The 1978 Giro d'Italia was the 61st running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Saint-Vincent, on 7 May, with a prologue and concluded in Milan, on 28 May, with a mass-start stage. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 20-stage race, that was won by Belgian Johan de Muynck of the Bianchi team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Gianbattista Baronchelli and Francesco Moser, respectively. As of the beginning of the 2021 cycling season this was the last time a Belgian rider won a Grand Tour.

Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Sanson's Moser won the points classification, Ueli Sutter of Zonca won the mountains classification, and Vibor's Roberto Visentini completed the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing fifteenth overall. Bianchi finishing as the winners of the team points classification.

Teams

A total of 13 teams were invited to participate in the 1978 Giro d'Italia. In total, 95 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 37 riders came from: Belgium (13), Spain (9), West Germany (4), Switzerland (3), the Netherlands (2), Great Britain (1), New Zealand (1), Norway (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, 45 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 26.78 years, ranging from 20–year–old Corrado Donadio (Vibor) to 37–year–old Franco Bitossi (Gis Gelati). The team with the youngest average rider age was Intercontinentale Assicurazioni (22), while the oldest was Bianchi (29). From those that started, a total of 90 riders made it to the finish in Milan.

The teams entering the race were:

Bianchi Fiorella Gis Gelati Ijsboerke-Gios Intercontinentale Assicurazioni Magniflex-Torpado Mecap-Selle Italia Sanson Scic Selle Royal-Inoxpran Teka Vibor Zonca

Route and stages

The route for the race was revealed on 8 March 1978. The start of the race was moved up one week and three stage were cancelled so the race did not interfere with the World Cup that started on 1 June in Argentina. The fourteenth stage took the race into the Venice for a time trial. As the city was not conducive to the event, four ramps were created to allow for riders to ride up and down on canal crossings, as well as one floating bridge over the Grand Canal. The route will feature 25 km of elevation gain.

+ Stage resultsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinnerP7 MaySaint-VincentIndividual time trial 18 MaySaint-Vincent to Novi Ligure Plain stage 29 MayNovi Ligure to La Spezia Stage with mountain(s) 310 MayLa Spezia to Càscina Stage with mountain(s) 411 MayLarciano to PistoiaIndividual time trial 512 MayPrato to Cattolica Stage with mountain(s) 613 MayCattolica to Silvi Marina Plain stage 714 MaySilvi Marina to Benevento Stage with mountain(s) 815 MayBenevento to Ravello Stage with mountain(s) 916 MayAmalfi to Latina Plain stage 1017 MayLatina to Lago di Piediluco Stage with mountain(s) 11a18 MayTerni to Assisi Plain stage 11bAssisi to Siena Plain stage 1219 MayPoggibonsi to Monte Trebbio Stage with mountain(s) 1320 MayModigliana to Padua Plain stage 1421 MayVenezia to VeneziaIndividual time trial 22 May Rest day1523 MayTreviso to Canazei Stage with mountain(s) 1624 MayMazzin to CavaleseIndividual time trial 1725 MayCavalese to Monte Bondone Stage with mountain(s) 1826 MayMezzolombardo to Sarezzo Stage with mountain(s) 1927 MayBrescia to Inverigo Stage with mountain(s) 2028 MayInverigo to Milan Plain stage Total

Classification leadership

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1978 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 Valles, which was first summited by Italian rider Gianbattista Baronchelli.

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.

Another classification was the team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. This was calculated by adding together points earned by each rider on the team during each stage through the intermediate sprints, the categorized climbs, stage finishes, etc. The team with the most points led the classification.

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 Ritmo 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 Dietrich Thurau not awarded not awarded not awarded not awarded not awarded not awarded not awarded 1 Rik Van Linden Rik Van Linden Rik Van Linden ? Alessio Antonini Piero Falorni ? 2 Giuseppe Saronni multiple riders ? Luciano Rossignoli 3 Johan De Muynck Johan De Muynck Arnaldo Caverzasi 4 Dietrich Thurau Giuseppe Saronni Roberto Visentini 5 Rik Van Linden Francesco Moser Ueli Sutter 6 Rik Van Linden Rik Van Linden ? 7 Giuseppe Saronni Roger De Vlaeminck 8 Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni Alessio Antonini 9 Enrico Paolini Roger De Vlaeminck ? 10 Giuseppe Martinelli Giuseppe Saronni 11a Bruno Zanoni 11b Francesco Moser Roger De Vlaeminck Alessio Antonini 12 Giancarlo Bellini Francesco Moser ? 13 Francesco Moser 14 Francesco Moser 15 Gianbattista Baronchelli Gianbattista Baronchelli 16 Francesco Moser 17 Wladimiro Panizza Ueli Sutter 18 Giuseppe Perletto 19 Vittorio Algeri 20 Pierino Gavazzi Fiorenzo Favero Bianchi Final Johan De Muynck Francesco Moser Ueli Sutter Roberto Visentini Fiorenzo Favero Luciano Rossignoli Bianchi

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 Bianchi 2 Scic + 59" 3 Sanson + 2' 19" 4 Vibor + 7' 57" 5 Scic + 8' 19" 6 Sanson + 8' 24" 7 Magniflex + 9' 04" 8 Sanson + 9' 25" 9 Fiorella + 12' 36" 10 Zonca + 12' 38"

Points classification

+Final points classification (1–5)RiderTeamPoints 1 Sanson 275 2 Scic 274 3 Scic 260 4 Zonca 130 5 Bianchi 118

Mountains classification

+Final mountains classification (1–5)RiderTeamPoints 1 Zonca 830 2 Scic 520 3 Sanson 345 4 Teka 5 Bianchi 290

Young rider classification

+Final young rider classification (1–5)RiderTeamTime 1 Vibor 2 Intercontinentale Assicurazioni + 41' 33" 3 Zonca + 54' 39" 4 Zonca + 1h 05' 20" 5 Mecap + 1h 19' 15"

Campionato delle Regioni classification

+Final Campionato delle Regioni classification (1–5)RiderTeamPoints 1 Intercontinentale Assicurazioni 38 2 Selle Royal-Inoxpran 27 3 Magniflex 19 4 Scic 17 5 Magniflex 13

Traguardo Fiat Ritmo classification

+Final Traguardo Fiat Ritmo classification (1–3)RiderTeamPoints 1 Fiorella 37 2 Intercontinentale Assicurazioni 16 3 Magniflex 13

Team points classification

+Final team points classification (1–3)TeamPoints 1 Bianchi 15,540 2 Sanson 9,420 3 Scic 8,107

Doping

There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1978.

References

Citations

Bibliography