Demuysere Jef Demuysere (Wervik, 26 July 1907 – Antwerp, 30 April 1969) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He won the Milan–San Remo in 1934, and finished on the podium of the Tour de France in 1929 and 1931, and of the Giro d'Itali ...

was seen as a favorite to win the race after his victory in the

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...

earlier in the season.

Route and stages

Classification leadership

The leader of the

– calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro. In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first. The winner of the team classification was determined by adding the finish times of the best three cyclists per team together and the team with the lowest total time was the winner. If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification. Il Trofeo Magno ( en, the Great Trophy) was a classification for independent Italian riders competing in the race. The riders were divided into teams based on the region of Italy they were from. The calculation of the standings was the same for the team classification. At the end of the race, a trophy was awarded to the winning team and it was then stored at the Federal Secretary of the P.N.P. in their respective province. The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Final standings

General classification

Foreign rider classification

Isolati rider classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Il Trofeo Magno

References

;Footnotes ;Citations {{Giro d'Italia G Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia by year Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia