The 1940 Giro d'Italia was the 28th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 17 May 1940 in Milan with a stage that stretched to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 9 June 1940 after a stage and a total distance covered of .

The race was won by Fausto Coppi (at his first participation) of the Legnano team, with fellow Italians Enrico Mollo and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.

Coppi, who was 20 years old at the time, is the youngest winner of the Giro.

Participants Of the 91 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 17 May 1940, 47 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 9 June May. Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 41 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 50 competed as a part of a group. The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Legnano, Gloria, Olympia, Lygie, Gerbi. Each team started with either six or seven riders. The Ganna team did not start the race due to the team's Belgian riders not being cleared to enter the country. There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: S. C. Binda, G. S. Battisti-Aquilano, U. S. Azzini-Universal, Cicli Viscontea,Cicli Viscontea was also known as Comando Generale M.V.S.N. or M.V.S.N.-Viscontea. Dopolavoro Az. Bemberg, U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, Dopolavoro Az. Vismara, S. S. Parioli, and G. S. Mater.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winners Gino Bartali and Giovanni Valetti, who was the reigning champion. Bartali studied the route for the Giro intensely during the winter before the race and during reconnaissance rides, he befriended local business owners with the hopes of contacting for local road and weather conditions during the race. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Fausto Coppi. The only non-Italian riders to compete in the race were Luxembourgian Christophe Didier and Swiss rider Walter Diggelmann. Bartali and Valetti were both seen a strong contenders for the overall title.

Originally, a team sponsored by Ganna would have joined, formed by mostly Belgian riders. After the German invasion of Belgium, travel became difficult, and these Belgian riders were unable to reach Italy; from this team only Christophe Didier from Luxembourg was able to reach Italy. Didier was then allowed to race as member of the Olympia team, which was short three riders because three Swiss riders were also not able to reach Italy.

Route and stages + Stage characteristics and winnersStageDateCourseDistanceTypeIn 1940, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the tenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth stages included major mountains.Winner117 MayMilan to Turin Plain stage218 MayTurin to Genoa Plain stage319 MayGenoa to Pisa Plain stage420 MayPisa to Grosseto Plain stage521 MayGrosseto to Rome Plain stage 22 May Rest day623 MayRome to Naples Plain stage724 MayNaples to Fiuggi Plain stage825 MayFiuggi to Terni Plain stage926 MayTerni to Arezzo Plain stage1027 MayArezzo to Florence Stage with mountain(s) 28 May Rest day1129 MayFlorence to Modena Plain stage1230 MayModena to Ferrara Plain stage1331 MayFerrara to Treviso Plain stage141 JuneTreviso to Abbazia (Yugoslavia) Plain stage152 JuneAbbazia (Yugoslavia) to Trieste Plain stage 3 June Rest day164 JuneTrieste to Pieve di Cadore Stage with mountain(s)175 JunePieve di Cadore to Ortisei Stage with mountain(s) 6 June Rest day187 JuneOrtisei to Trento Stage with mountain(s)198 JuneTrento to Verona Stage with mountain(s)209 JuneVerona to Milan Plain stage Total

Race overview During the second stage, Bartali crashed into a dog that ran onto the road, throwing him from the bike. He returned to his bike, but a doctor examination after finishing the stage, led the diagnosis of a strained muscle and a recommendation to withdraw from the race. Bartali elected to remain the race, but knew he could not win. Bartali's team mate Fausto Coppi, originally selected to help Bartali, finished this stage in second place, and climbed to the second place in the general classification.

Coppi stayed in the top of general classification in the first half of the Giro, although not without problems. In the eighth stage, he had an accident with a car, and his bike was broken. He only lost three minutes, because his team mate Mario Ricci was told to give his bike to Coppi.

After the tenth stage, Coppi was in third place, with only Enrico Mollo and Severino Canavesi in front of him. In the eleventh stage, Coppi attacked on the Abetone, and rode a solo to the finish, winning the stage by almost four minutes, becoming the new race leader. From then on, the Legnano team fully worked for Coppi.

Bartali was fifteen minutes behind in the general classification, and considered abandoning the race. His team director Eberardo Pavesi requested him to stay in the race, to work for the team in case Coppi was unable to stay in the lead. In the sixteenth stage, Coppi was not feeling well, and when the climbing started, had to stop on the side of the road to vomit. When Bartali reached Coppi, Bartali was able to convince Coppi to get back on his bike and ride on. Coppi reached the finish, losing only a few seconds to his closest rival Mollo.

On the seventeenth stage, Coppi was feeling better, and together with Bartali he rode away from all other riders. Coppi had a flat tire twice, and Bartali waited for him both times. When Bartali had a flat tire, Coppi did not wait until he was told to wait by his team director Eberardo Pavesi. Coppi listened and waited for Bartali; they rode to the finish together and Bartali won the stage, while Coppi cemented his lead.

In the final stages, there were no big changes in the general classification, so Coppi became the winner of the 1940 Giro in his first participation, only twenty years old.

Classification leadership 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. There were no time bonuses in 1940.

There was a special classification for the grouped riders, calculated in the same way as the general classification. The leader of this classification was given the white jersey. In 1940, one stage was won by a grouped rider: stage 3 by Maribelli for GS Battisti.

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the five riders who crossed them first.

The winner of the team classification was determined by adding the finish times of the best three cyclists per team together and the team with the lowest total time was the winner.If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification. The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

+ Classification leadership table Stage WinnerGeneral classificationBest grouped riderMountains classificationTeam classificationGroup classification 1 Vasco Bergamaschi Olimpio Bizzi Marcello Spadolini not awarded Bianchi UC Modenese 2 Gino Bartali Osvaldo Bailo Fulvio Montini multiple shared Cicli Viscontea 3 Diego Marabelli Giovanni De Stefanis Legnano 4 Adolfo Leoni Pierino Favalli Giovanni Gotti Gloria UC Modenese 5 Adolfo Leoni 6 Glauco Servadei Cicli Viscontea 7 Walter Generati 8 Olimpio Bizzi Enrico Mollo U.S. Azzini-Universal 9 Primo Volpi 10 Olimpio Bizzi Primo Volpi 11 Fausto Coppi Fausto Coppi Giovanni De Stefanis Fausto Coppi 12 Adolfo Leoni 13 Olimpio Bizzi 14 Glauco Servadei 15 Mario Vicini 16 Mario Vicini 17 Gino Bartali 18 Glauco Servadei Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi 19 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali 20 Adolfo Leoni Final Fausto Coppi Giovanni De Stefanis Gino Bartali Gloria U.S. Azzini-Universal

Final standings

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

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Legnano 2 Olympia + 2' 40" 3 Lygie + 11' 45" 4 Bianchi + 16' 27" 5 Gloria + 16' 50" 6 Gloria + 22' 30" 7 Gloria + 25' 03" 8 Dop. Azzini Bamberg + 27' 50" 9 Legnano + 46' 09" 10 U.S. Azzini-Universal + 48' 37"

Group rider classification + Final group rider classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Dop. Azzini Bamberg 2 U.S. Azzini-Universal + 19' 47" 3 Cicli Viscontea + 29' 52" 4 G. S. Battisti-Aquilano + 37' 28" 5 Cicli Viscontea + 1h 06' 24" 6 Dopolavoro Az. Bemberg + 1h 14' 58" 7 Il Littoriale + 1h 18' 03" 8 U. S. Azzini-Universal + 1h 20' 53" 9 S. S. Parioli + 1h 24' 19" 10 Dopolavoro Az. Vismara + 1h 34' 00"

Mountains classification

+ Final mountains classification (1–9)NameTeamPoints 1 Legnano 25 2 Legnano 21 3 Olympia 13 4 Gloria 13 5 Bianchi 12 6 Lygie 7 U.S. Azzini-Universal 8 Dop. Azzini Bamberg 5 9 GS Battisti-Aquilano 2 Olympia

Team classification

+ Final team classification (1–6)TeamTime 1 Gloria 2 Legnano + 1h 51' 40" 3 Bianchi + 3h 30' 57" 4 Gerbi + 3h 32' 44" 5 Olympia + 3h 33' 18" 6 Lygie + 5h 03' 30"

Group classification + Final group classification (1–4)TeamTime 1 U.S. Azzini-Universal 2 Cicli Viscontea + 16' 41" 3 Dopolavoro Az. Vismara + 33' 41" 4 G.S. Battisti-Aquilano + 1h 15' 37"

References Footnotes

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