The 1966 Giro d'Italia was the 49th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's

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 tuto ...

races. The Giro started in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, on 18 May, with a stage and concluded in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, on 8 June, with a leg. A total of 100 riders from 13 teams entered the 22-stage race, which was won by Italian

Gianni Motta Gianni Motta (born 13 March 1943) is an Italian former bicycle racer who won the 1966 Giro d'Italia. Gianni Motta was born at Cassano d'Adda (Lombardy). His main victories include the Giro d'Italia (1966), a Giro di Lombardia (1964), a Tour d ...

of the Molteni team. The second and third places were taken by Italian

Italo Zilioli Italo Zilioli (born 24 September 1941) is an Italian former professional cyclist. Born in Turin, he won 58 races as a professional, including the 1966 Züri-Metzgete. He also totaled 5 stage wins at the Giro d'Italia; however, he never won the m ...

and Frenchman

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the y ...

, respectively. The

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

was introduced in this edition.

Teams

A total of 10 teams were invited to participate in the 1966 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 100 cyclists. Out of the 100 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 83 riders made it to the finish in

. The 10 teams that took part in the race were:

Route and stages

The race route was revealed to the public on 21 February 1966 by race director Vincenzo Torriani. With

hosting the ''Grande Partenza'', it was the second consecutive year, and second time in race history, the race started in a foreign country.

Classification leadership

One jersey was worn during the 1966 Giro d'Italia. The leader of 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 ...

– 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. For the

, which awarded no jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15. The classification was also known as the Trofeo Uomo Dreher. The

mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

leader. The climbs were ranked in first and second categories. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time.

Final standings

General classification

Mountains classification

Points classification

Teams classification

References

Footnotes

Citations

{{1966 Super Prestige Pernod

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 1966 Super Prestige Pernod