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The 1978 Giro d'Italia was the 61st running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Saint-Vincent, on 7 May, with a prologue 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 28 May, with a mass-start stage. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 20-stage race, that was won by Belgian
Johan de Muynck Johan De Muynck (born 30 May 1948) is a former Belgian professional road racing cyclist who raced from 1971 to 1983. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1978 Giro d'Italia. He was an outstanding climber. Other Grand Tour hig ...
of the Bianchi team. The second and third places were taken by Italians
Gianbattista Baronchelli Gianbattista Baronchelli (born 6 September 1953) is an Italian retired professional road racing cyclist. He obtained a total of 94 victories. Career In 1973, as an amateur, he won the Tour de l'Avenir and the Baby Giro, and he was thought desti ...
and
Francesco Moser Francesco Moser (, ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition. Moser was dom ...
, respectively. As of the beginning of the 2021 cycling season this was the last time a Belgian rider won a Grand Tour. Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Sanson's Moser won 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 c ...
, Ueli Sutter of Zonca won the
mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
classification, and Vibor's
Roberto Visentini Roberto Visentini (born 2 June 1957) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist who won the White Jersey in the 1978 Giro, finished in the top 10 of the 1979, 1980, and 1981 Giro's, made the podium in 1983, wore the Maglia Rosa f ...
completed the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing fifteenth overall. Bianchi finishing as the winners of the team points classification.


Teams

A total of 13 teams were invited to participate in the 1978 Giro d'Italia. In total, 95 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 37 riders came from: Belgium (13), Spain (9), West Germany (4), Switzerland (3), the Netherlands (2), Great Britain (1), New Zealand (1), Norway (1), and Sweden (1). Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists. Of those starting, 45 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.78 years, ranging from 20–year–old Corrado Donadio (Vibor) to 37–year–old
Franco Bitossi Franco Bitossi (born 1 September 1940) is an Italian former professional cyclist. He was born in Camaioni di Carmignano. Career Bitossi cycled for three years as an amateur and became a professional in October 1961, after he had reached the r ...
( Gis Gelati). The team with the youngest average rider age was Intercontinentale Assicurazioni (22), while the oldest was Bianchi (29). From those that started, a total of 90 riders made it to the finish 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 ...
. The teams entering the race were:


Route and stages

The route for the race was revealed on 8 March 1978. The start of the race was moved up one week and three stage were cancelled so the race did not interfere with the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
that started on 1 June in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The fourteenth stage took the race into the
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
for a time trial. As the city was not conducive to the event, four ramps were created to allow for riders to ride up and down on canal crossings, as well as one floating bridge over the Grand Canal. The route will feature 25km of elevation gain.


Classification leadership

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1978 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. 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 ...
was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Giro. The rider leading the classification wore a pink jersey to signify the classification's leadership. The second classification was 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 c ...
. Riders received points for finishing in the top positions in a stage finish, with first place getting the most points, and lower placings getting successively fewer points. The rider leading this classification wore a purple (or
cyclamen ''Cyclamen'' ( or ) is a genus of 23 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. In English, it is known by the common names sowbread or swinebread. ''Cyclamen'' species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin ea ...
) jersey. 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 ...
was the third classification and its leader was denoted by the green jersey. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. Most stages of the race included one or more categorized climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The ''
Cima Coppi The ''Cima Coppi'' is the title given to the highest peak in the yearly running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The mountain that is given this title each year awards more mountains classification points to the first ride ...
'', the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The ''Cima Coppi'' for this Giro was the Passo Valles, which was first summitted by Italian rider
Gianbattista Baronchelli Gianbattista Baronchelli (born 6 September 1953) is an Italian retired professional road racing cyclist. He obtained a total of 94 victories. Career In 1973, as an amateur, he won the Tour de l'Avenir and the Baby Giro, and he was thought desti ...
. The fourth classification, the
young rider classification Young rider classification () in a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, is an award for the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-six years ...
, was decided the same way as the general classification, but exclusive to neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing). The leader of the classification wore a white jersey. The final classification, the team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. This was calculated by adding together points earned by each rider on the team during each stage through the intermediate sprints, the categorized climbs, stage finishes, etc. The team with the most points led the classification. There were other minor classifications within the race, including the Campionato delle Regioni classification. The leader wore a blue jersey with colored vertical stripes ("maglia azzurra con banda tricolore verticale"). The Fiat Ritmo classification, which was created in honor Juan Manuel Santisteban who died in stage 1A of 1976 edition. In all stages longer than , there was a banner at that point in the stage to designate a special sprint. The winner of the sprint in each stage received a
Fiat Ritmo The Fiat Ritmo is a small, front-engine, front-wheel drive family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat, launched in April 1978 at the Turin Motor show and offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback and cabriolet body styles – from 1978 to 1988 with ...
.


Final standings


General classification


Points classification


Mountains classification


Young rider classification


Campionato delle Regioni classification


Traguardo Fiat Ritmo classification


Team points classification


References


Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 Giro D'italia Giro
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 ...
Giro d'Italia by year
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 ...
1978 Super Prestige Pernod