The 1979 Giro d'Italia was the 62nd running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Florence, on 17 May, with an prologue and concluded in Milan, on 6 June, with a individual time trial. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 19-stage race, that was won by Italian Giuseppe Saronni of the Scic-Bottecchia team. The second and third places were taken by Italian Francesco Moser and Swede Bernt Johansson, respectively.

In addition to the general classification, Saronni won the points classification, Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Claudio Bortolotto of Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV won the mountains classification, and Bianchi-Faema's Silvano Contini completed the Giro as the best rider aged 24 or under in the general classification, finishing fifth overall. Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV finishing as the winners of the team classification, ranking each of the twenty teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time.

Teams

Thirteen of the fourteen teams invited to the 1979 Giro d'Italia participated in the race. Kas were forced to decline their invitation, in favor of racing the Vuelta a España, by the Spanish Federation which wanted the "best Hispanic" peloton to be competing in Vuelta that year. In total 12 countries were represented, 84 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 66 riders came from: Belgium (15), Switzerland (12), France (8), Denmark (3), Australia (2), Germany (1), Great Britain (1), the Netherlands (1), Norway (1), South Africa (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, 43 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.42 years, ranging from 20–year–old Orlando Maini (Mobilificio San Giacomo) to 34–year–old Renato Laghi (CBM Fast-Gaggia). The team with the youngest average rider age was Sapa Assicurazioni (23), while the oldest was Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV (30). From the riders that began this edition, 111 made it to the finish in Milan.

The teams entering the race were:

Bianchi-Faema CBM Fast-Gaggia G.B.C.-Galli-Castelli Gis Gelati Magniflex-Famcucine Mecap-Hoonved Mobilificio San Giacomo Peugeot-Esso-Michelin Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV Sapa Assicurazioni Scic-Bottecchia Willora-Piz Buin-Bonanza Zonca-Santini

Pre-race favorites

The starting peloton did include the 1978 winner, Johan De Muynck. Successful French rider Bernard Hinault did not enter the race.

Route and stages

The route was unveiled on 22 March 1979. Covering a total of , it included five individual time trials, and nine stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points. The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was shorter and contained one more time trial. In addition, this race contained one less stage.

+ Stage resultsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinnerP17 MayFlorence to FlorenceIndividual time trial 118 MayFlorence to Perugia Plain stage 219 MayPerugia to Castel Gandolfo Plain stage 320 MayCaserta to NaplesIndividual time trial 421 MayCaserta to Potenza Stage with mountain(s) 522 MayPotenza to Vieste Stage with mountain(s) 623 MayVieste to Chieti Plain stage 724 MayChieti to Pesaro Plain stage 825 MayRimini to City of San Marino (San Marino)Individual time trial 926 MayCity of San Marino (San Marino) to Pistoia Stage with mountain(s) 1027 MayLerici to PortovenereIndividual time trial 1128 MayLa Spezia to Voghera Stage with mountain(s) 1229 MayAlessandria to Saint-Vincent Plain stage 1330 MayAosta to Meda Stage with mountain(s) 1431 MayMeda to Bosco Chiesanuova Stage with mountain(s) 151 JuneVerona to Treviso Plain stage 162 JuneTreviso to Pieve di Cadore Stage with mountain(s) 3 June Rest day174 JunePieve di Cadore to Trento Stage with mountain(s) 185 JuneTrento to Barzio Stage with mountain(s) 196 JuneCesano Maderno to MilanIndividual time trial Total

Classification leadership

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1979 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. The general classification 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. 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) jersey.

The mountains classification 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 race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Passo Pordoi, which was first crossed by Italian rider Leonardo Natale.

The fourth classification, the young rider classification, 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. In addition, the rider had to be aged 24 and younger.

The team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. In 1979, the rules of this team classification changed: it was no longer based on points, but based on time.

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 classification, created in the 1976 edition, was used again, but this year the winner received a Fiat Ritmo. For this classification, there was one intermediate sprint per stage, and the first three riders scored points.

+Classification leadership by stage Stage WinnerGeneral classificationPoints classificationMountains classificationYoung rider classification Campionato delle Regioni FIATTeam classification P Francesco Moser Francesco Moser Francesco Moser not awarded Roberto Visentini not awarded not awarded Bianchi-Faema 1 Mario Beccia Knut Knudsen ? ? 2 Roger De Vlaeminck Francesco Moser 3 Francesco Moser Silvano Contini 4 Claudio Bortolotto Mario Beccia Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV 5 Giuseppe Saronni Angelo Tosoni 6 Bruno Wolfer Giuseppe Saronni Bianchi-Faema 7 Alan Van Heerden Paolo Rosola 8 Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni 9 Roger De Vlaeminck Claudio Bortolotto ? 10 Knut Knudsen 11 Bernt Johansson Roger De Vlaeminck 12 Roger De Vlaeminck 13 Dino Porrini Claudio Bortolotto 14 Bernt Johansson Bernt Johansson Giuseppe Martinelli Cesare Cipollini 15 Giuseppe Martinelli Francesco Moser Angelo Tosoni 16 Roberto Ceruti Giuseppe Saronni ? 17 Francesco Moser Francesco Moser Claudio Bortolotto Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV 18 Amilcare Sgalbazzi Paolo Rosola 19 Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni Final Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni Claudio Bortolotto Silvano Contini Paolo Rosola Angelo Tosoni Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV

Final standings

Legend      Denotes the winner of the General classification      Denotes the winner of the Points classification      Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification      Denotes the winner of the Young rider classification      Denotes the winner of the Campionato delle Regioni classification

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Scic-Bottecchia 2 Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV + 2' 09" 3 Magniflex-Famcucine + 3' 13" 4 Peugeot-Esso-Michelin + 5' 31" 5 Bianchi-Faema + 7' 33" 6 Mecap-Hoonved + 7' 50" 7 Mobilificio San Giacomo + 11' 27" 8 Scic-Bottecchia + 13' 07" 9 Willora-Piz Buin-Bonanza + 14' 16" 10 CBM Fast-Gaggia + 16' 11"

Points classification

+Final points classification (1-5)RiderTeamPoints 1 Scic-Bottecchia 275 2 Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV 274 3 Magniflex-Famcucine 260 4 Mecap-Hoonved 130 5 Peugeot-Esso-Michelin 118

Mountains classification

+Final mountains classification (1-10)RiderTeamPoints 1 Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV 495 2 Willora-Piz Buin-Bonanza 330 3 Magniflex-Famcucine 300 4 Mecap-Hoonved 215 5 Magniflex-Famcucine 170 Magniflex-Famcucine G.B.C.-Galli-Castelli 8 Sapa Assicurazioni 150 Scic-Bottecchia 10 Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV 130

Young rider classification

+Final young rider classification (1–3)RiderTeamTime 1 Bianchi-Faema 89h 36' 51" 2 CBM Fast-Gaggia + 8' 38" 3 Sapa Assicurazioni + 11' 24"

Traguardi Fiat Ritmo classification

+Final traguardi fiat ritmo classification (1–2)RiderTeamPoints 1 CBM Fast-Gaggia 46 2 Mobilificio San Giacomo 24 Sapa Assicurazioni Mobilificio San Giacomo

Campionato delle Regioni classification

+Final campionato delle regioni classification (1–3)RiderTeamPoints 1 Sapa Assicurazioni 46 2 Mobilificio San Giacomo 44 3 Zonca-Santini 30

Team classification

+Final team classification (1–3)TeamTime 1 Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV ? 2 Scic-Bottecchia + 6' 48" 3 Magniflex-Famcucine + 10' 42"

Doping

There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1979.

References

Citations

Bibliography