The 1991 Giro d'Italia was the 74th edition of the race. It began on May 26 with a mass-start stage that began and ended in the Italian city of Olbia. The race came to a close in Milan on June 16. Twenty teams entered the race, which was won by the Italian Franco Chioccioli of the Del Tongo-MG Boys Maglificio team. Second and third respectively were the Italians Claudio Chiappucci and Massimiliano Lelli.
The race was first led by Frenchman Philippe Casado who won the first stage into Olbia. Casado lost the race leader's maglia rosa () after stage 2a that contained a mountainous course. Éric Boyer took the race lead from Chioccioli after winning the event's fourth stage. However, he lost the lead back to Chioccioli the following day. Chioccioli protected his lead and built upon his advantage by winning three stages of the race before the race's finish.
In the race's other classifications, Massimiliano Lelli of the Ari-Ceramiche Ariostea team finished as the best rider aged 25 or under in the general classification, finishing in third place overall; rider Claudio Chiappucci won the points classification, Iñaki Gastón of the CLAS–Cajastur team won the mountains classification, and CLAS–Cajastur rider Alberto Leanizbarrutia won the intergiro classification. Carrera Jeans-Tassoni finished as the winners of the team classification.
Teams
Twenty teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1991 edition of the Giro d'Italia, ten of which were based outside of Italy. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 180 cyclists. Italy (84), Spain (30), and France (18) all had more than 10 riders. Of these, 76 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 27.03 years, ranging from 22–year–old Eleuterio Anguita () to 36–year–old Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (). The team with the youngest average rider age was (25), while the oldest was (28). The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager were introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place on 25 May. From the riders that began the race, 133 made it to the finish in Milan.
The teams entering the race were:
Pony Malta–Avianca Selle Italia–Magniarredo–Vetta
Pre-race favorites
The starting peloton did include the previous year's winner Gianni Bugno. Claudio Chiappucci was believed to be in great form coming into the race. According to Paolo Viberti of El País, Bugno came in as the odds on favorite to win the race. Going into the race, it was widely believed that the winner would be either Chiappucci or Bugno. Despite being favored to win the race, Bugno entered the race with no victories to his name that season. American Greg LeMond told the press he planned to be more competitive at this Giro than he had in years past. Other favorites to win the race were Laurent Fignon, Pedro Delgado, and Marino Lejarreta. Mario Cipollini, despite a poor showing that Tour de Romandie, was viewed as the sprinter to watch for the estimated ten stages that could result in a bunch sprint. Notable absences included 1988 winner Andrew Hampsten, Dutch rider Erik Breukink, and Maurizio Fondriest.
Route and stages
The route for the 1991 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public on television by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani, on 1 December 1990. It contained three time trial events, all of which were individual. There were twelve stages containing 39 categorized climbs, of which five had summit finishes: stage 12, to Monviso; stage 13, to Sestriere; stage 15, to Aprica; stage 16, to Selva di Val Gardena; and stage 17, to Passo Pordoi. The organizers chose to include one rest day, which was used to transfer the riders from Cagliari to Sorrento. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was shorter, contained one more rest day, and the same number of individual time trials and split-stages. The race covered in time trail stages. In addition, this race contained one more stage. The race started on the island of Sardinia for the first time in race history and stayed on the island for three days of racing.
Capodacqua of La Repubblica believed that the route favored a rider that could defend well and put in a good time during the uphill time trial. La Stampa writer Gianni Ranieri felt the two non-uphill time trials would favor Gianni Bugno, while the up-hill time trial could be a place where Claudio Chiappucci could gain time on the field. Pedro Delgado believed the race to be tougher than the Tour de France that same year. The Cima Coppi – the highest point in altitude the race reached – was scheduled to be the Stelvio Pass, but the pass was scrapped from the race and the Passo Pordoi – the next highest mountain – became the new Cima Coppi. The queen stage was thought to be twelfth leg from Savona to Pian del Re as the final climb was at an average gradient of 7.5%. The Pordoi Pass in the seventeenth stage was the highest climb and was crossed twice. A writer for l'Impartial wrote that shorter stages might contain more attacks and general classification impact, specifically the writer stated that the fifteenth stage would be an important stage as it climbed the Mortirolo Pass from the harder side, from Valteline.
+ Stage characteristics and winnersStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner126 MayOlbia to Olbia Stage with mountain(s) 2a27 MayOlbia to Sassari Stage with mountain(s) 2bSassari Individual time trial 328 MaySassari to Cagliari Plain stage 29 May Rest day430 MaySorrento to Sorrento Stage with mountain(s) 531 MaySorrento to Scanno Stage with mountain(s) 61 JuneScanno to Rieti Stage with mountain(s) 72 JuneRieti to Città di Castello Plain stage 83 JuneCittà di Castello to Prato Plain stage 94 JunePrato to Felino Stage with mountain(s) 105 JuneCollecchio to Langhirano Individual time trial 116 JuneSala Baganza to Savona Plain stage 127 JuneSavona to Pian del Re Stage with mountain(s) 138 JuneSavigliano to Sestriere Stage with mountain(s) 149 JuneTurin to Morbegno Plain stage 1510 JuneMorbegno to Aprica Stage with mountain(s) 1611 JuneTirano to Selva di Val Gardena Stage with mountain(s) 1712 JuneSelva di Val Gardena to Passo Pordoi Stage with mountain(s) 1813 JunePozza di Fassa to Castelfranco Veneto Plain stage 1914 JuneCastelfranco Veneto to Brescia Stage with mountain(s) 2015 JuneBroni to Casteggio Individual time trial 2116 JunePavia to Milan Plain stage Total
Race overview
During the first stage, Alberto Leanizbarrutia attacked on his own and led the race for before being caught by the chasing peloton within the final ten kilometers. It then came down to a bunch sprint finish that was so close that it required a photo to determine the winner, Philippe Casado. The next day of racing consisted of a mass-start stage in the morning and an individual time trial in the afternoon. Reigning winner Gianni Bugno won the trans-alpine morning stage ahead of other main contenders. This stage saw the race leader's maglia rosa () switch from Casado to Franco Chioccioli. Gianluca Pierobon of ZG Mobili team won the afternoon time trial by five seconds over Spaniard Marino Lejarreta. The following day of racing was the last on the island of Sardinia before the race was transferred to mainland Italy. The day of racing ended with a bunch sprint contested by Adriano Baffi, Mario Cipollini, and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, of which Cipollini got the best and won.
The fourth leg of the event consisted of five laps on a set circuit of . The stage saw several attacks on the final lap of the course with most being caught by the peloton. Éric Boyer attacked with fifteen kilometers to go in the stage and was able to establish a solid gap between himself and the peloton. Boyer went on to win the stage by 23 seconds over the chasing peloton, gaining enough time to earn the race lead. The following day saw the general classification contenders reach the final climb of the day, Mount Godi, together. Chioccioli attacked on the climb and only Lejarreta was able to mark his move. The two rode to the finish together as Boyer led the group of chasing riders to the finish 50 seconds later. Lejarreta won the stage and Chioccioli regained the race lead.
The sixth day of racing was marred by poor weather. General classification contenders Pedro Delgado and Laurent Fignon lost time due to crashing on the descent of Monte Terminillo, while Greg LeMond lost over two minutes. On the final climb of the day, Iñaki Gastón and Leonardo Sierra attacked with eight kilometers to go but were caught by the chasing riders. Gaston attacked again with a kilometer remaining, but was robbed of the stage win as Vladimir Poulnikov overtook him three meters before the finish. Cipollini won the event's seventh leg by means of a field sprint.
The following stage saw a group of nine riders form off the front of the peloton with under 20 kilometers remaining. Despite the best efforts of the chasing peloton, the breakaway group survived and saw Ari-Ceramiche Ariostea's Davide Cassani take the stage by edging out Mario Mantova. Massimo Ghirotto of team attacked with about 50 kilometers to go in the ninth stage. He rode solo and wound up winning the stage, while the general classification remained largely unchanged. The next stage was a individual time trial that was won by Bugno. He won by margin of eight seconds and moved up into second place overall, a second off the leader Chioccioli.
The eleventh stage was contested in rainy conditions on a winding course. After an unsuccessful breakaway attempt by 15 riders, Maximilian Sciandri, LeMond, and Michele Coppolillo attacked and formed a group off the front. Sciandri and LeMond crossed the line in first and second, respectively, while Coppolillo was caught by the peloton in the closing meters of the stage. The next day saw the race's first mountain-top finish, to Monviso. The group of main contenders reached the final climb together, with 's Jean-François Bernard launching the first attack which saw him gain a maximum advantage of around 30 seconds. The next to make a serious effort was Lejarreta, who was followed by Chioccioli, Massimiliano Lelli, and Sierra, who attacked with ten kilometers left in the stage. The trio caught up to Bernard and rode as a group to the finish. Lelli took the stage as Chioccioli defended his lead. Bugno lost almost two minutes during the day.
The thirteenth leg of the race featured two ascents of the Alpine mountain Sestriere, the second of which served as the finish for the day. The day began with a breakaway of twelve that was caught before the final climb to Sestriere. The first rider to launch a serious attack on the climb was Pedro Delgado, who was quickly followed by Chioccioli, Lejaretta, Eduardo Chozas, and Chiappucci, meanwhile Bugno was unable to follow their wheels. Chozas managed to win the stage as the group of four finish within four seconds of each other. With 20 kilometers to go in the fourteenth leg, Franco Ballerini, Casado, Juan Martínez Oliver, and Brian Peterson formed a breakaway group. The group managed to stretch out an advantage of almost two minutes as they entered the closing kilometers. Ballerini took the stage victory after he and Casado had managed to distance themselves slightly from the two other breakaway riders. LeMond abandoned the race following the conclusion of the fourteenth stage. The next day, on the ascent of the Mortirolo, race leader Chioccioli attacked and formed a solo attack. He rode the remaining 50 kilometers on his own to the stage victory, with his lead expanding to at most two minutes 30 seconds. He managed to put over a minute into each of his rivals.