Some facts about the Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia is Italy's most important stage race and ranks 2nd in importance behind the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta stage races.

Although the Giro does not have the immense popularity of the Tour de France, in recent years a lot of top cyclists have participated with the intention of going for the final win. This has not always been the case over the past decade and the stage race has been regarded much more as a preparation for the Tour de France or completely ignored by the favourites.

In recent years, the Giro has also been more exciting than the Tour de France. Just think of Chris Froome's monster breakaway in 2018 that turned the standings upside down or the battle between Nairo Quintana and Tom Dumoulin in 2017.

Here are some important facts and trivia about the Giro d'Italia

Pink jersey: the leader in the classification wears the leader's pink jersey (maglia rosa), this is because the organizer of the competition La Gazzetta dello Sport was printed in pink which is still the case.

1909: this year the 1st Giro d'Italia started, the riders had to cover 2448km in 8 stages. Overall winner was the Italian Luigi Ganna

Hugo Koblet: was the first non-Italian to win the competition in 1950

5 times: is the number of times Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx managed to win the match

Johan de Muynck: is the last Belgian winner, his victory dates back to 1978. It is high time that one Remco Evenepoel breaks this sad record

Tom Dumoulin: is the only Dutchman to have won the Giro d'Italia so far, he did this in 2017

Mario Cipollini: holds the record for the most wins, with 42. He is closely followed by Alfredo Binda with 41

15 years: is the difference between the 1st and the last stage win that Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali achieved, they share this record together

69 victories: an Italian rider achieved the overall victory no less than 69 times, followed by the only 7 victories of a Belgian rider

Belgian victories: only 3 Belgian riders could ever win the Giro d'Italia: Eddy Merckx (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974), Michel Pollentier (1977) and Johan de Muynck (1978)

Cima Coppi: is awarded to the highest mountain the riders have to cross, usually this is the Passo dello Stelvio, De Passo della Gavia or the Passo Pordoi. There is also a cash prize for the rider who comes to the top first

Mortirolo and Monte Zoncolan: are much feared climbs that are often part of the Giro

Wouter Weylandt: unfortunately died during the Giro 2011 after a crash in which he suffered a skull fracture. The shirt number 108 that he wore then has not been used in the game since then due to tribute

Gino Bartali: not only won the Giro d'Italia 3 times, but also won the jersey for best climber 7 times

Alfredo Binda: not only won the Giro 5 times, but also holds the record with 12 stage victories in 1 Giro (1927)

Pink jersey from start to finish: 4 riders managed to wear the leader's pink jersey from start to finish: Costante Girardengo (1919), Alfredo Binda (1927), Eddy Merckx (1973) and Gianni Bugno (1990)

Giro Rosa: this is the female version that takes place annually but lasts less, namely 10 days

Baby Giro: is the stage race for U26s up to the age of 26. Well-known riders who have ever won this race are Francesco Moser, Marco Pantani, Danilo Di Luca, Gilberto Simoni and Thomas Pidcock. Since 2009 this race is called Girobio

Tenslotte vind je hieronder een overzicht van alle winnaars vanaf de 1ste editie

Overwinnaars Giro d’Italia

 

 

1909	Luigi Ganna	1976	Felice Gimondi
1910	Carlo Galetti	1977	Michel Pollentier
1911	Carlo Galetti	1978	Johan de Muynck
1912	Team Atala	1979	Giuseppe Saronni
1913	Carlo Oriani	1980	Bernard Hinault
1914	Alfonso Calzolari	1981	Giovanni Battaglin
1915 – 1918	geen organisatie	1982	Bernard Hinault
1919	Costante Girardengo	1983	Giuseppe Saronni
1920	Gaetano Belloni	1984	Francesco Moser
1921	Giovanni Brunero	1985	Bernard Hinault
1922	Giovanni Brunero	1986	Roberto Visentini
1923	Costante Girardengo	1987	Stephen Roche
1924	Giuseppe Enrici	1988	Andrew Hampsten
1925	Alfredo Binda	1989	Laurent Fignon
1926	Giovanni Brunero	1990	Gianni Bugno
1927	Alfredo Binda	1991	Franco Chioccioli
1928	Alfredo Binda	1992	Miguel Indurain
1929	Alfredo Binda	1993	Miguel Indurain
1930	Luigi Marchisio	1994	Eugeni Berzin
1931	Francesco Camusso	1995	Tony Rominger
1932	Antonio Pesenti	1996	Pavel Tonkov
1933	Alfredo Binda	1997	Ivan Gotti
1934	Learco Guerra	1998	Marco Pantani
1935	Vasco Bergamaschi	1999	Ivan Gotti
1936	Gino Bartali	2000	Stefano Garzelli
1937	Gino Bartali	2001	Gilberto Simoni
1938	Giovanni Valetti	2002	Paolo Savoldelli
1939	Giovanni Valetti	2003	Gilberto Simoni
1940	Fausto Coppi	2004	Damiano Cunego
1941 – 1945	geen organisatie	2005	Paolo Savoldelli
1946	Gino Bartali	2006	Ivan Basso
1947	Fausto Coppi	2007	Danilo Di Luca
1948	Fiorenzo Magni	2008	Alberto Contador
1949	Fausto Coppi	2009	Denis Menchov
1950	Hugo Koblet	2010	Ivan Basso
1951	Fiorenzo Magni	2011	Michele Scarponi
1952	Fausto Coppi	2012	Ryder Hesjedal
1953	Fausto Coppi	2013	Vincenzo Nibali
1954	Carlo Clerici	2014	Nairo Quintana
1955	Fiorenzo Magni	2015	Alberto Contador
1956	Charly Gaul	2016	Vincenzo Nibali
1957	Gastone Nencini	2017	Tom Dumoulin
1958	Ercole Baldini	2018	Chris Froome
1959	Charly Gaul	2019	Richard Carapaz
1960	Jacques Anquetil	2020	Tao Geoghehan Hart
1961	Arnaldo Pambianco	2021	Egan Bernal
1962	Franco Balmamion	2022	Jai Hindley
1963	Franco Balmamion	2023
1964	Jacques Anquetil
1965	Vittorio Adorni
1966	Gianni Motta
1967	Felice Gimondi
1968	Eddy Merckx
1969	Felice Gimondi
1970	Eddy Merckx
1971	Gosta Petterson
1972	Eddy Merckx
1973	Eddy Merckx
1974	Eddy Merckx
1975	Fausto Bertoglio