The 1939 Giro d'Italia was the 27th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 28 April in Milan with a stage that stretched to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 18 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by the Italian rider Giovanni Valetti of the Fréjus team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Mario Vicini coming in second and third respectively.

Valetti had the lead halfway the race. Bartali then took over the lead in the mountains, but Valetti took it back in the penultimate stage. Bartali attacked on the last stage, but Valetti stayed in his wake and won the race.

Participants

Of the 89 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 28 April, 54 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 18 May. Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 56 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed as a part of a group. The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria, Legnano, Lygie, Olympia, and Belgium. The teams ranged from six to eight riders each. There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: U.S. Azzini, Dopolavoro Di Novi, S.S. Genova 1913, Il Littoriale, La Voce Di Mantova, U.C. Modenese, and S.C. Vigor.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured three former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winner Gino Bartali, Vasco Bergamaschi who won the 1935 edition, and reigning champion Giovanni Valetti. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Cino Cinelli.

Route and stages

+ Stage characteristics and winnersStageDateCourseDistanceTypeIn 1939, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the stages 7, 9b, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 17 included mountains counting towards the mountains classification. The stage 6b individual time trial also contained a summit finish to Monte Terminillo.Winner128 AprilMilan to Turin Plain stage 229 AprilTurin to Genoa Plain stage 330 AprilGenoa to Pisa Plain stage 41 MayPisa to Grosseto Plain stage 52 MayGrosseto to Rome Plain stage 3 May Rest day6a 4 MayRome to Rieti Plain stage 6bRieti to Monte Terminillo Individual time trial 75 MayRieti to Pescara Stage with mountain(s) 86 MayPescara to Senigallia Plain stage 9a 7 MaySenigallia to Forlì Plain stage 9bForlì to Florence Stage with mountain(s) 8 May Rest day10 9 MayFlorence to Bologna Stage with mountain(s) 11 10 MayBologna to Venezia Plain stage 12 11 MayVenezia to Trieste Plain stage 12 May Rest day13 13 MayTrieste to Gorizia Individual time trial 14 14 MayGorizia to Cortina d'Ampezzo Stage with mountain(s) 15 15 MayCortina d'Ampezzo to Trento Stage with mountain(s) 16 May Rest day16 17 MayTrento to Sondrio Stage with mountain(s) 17 18 MaySondrio to Milan Stage with mountain(s) Total

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 1939.

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 1939, three stages were won by grouped riders: stages 4 and 6 by Saponetti from La Voce di Mantova, and stage 13 by Chiappini from Il Littoriale.

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 Vasco Bergamaschi Serafino Santambrogio not awarded shared S.C. Vigor 2 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali Settimo Simonini Legnano 3 Cino Cinelli Cino Cinelli Fréjus 4 Carmine Saponetti La Voce di Mantova 5 Olimpio Bizzi 6a Carmine Saponetti 6b Giovanni Valetti Giovanni Valetti 7 Adolfo Leoni Giovanni Valetti & Gino Bartali S.C. Vigor 8 Diego Marabelli 9a Glauco Servadei Secondo Magni 9b Gino Bartali Giovanni Valetti Enrico Mollo 10 Olimpio Bizzi Enrico Mollo & Michele Benente 11 Pietro Chiappini 12 Giordano Cottur 13 Giovanni Valetti 14 Secondo Magni Gino Bartali 15 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali 16 Giovanni Valetti Giovanni Valetti 17 Gino Bartali Final Giovanni Valetti Settimo Simonini Gino Bartali Fréjus S.C. Vigor

Final standings

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

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Fréjus 2 Legnano + 2' 59" 3 Lygie + 5' 07" 4 Gloria + 7' 55" 5 Il Littoriale + 16' 40" 6 Ganna + 17' 52" 7 Lygie + 18' 40" 8 Ganna + 24' 34" 9 Fréjus + 26' 10" 10 Gloria + 27' 40"

Group rider classification

+ Final group rider classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Il Littoriale 2 S.C. Vigor + 51' 32" 3 La Voce Di Mantova + 1h 09' 31" 4 S.C. Vigor + 1h 15' 39" 5 Dopolavoro Di Novi + 2h 02' 49" 6 S.S. Genova 1913 + 2h 16' 20" 7 La Voce Di Mantova + 2h 23' 45" 8 U.C. Modenese + 2h 35' 45" 9 La Voce Di Mantova + 2h 41' 12" 10 S.C. Vigor + 2h 43' 41"

Mountains classification

+ Final mountains classification (1–9)NameTeamPoints 1 Legnano 22 2 Fréjus 19 3 Olympia 14 4 Olympia 10 Il Littoriale 6 Fréjus 6 Lygie Fréjus 9 Bianchi 5 S.C Vigor

Team classification

+ Final team classification (1–8)TeamTime 1 Fréjus 2 Ganna + 27' 53" 3 Gloria + 29' 52" 4 Lygie + 57' 35" 5 Legnano + 1h 03' 55" 6 Bianchi + 3h 03' 19" 7 Olympia + 5h 55' 57" 8 Belgio + 9h 11' 50"

Group classification

+ Final group classification (1–3)TeamTime 1 S.C. Vigor 2 La Voce di Mantova + 1h 23' 36" 3 Il Littoriale + 4h 20' 42"

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography