The 2003 Giro d'Italia was the 86th 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 ...
, one of cycling's
Grand Tours
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in fo ...
. The Giro began in
Lecce
Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old.
Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...
with a mass-start stage. The race came to a close with a
individual time trial
An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...
that began and ended in the Italian city of
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 ...
.
Nineteen teams entered the race that was won by the Italian
Gilberto Simoni
Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni won the Giro d'Italia cycling race twice: once in 2001 and again in 2003. In 2002 he tested positive for cocaine and was with ...
of the team.
Second and third were the Italian
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli (born 16 July 1973) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2013. The high point of his career was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way ...
and Ukrainian
Yaroslav Popovych
Yaroslav Popovych (; born 4 January 1980) is a Ukrainian former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016.
The winner of the under-23 road race at the 2001 UCI Road World Championships, Popovych turned professional in ...
.
It was Simoni's second win in the Giro. After the race, it was discovered that sixth-placed
Raimondas Rumšas
Raimondas Rumšas (born 14 January 1972) is a Lithuanian former professional road bicycle racer. He came third in the 2002 Tour de France but was implicated in a doping scandal.
Doping
On the day of Rumšas' third-place finish in the 2002 Tour ...
had tested positive in this Giro.
This edition of the Giro was the first UCI endorsed race where the wearing of helmets was compulsory.
With Gilberto Simoni's general classification victories in 2003 and in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, Simoni became the eighteenth rider to repeat as winner of the Giro d'Italia. In addition to the general classification, Simoni also won the points classification. In the race's other classifications, rider
Fredy González
Freddy Excelino González Martínez (born 18 June 1975 in La Ceja (Colombia), La Ceja, Colombia), also known as Fredy González, is a Colombian people, Colombian road racing cyclist. He is a two-time winner of the Mountains classification in th ...
won the mountains classification and
Magnus Bäckstedt
Magnus Bäckstedt (born 30 January 1975)L'Équipe, France, 12 April 2004. is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer. His most notable achievement in cycling is winning Paris–Roubaix in 2004.
Early life
Born in Linköping, Östergötl ...
of the
Team Fakta-Pata Chips team won the intergiro classification.
finished as the winners of the ''Trofeo Fast Team'' classification, ranking each of the nineteen teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time.
The other team classification, the ''Trofeo Super Team'' classification, where the teams' riders are awarded points for placing within the top twenty in each stage and the points are then totaled for each team was won by .
Teams
A total of 19 teams were invited to participate in the 2003 Giro d'Italia.
Each team sent a squad of nine riders (only
Kelme–Costa Blanca
Kelme was a professional cycling team based in Spain.
History
In 1979, Kelme sponsored the mountains classification in the Vuelta a España. The owners of Kelme were not satisfied with the publicity that this produced, so they decided to sponso ...
started eight), 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 97 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 19 teams that took part in the race were:
Route and stages

The route for the 2003 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 30 November 2002 in Milan. It contained two time trial events, all of which were individual. The organizers divided the remaining eighteen stages into three categories: flat stages, rolling stages, and mountain stages. Twelve of the stages were declared flat stages. Of the seven stages remaining, three stages were designated rolling stages and three were ranked as mountain stages. In the stages containing categorized climbs, six had summit finishes: stage 3, to
Terme Luigiane; stage 7, to
Monte Terminillo
Monte Terminillo is a massif in the Monti Reatini, part of the Abruzzi Apennine range in central Italy. It is located some 20 km from Rieti and 100 km from Rome and has a highest altitude of .
It is a typical Apennine massif, both f ...
; stage 12, to
Monte Zoncolan
Monte Zoncolan () is a mountain in the Carnic Alps, located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, with an elevation of . It is one of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, having been used in the Giro d'Italia ...
; stage 14, to
Alpe di Pampeago; stage 18, to
Chianale; and stage 19, to
Cascata del Toce.
The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the
previous year's race, the race was longer, contained the same amount of rest days, and one less individual time trial. In addition, this race lacked an opening prologue like the previous year had.
Classification leadership
In the 2003 Giro d'Italia, five different jerseys were awarded. For 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 each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on
mass-start stages, the leader received a pink jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Giro d'Italia, and the winner is considered the winner of the Giro.
Additionally, there was a
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 ...
, which awarded a mauve jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. The stage win awarded 25 points, second place awarded 20 points, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point fewer per place down the line, to a single point for 15th. In addition, points could be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a
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 ...
, which awarded a green jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized as either first, second, or third category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The highest point in the Giro (called the ''Cima Coppi''), which in 2003 was the Colle d'Esischie, afforded more points than the other first-category climbs.
The fourth jersey represented the
intergiro classification, marked by a blue jersey.
The calculation for the intergiro is similar to that of the general classification, in each stage there is a midway point that the riders pass through a point and where their time is stopped. As the race goes on, their times compiled and the person with the lowest time is the leader of the intergiro classification and wears the blue jersey.
There were also two classifications for teams. The first was the Trofeo Fast Team. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time.
The Trofeo Super Team was a team points classification, with the top 20 placed riders on each stage earning points (20 for first place, 19 for second place and so on, down to a single point for 20th) for their team.
The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.
Final standings
General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Intergiro classification
Trofeo Fast Team classification
Trofeo Super Team classification
Minor classifications
Other less well-known classifications, whose leaders did not receive a special jersey, were awarded during the Giro. Other awards included the Combativity classification, which was a compilation of points gained for position on crossing intermediate sprints, mountain passes and stage finishes.
Colombian
Fredy González
Freddy Excelino González Martínez (born 18 June 1975 in La Ceja (Colombia), La Ceja, Colombia), also known as Fredy González, is a Colombian people, Colombian road racing cyclist. He is a two-time winner of the Mountains classification in th ...
won the Most Combative classification.
The
Azzurri d'Italia classification was based on finishing order, but points were awarded only to the top three finishers in each stage.
The Azzurri d'Italia classification was won by
Gilberto Simoni
Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni won the Giro d'Italia cycling race twice: once in 2001 and again in 2003. In 2002 he tested positive for cocaine and was with ...
.
The ''Trofeo Fuga Piaggio'' classification rewarded riders who took part in a breakaway at the head of the field, each rider in an escape of ten or fewer riders getting one point for each kilometre that the group stayed clear.
The classification was won by
Constantino Zaballa.
Teams were given penalty points for minor technical infringements.
was the most successful in avoiding penalties after not being penalized during the race, and so won the Fair Play classification.
References
Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giro D'italia
2003 in road cycling
2003 in Italian sport
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
May 2003 sports events in Italy
June 2003 sports events in Italy