The 1937 Giro d'Italia was the 25th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 8 May in Milan with a stage that stretched to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 30 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of . The race was won by Gino Bartali of the Legnano team, with fellow Italians Giovanni Valetti and Enrico Mollo coming in second and third respectively.

Participants

Of the 98 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 8 May, 41 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 30 May. Riders were allowed to ride on their own or as a member of a team or group; 65riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed independently. The four teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Fréjus, Ganna, and Legnano. Each team was composed of seven riders. There were also seven groups, made up of five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: Italiani All'Estero, Bertoldo, Il Littoriale, S S. Parioli, Belgi, Svizzeri, and Tedeschi.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured four former Giro d'Italia winners with the 1931 race winner Francesco Camusso, 1934 winner Learco Guerra, Vasco Bergamaschi who won the race in 1935, and returning champion Gino Bartali. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Giovanni Valetti, and Giuseppe Olmo. Notable foreign entrants were the Belgian riders Alfons Deloor, Alfons Schepers, and Antoine Dignef, and also the Swiss rider Leo Amberg who placed high at the 1936 Tour de France.

Race summary The first two stages were won by grouped riders Troggi and Bernacchi, and they also became the first leaders in the general classification. In the next stages, the Frejus team took control, and Valetti became the leader. After the fourth stage, Valetti was leading with two-and-a-half minute over Bizzi and bartali.

Then came the team time trial, the first in Giro history. It was won by Bartali's team Legnano, and Bartali became the new leader. He lost some time in the second part of the stage later that day, and Valetti returned as race leader.

The eighth stage started with an individual mountain time trial. Bartali was the fastest rider, and took back the lead in the general classification. Valetti was 20 seconds behind, but the other riders were more than five minutes behind, so from then on Bartali and Valetti were the clear favourites for the overall victory.

Bartali was able to leave Valetti behind in the hilly stages, but lost some time when the peloton split and he was on the wrong side.

In the sixteenth stage, the Giro went to the Dolomites, the first time in Giro history. There, Bartali crushed the competition, finishing five minutes clear over all other riders. Bartali finished the Giro more than eight minutes ahead of Valetti, and thus for the second time became the winner of the Giro.

Route and stages The first part of the fifth stage was the first ever team time trial in the Giro d'Italia.

+ Stage resultsStageDateCourseDistanceTypeIn 1937, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the stages 4, 8b, 10, 11a, 12, 16, 17, and 19b included major mountains. The stage 8a individual time trial also contained a summit finish.Winner 1 8 May Milan to Turin Plain stage 2 9 May Turin to Acqui Terme Plain stage 3 10 May Acqui Terme to Genoa Plain stage 4 11 May Genoa to Viareggio Stage with mountain(s) 5a 12 May Viareggio to Marina di Massa Team time trial Legnano 5b Marina di Massa to Livorno Plain stage 13 May Rest day 6 14 May Livorno to Arezzo Plain stage 7 15 May Arezzo to Rieti Plain stage 8a 16 May Rieti to Monte Terminillo Individual time trial 8b Rieti to Rome Stage with mountain(s) 9 17 May Rome to Naples Plain stage 18 May Rest day 10 19 May Naples to Foggia Stage with mountain(s) 11a 20 May Foggia to San Severo Stage with mountain(s) 11b San Severo to Campobasso Plain stage 12 21 May Campobasso to Pescara Stage with mountain(s) 13 22 May Pescara to Ancona Plain stage 14 23 May Ancona to Forlì Plain stage 24 May Rest day 15 25 May Forlì to Vittorio Veneto Plain stage 16 26 May Vittorio Veneto to Merano Stage with mountain(s) 17 27 May Merano to Gardone Riviera Stage with mountain(s) 28 May Rest day 18 29 May Gardone Riviera to San Pellegrino Terme Plain stage 19a 30 May San Pellegrino Terme to Como Plain stage 19b Como 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.

The liberi (free rider) classification, one similar to the general classification was calculated, using only independent riders and riders that came as members of groups. The leader of this classification wore the white jersey.

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the 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 rider from a team abandoned the race, he could be replaced by a rider who started the 1936 Giro as isolated rider. 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 classificationLiberi classificationMountains classificationTeam classificationGroup classification 1 Nello Troggi Nello Troggi Nello Troggi not awarded Bianchi Italiani all'Estero 2 Quirico Bernacchi Quirico Bernacchi Quirico Bernacchi Fréjus Bertoldo 3 Giovanni Valetti Giovanni Valetti 4 Olimpio Bizzi Bernardo Rogora Enrico Mollo 5a Legnano Gino Bartali Alfons Deloor 5b Olimpio Bizzi Giovanni Valetti Luigi Barral 6 Giuseppe Olmo 7 Marco Cimatti 8a Gino Bartali Gino Bartali Enrico Mollo & Gino Bartali 8b Raffaele Di Paco Enrico Mollo 9 Learco Guerra 10 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali 11a Walter Generati 11b Cesare Del Cancia Edoardo Molinar 12 Marco Cimatti Enrico Mollo & Luigi Barral 13 Aldo Bini Luigi Barral 14 Aldo Bini Il Littoriale 15 Glauco Servadei Edoardo Molinar 16 Gino Bartali Enrico Mollo & Gino Bartali 17 Gino Bartali Gino Bartali 18 Glauco Servadei 19a Marco Cimatti 19b Aldo Bini Final Gino Bartali Edoardo Molinar Gino Bartali Fréjus Il Littoriale

Final standings

Legend      Denotes the winner of the General classification      Denotes the winner of the free rider classification

General classification

+ Final general classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 Legnano 2 Fréjus + 8' 18" 3 Fréjus + 17' 38" 4 Ganna + 21' 38" 5 Ganna + 23' 18" 6 Fréjus + 27' 28" 7 — + 30' 31" 8 — + 32' 07" 9 Italiani all'Estero + 48' 22" 10 — + 55' 19"

Liberi classification

+ Final liberi rider classification (1–10)RankNameTeamTime 1 — 2 — + 5' 07" 3 Italiani all'Estero + 14' 21" 4 — + 21' 18" 5 — + 27' 04" 6 — + 30' 14" 7 Bertoldo + 39' 49" 8 Il Littoriale + 42' 44" 9 Il Littoriale + 54' 59" 10 — + 1h 10' 09"

Mountains classification

+ Final mountains classification (1–9)RankNameTeamTime 1 Legnano 37 2 Fréjus 35 3 Bertoldo 22 4 — 9 5 Legnano 8 6 Fréjus 6 Fréjus 8 Italiani all'Estero 5 9 Ganna 3 —

Team classification

+ Final team classification (1–3)RankTeamTime 1 Fréjus 2 Ganna + 1h 24' 24" 3 Legnano-Wolsit + 2h 24' 58"

Group classification

+ Final group classification (1–4)RankTeamTime 1 Il Littoriale 2 Italiani all'estero + 21' 27" 3 Bertoldo + 1h 05' 37" 4 Stranieri + 4h 10' 09"

Pinocchio classification The 1937 had a Pinocchio classification, which worked in a similar way as the combativity classification: a jury gave points to the riders who deserved to win. It was won by Bartali.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography