The 1934 Giro d'Italia was the 22nd edition of the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

bicycle race, 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 poli ...

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

''. The race began on 19 May in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

with a stage that stretched to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...

, finishing back in Milan on 10 June after a stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by the Learco Guerra of the Maino team. Second and third respectively were the Italian riders Francesco Camusso and Giovanni Cazzulani. Favourite

Alfredo Binda Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986) was an Italian road bicycle racing, road cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of the Giro d'Italia, and a three-time UCI Road World Championships – Men's road rac ...

retired during the 6th stage. Guerra took over the lead in the general classification from the climb specialist Francesco Camusso in the decisive

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

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, Francesco Camusso and Vasco Bergamaschi. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Learco Guerra,

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, and

Domenico Piemontesi Domenico Piemontesi (11 January 1903 – 31 May 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 cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, entered the race. Belgian Jef Demuysere was seen as a favorite to win the race after his victory in the

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

earlier in the season.

Route and stages

Classification leadership

The leader of the general classification – 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 () 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.

Participants

Route and stages

Classification leadership

Final standings

General classification

Foreign rider classification

Isolati rider classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Il Trofeo Magno

References