The 1961 Giro d'Italia was the 44th running 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 ...

, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in

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 ...

, on 20 May, with a stage and concluded 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 ...

, on 11 June, with a leg. A total of 170 riders from 17 teams entered the 21-stage race, which was won by Italian

Arnaldo Pambianco Arnaldo Pambianco (16 August 1935 – 6 July 2022) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist who was active between 1956 and 1966. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1961 Giro d'Italia. He competed at the 1956 Summer O ...

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

and Spaniard Antonio Suárez, respectively.

Teams

A total of 17 teams were invited to participate in the 1961 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 170 cyclists. Out of the 170 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 92 riders made it to the finish in

. Legnano initially threatened to not participate in the Giro. The 17 teams that took part in the race were:

Pre-race favorites

There was initial belief that

Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005)

Route and stages

The route was revealed on 22 April 1961.

Classification leadership

One jersey was worn during the 1961 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 cumulati ...

– 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. 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, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

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. There were three categories of mountains. The first category awarded 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 points, the second distributed 40, 30, 20, and 10 points, and the third category gave 30, 20, and 10 points. Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the teams were awarded points for their rider's performance during the stages.

Final standings

General classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

References

Citations

{{Giro d'Italia general classification winners

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1961 Super Prestige Pernod