The 1949 Giro d'Italia was the 32nd Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 21 May in Palermo with a stage that stretched to Catania, finishing in Monza on 12 June after a stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by Fausto Coppi of the Bianchi team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.

Coppi won the overall by way of the memorable 17th stage (from Cuneo to Pinerolo), in which he escaped from the group and climbed alone the Maddalena Pass, the Col de Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the Col de Montgenèvre and the Sestriere Pass, arriving in Pinerolo 11'52" ahead of Bartali, his tenacious antagonist during those years.

Teams

A total of 15 teams were invited to participate in the 1949 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of seven riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 105 cyclists. Out of the 105 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 65 riders made it to the finish in Monza.

The teams entering the race were:

Bianchi

Edelweiss Fiorelli Fréjus Ganna Legnano

Defending champion Fiorenzo Magni was planning to ride the 1949 Giro, but was sick at the start, and was replaced by a different rider.

Pre-race favorites

The main favorites entering the race were Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. Vito Ortelli, who placed fourth the year prior did not participate as he was suffering from an illness and stayed home. l'Unità'''s Attilio Camoriano wrote that Coppi's form entering the race could allow him to gain the lead early on and hold it from Bartali, who was known to take several stages to warm up and adjust to the race. Camoriano added that Bartali would likely not let that happen as he was known to find strength and referenced previous Tours de France. He further stated that Coppi's Bianchi team was stronger and better organized than Bartali's eponymous team. Aside from the aforementioned contenders, Fiorelli's Jean Goldschmit was thought to be the team's best contender as Ganna–Ursus's Albert Dubuisson was known to fade on climbs.

Route and stages

The route for this edition of the Giro d'Italia was announced on 7 February 1949. The stages involving the Piedmont region were finalized on 24 March. The race was scheduled to begin at 8 am at the Villa Giulia in Palermo. Attilio Camoriano of l'Unità'' stated that the riders were likely to use their heavy, thicker tires because after the Santo Stefano junction, the roads contained lava rocks from Mount Etna throughout and those were known to cut tires easily. The Sicilian government offered race organizers ten million lire to host the start of the Giro.

Prior to the start of the race, bandit Salvatore Giuliano who had been on the run near Sicily's Montelepre was being searched for by police as the area was in a state of emergency for several weeks. It was rumored that Giuliano threatened to line the race route in the mountains and shoot at the participants with machine guns if the police did not call off their search for him. Specifically Giuliano threatened to interrupt the first stage along its route from Palermo to Catania. Due to these threats, there were discussions to cancel the two planned stages in Sicily, but the stages remained. Instead, the normal police escort for the Giro d'Italia caravan that travels with the race would be increased from 6 to 10 cars and cars would not be allowed to stop along the route throughout the two stages on the island except in cases of "force majeure." The added police were not due to the rumors of the attack, but allegedly to prevent a potential escape by Giuliano.

+ Stage characteristics and results Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner121 MayPalermo to Catania Stage with mountain(s) 222 MayCatania to Messina Plain stage 323 MayVilla San Giovanni to Cosenza Stage with mountain(s) 424 MayCosenza to Salerno Plain stage 526 MaySalerno to Naples Plain stage 627 MayNaples to Rome Plain stage 728 MayRome to Pesaro Plain stage 829 MayPesaro to Venezia Plain stage 931 MayVenezia to Udine Plain stage 101 JuneUdine to Bassano del Grappa Plain stage 112 JuneBassano del Grappa to Bolzano Stage with mountain(s) 124 JuneBolzano to Modena Plain stage 135 JuneModena to Montecatini Terme Stage with mountain(s) 146 JuneMontecatini Terme to Genoa Stage with mountain(s) 157 JuneGenoa to Sanremo Plain stage 169 JuneSanremo to Cuneo Stage with mountain(s) 1710 JuneCuneo to Pinerolo Stage with mountain(s) 1811 JunePinerolo to Turin Individual time trial 1912 JuneTurin to Monza Stage with mountain(s) Total

Classification leadership

In the 1949 Giro d'Italia there were two major classifications. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a pink jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Giro d'Italia, and the winner was considered the winner of the Giro.

In the mountains classifications, points were won by the first five cyclists reaching the top of a climb. This classification did not award a jersey to the leader. The highest climb of the race was the Col d'Izoard in stage seventeen, which was 2360m. The other stages that included categorized climbs were stages: 1, 3, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 19.

A white jersey was awarded to the highest ranked independent rider, who was typically from a non-major team."

There was a black jersey (maglia nera) awarded to the rider placed last in the general classification. The classification was calculated in the same manner as the general classification.

There was a classification for sprints called the "Gran Premio Tappe Volanti" classification. This consisted of a sprint line that was marked in eight stages of the race, stages 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, and 19. Specifically the eight sprints were located in the following places Taormina, Castrovillari, Terni, Ferrara, Trieste, Verona, Chiavari, and Novara, respectively.

For placing in the top three for each classification, on the final stage placings, the "Gran Premio Tappe Volanti", or crossing a categorized climb for the mountains classification, time bonuses were awarded. One minute time bonus was given to the first placed rider, thirty seconds to second place, and fifteen second to third.

+Classification leadership by stageStageWinnerGeneral classificationBest independent riderMountains classificationIntermediate sprints classificationLast in General classificationTeam classification 1 Mario Fazio Mario Fazio Mario Fazio Mario Fazio not awarded ? Wilier Triestina 2 Sergio Maggini Giordano Cottur Andrea Carrea Luigi Casola Sante Carollo 3 Guido De Santi Mario Fazio & Léon Jomaux 4 Fausto Coppi Mario Fazio Vitaliano Lazzerini 5 Serafino Biagioni 6 Mario Ricci 7 Adolfo Leoni Mario Fazio 8 Luigi Casola Marcel Buysse 9 Adolfo Leoni Adolfo Leoni Sante Carollo 10 Giovanni Corrieri Marcel Buysse 11 Fausto Coppi Giancarlo Astrua Fausto Coppi Adolfo Leoni Sante Carollo 12 Oreste Conte 13 Adolfo Leoni 14 Vincenzo Rossello Oreste Conte 15 Luciano Maggini 16 Oreste Conte 17 Fausto Coppi Fausto Coppi 18 Antonio Bevilacqua 19 Giovanni Corrieri Final Fausto Coppi Giancarlo Astrua Fausto Coppi Oreste Conte Sante Carollo Wilier Triestina

Final standings

Legend      Denotes the winner of the General classification      Denotes the best independent rider

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Time 1 Bianchi 2 Bartali + 23' 47" 3 Wilier-Triestina + 38' 27" 4 Legnano + 39' 01" 5 Benotto + 39' 50" 6 Wilier-Triestina + 48' 48" 7 Centro Sportivo Italiano + 49' 14" 8 Viscontea + 53' 14" 9 Arbos + 56' 59" 10 Fréjus + 1h 02' 10"

Independent rider classification

+ Final independent rider classification (1–5) Rank Rider Team Time 1 Benotto 2 Viscontea + 13' 24" 3 Fréjus + 22' 20" 4 Bottecchia + 26' 20" 5 Fréjus + 34' 23"

Mountains classification

+ Final mountains classification (1–5) Rank Rider Team Points 1 Bianchi 46 2 Bartali 41 3 Benotto 23 4 Benotto 14 5 Bartali 12

Team classification

+ Final team classification (1–10) Rank Team Time 1 Wilier-Triestina 2 Bianchi 3 Legnano 4 Fréjus 5 Bartali 6 Benotto 7 Arbos 8 Cimatti 9 Atala 10 Bottecchia

Intermediate sprints classification

+ Final intermediate sprints classification (1–3)RankNameTeamPoints 1 Bianchi 21 2 Atala 19 3 Legnano 13

References

Citations

Bibliography