The 1970 Giro d'Italia was the 53rd edition of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race consisted of 20 stages, starting in San Pellegrino Terme on 18 May and finishing Bolzano on 7 June. There was one time trial stage and a single rest day. Eddy Merckx of the Faemino team won the overall general classification, his second victory. Italians Felice Gimondi (Salvarani) placed second, 3 min and 14 s slower than Merckx, and Martin Van Den Bossche (Molteni) was third, nearly five minutes behind Merckx.

Teams

Thirteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1970 edition of the Giro d'Italia. In total, 86 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 44 riders came from: Belgium (24), Spain (10), Switzerland (4), Germany (3), Sweden (2), and Denmark (1). Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists. Of those starting, 48 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.37 years, ranging from 21–year–old Wilmo Francioni (Ferretti) to 36–year–old Aldo Moser (G.B.C.). The team with the youngest average rider age was Magniflex (23), while the oldest was Scic (28). 97 made it to the finish in Bolzano.

The teams that took part in the race were:

Cosatto Dreher Faemino Ferretti Filotex G.B.C. Germanvox La Casera Magniflex Molteni Sagit Salvarani Scic

Pre-race favorites

The starting peloton did feature the previous year's winner Felice Gimondi (Salvarani). Despite an initial unwillingness to participate relating to his expulsion the year before, Eddy Merckx chose to enter the race after the race organizers agreed to send all doping controls to Rome rather than conduct them in a van that moved with the race. Merckx entered as the primary favorite to win the race. He entered the race having already won several races that season including: Paris–Nice, Paris–Roubaix, and La Flèche Wallonne, among others. Le Confédéré felt that Merckx's greatest challenge would come not from Italian riders, but the Belgian Walter Godefroot (Salvarani). Godefroot was thought to be the leader for the Salvarani team as Gimondi entered the race in poor form. Gianni Motta was absent from the race as he was recovering from a knee operation earlier in the season.

Route and stages

The route was revealed on 31 March 1970 by race director Vincenzo Torriani. The race covered across twenty stages and one rest day. Compared to the previous edition, the 1970 edition was shorter and included only four stages longer than with stage 14 being the longest at . In April, the route was announced to have nineteen categorized climbs that awarded points towards the mountains classification, while the final route included seven more categorized climbs. In total, were climbed.

San Pellegrino Terme hosted the race's start and then it travelled west, visiting the Alps before turning south and then east towards Treviso. A transfer then occurred to Terracina and the race moved north along the coast. The race made its way to the Dolomites for three stages before finishing in Bolzano. The route did not visit Milan for the first time in race history.

The route featured less transition stages than in previous years, which was thought to allow for more action in the race.

+ Stage characteristics and resultsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner118 MaySan Pellegrino Terme to Biandronno Plain stage 219 MayComerio to Saint-Vincent Stage with mountain(s) 320 MaySaint-Vincent to Aosta Stage with mountain(s) 421 MaySaint-Vincent to Lodi Plain stage 522 MayLodi to Plain stage 623 MayZingonia to Malcesine Stage with mountain(s) 724 MayMalcesine to Brentonico Stage with mountain(s) 825 MayRovereto to Bassano del Grappa Stage with mountain(s) 926 MayBassano del Grappa to Treviso Individual time trial 27 May Rest day1028 MayTerracina to Rivisondoli Stage with mountain(s) 1129 MayRivisondoli to Francavilla al Mare Stage with mountain(s) 1230 MayFrancavilla al Mare to Loreto Stage with mountain(s) 1331 MayLoreto to Faenza Plain stage 141 JuneFaenza to Casciana Terme Plain stage 152 JuneCasciana Terme to Mirandola Stage with mountain(s) 163 JuneMirandola to Lido di Jesolo Plain stage 174 JuneLido di Jesolo to Arta Terme Stage with mountain(s) 185 JuneArta Terme to Marmolada Stage with mountain(s) 196 JuneRocca Pietore to Dobbiaco Stage with mountain(s) 207 JuneDobbiaco to Bolzano Stage with mountain(s) Total

Classification leadership

Two different jerseys were worn during the 1970 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – 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.

For the points classification, which awarded a cyclamen jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15. Before the start of the 1970, Termozeta replaced Dreher Brewery as the sponsor of the points classification and so the color of the leader's jersey changed from red to cyclamen.

A third classification was the mountains classification. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. No jersey was worn by its leader. The climbs were ranked in first and second categories, the former awarded 50, 30, and 20 points while the latter awarded 30, 20, and 10 points. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. In addition there was the Cima Coppi, the Passo Pordoi, which was the highest mountain crossed in this edition of the race, which gave 200, 100, 80, 70, and 50 points to the first five riders summit the climb. The first rider over the Passo Pordoi was Luciano Armani.

There was also one classification for the teams, based on points. Riders scored points for their team if they were amongst the first 15 to finish a stage, at intermediate sprints, and mountain tops, and for leading the general classification.

A minor classification was the intermediate sprints classification, called the traguardi tricolori. On intermediate sprints, the first rider received 30 points for this classification, and the second rider 10 points. No jersey was used to indicate the leader. There was no time bonus at these intermediate sprints, and no points for the points classification.

+Classification leadership by stage Stage WinnerGeneral classificationPoints classificationMountains classificationIntermediate sprints classificationTeam classification 1 Franco Bitossi Franco Bitossi Franco Bitossi not awarded ? ? 2 Eddy Merckx Marino Basso 3 Franco Bitossi Italo Zilioli 4 Marino Basso 5 Patrick Sercu 6 Enrico Paolini Martin Van Den Bossche 7 Eddy Merckx Eddy Merckx Eddy Merckx 8 Walter Godefroot 9 Eddy Merckx 10 Italo Zilioli Martin Van Den Bossche 11 Michele Dancelli 12 Miguel María Lasa 13 Michele Dancelli 14 Michele Dancelli Michele Dancelli 15 Marino Basso 16 Dino Zandegù 17 Franco Bitossi Franco Bitossi Faemino 18 Michele Dancelli Michele Dancelli Italo Zilioli Giancarlo Polidori 19 Franco Bitossi Franco Bitossi Martin Van Den Bossche 20 Luciano Armani Final Eddy MerckxFranco Bitossi Martin Van Den Bossche Giancarlo Polidori Faemino

Final standings

Legend      Denotes the winner of the General classification      Denotes the winner of the Points classification

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Faemino 2 Salvarani + 3' 14" 3 Molteni + 4' 59" 4 Molteni + 7' 07" 5 Faemino + 8' 14" 6 Ferretti + 9' 20" 7 Filotex + 13' 10" 8 La Casera + 19' 25" 9 Germanvox + 21' 17" 10 Scic + 21' 29"

Mountains classification

+ Final mountains classification (1–10)NameTeamPoints 1 Molteni 460 2 Faemino 420 3 Scic 300 4 Faemino 210 5 Molteni 190 6 Filotex 100 7 Salvarani 70 Feretti 9 Scic 60 10 La Casera 50

Points classification

+ Final points classification (1–10)NameTeamPoints 1 Filotex 252 2 Molteni 241 3 Faemino 193 4 Molteni 185 5 Salvarani 112 6 Faemino 97 7 Salvarani 8 Germanvox 9 Dreher 95 10 La Casera 94

Traguardi tricolori classification

+ Final traguardi tricolori classification (1–10)NameTeamPoints 1 Scic 130? 2 Dreher 80 3 Faemino 70 4 Dreher 60 5 Molteni 60

Teams classification

+ Final team classification (1–10)TeamPoints 1 Faemino 5830 2 Molteni 5350 3 Filotex 3890 4 Salvarani 3380 5 Scic 3140 6 Germanvox 2390 7 Ferretti 2080 8 Dreher 2020 9 La Casera 1840 10 Sagit 1200

Doping cases Alfio Poli tested positive during the 1970 Giro, and was penalized by 10 minutes in the general classification.

References

Citations

Bibliography