Wikipedia

1948 Giro d'Italia

The 1948 Giro d'Italia was the 31st edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 15 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 190 km (118 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 6 June after a 231 km (144 mi) stage and a total distance covered of 4,164 km (2,587 mi). The race was won by the Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni of the Wilier Triestina team, with fellow Italians Ezio Cecchi and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.[1][2][3][4]

1948 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates15 May - 6 June 1948
Stages19
Distance4,164 km (2,587 mi)
Winning time124h 51' 52"
Results
Winner  Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) (Wilier Triestina)
  Second  Ezio Cecchi (ITA) (Cimatti)
  Third  Giordano Cottur (ITA) (Wilier Triestina)
  Mountains  Fausto Coppi (ITA) (Bianchi)
  Team Wilier Triestina
← 1947
1949 →

Teams edit

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1948 Giro d'Italia

A total of eleven teams entered the 1948 Giro d'Italia.[5] Each team sent a squad of seven riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 77 cyclists.[5] Out of the 77 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 44 riders made it to the finish in Milan.[6]

The teams entering the race were:[5]

Route and stages edit

Race organizer and newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport released the preliminary route for the Giro d'Italia on 27 October 1947.[7][8] The race was originally planned to start on 22 May and finish on 13 June, while covering 3,715 km (2,308 mi) over nineteen stages.[7][8]

Stage results[6]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1 15 May Milan to Turin 190 km (118 mi)   Plain stage   Giordano Cottur (ITA)
2 16 May Turin to Genoa 226 km (140 mi)   Plain stage   Mario Ricci (ITA)
3 17 May Genoa to Parma 243 km (151 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Luciano Maggini (ITA)
4 18 May Parma to Viareggio 266 km (165 mi)   Plain stage   Luigi Casola (ITA)
19 May Rest day
5 20 May Viareggio to Siena 165 km (103 mi)   Plain stage   Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
6 21 May Siena to Rome 256 km (159 mi)   Plain stage   Luigi Casola (ITA)
7 22 May Rome to Pescara 230 km (143 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Antonio Bevilacqua (ITA)
8 23 May Pescara to Bari 347 km (216 mi)   Plain stage   Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
24 May Rest day
9 25 May Bari to Naples 306 km (190 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Nedo Logli (ITA)
10 26 May Naples to Fiuggi 184 km (114 mi)   Plain stage   Italo De Zan (ITA)
11 27 May Fiuggi to Perugia 265 km (165 mi)   Plain stage   Désiré Keteleer (BEL)
28 May Rest day
12 29 May Perugia to Florence 169 km (105 mi)   Plain stage   Oreste Conte (ITA)
13 30 May Florence to Bologna 194 km (121 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Bruno Pasquini (ITA)
14 31 May Bologna to Udine 278 km (173 mi)   Plain stage   Oreste Conte (ITA)
15 1 June Udine to Auronzo di Cadore 125 km (78 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Vincenzo Rossello (ITA)
2 June Rest day
16 3 June Auronzo di Cadore to Cortina d'Ampezzo 90 km (56 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Fausto Coppi (ITA)
17 4 June Cortina d'Ampezzo to Trento 160 km (99 mi)   Stage with mountain(s)   Fausto Coppi (ITA)
18 5 June Trento to Brescia 239 km (149 mi)   Plain stage   Elio Bertocchi (ITA)
19 6 June Brescia to Milan 231 km (144 mi)   Plain stage   Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
Total 4,164 km (2,587 mi)

Race overview edit

During stage 9 from Bari to Naples, Magni –who was down nine minutes at the time– joined the day's breakaway.[9]

During the Giro, the French and Belgian teams left the race because they thought it was made impossible for foreign riders to ride the Giro.[10] When the leader Magni was punished with only two minutes after being pushed up a mountain, Fausto Coppi and his Bianchi team also left the race out of protest. As a result, only forty riders finished the Giro.[10] Stage seventeen featured several climbs including the Pordoi Pass.[9] Coppi won the stage, but Magni–who had a reputation for struggling on big climbs–finished in time to retain the lead.[9] It was discovered that Magni had been helped up the Pordoi, while some state he was pushed by spectators others say he was pulled by a car.[9] Coppi and Bianchi requested Magni to be thrown out.[9] As there were no photos, the race jury had to go based on testimonies.[9] It was officially declared that the pushing Magni received was planned.[9] The punishment was a two-minute penalty in the general classification, which still allowed him to remain in the lead.[9] Coppi and his team decided to withdraw after that decision.[9]

Classification leadership edit

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.[11]

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first.[11] 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.[6][12] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.[6][12]

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.

The prize money for the winner of the race was one million lire.[13] The prize money increased to one million this year because Totip, a horse race betting company, sponsored the race.[13]

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

Stage Winner General classification
  		Mountains classification Last in General classification
  		Team classification
1 Giordano Cottur Giordano Cottur not awarded ? ?
2 Mario Ricci Antonio Covolo
3 Luciano Maggini Ezio Cecchi Enzo Bellini Wilier-Triestina
4 Luigi Casola Antonio Covolo
5 Adolfo Leoni
6 Luigi Casola
7 Antonio Bevilacqua Fausto Coppi ?
8 Adolfo Leoni
9 Nedo Logli Vito Ortelli Ezio Cecchi Aldo Bini
10 Italo De Zan Arbos
11 Désiré Keteleer Valeriano Zanazzi
12 Oreste Conte
13 Bruno Pasquini Ezio Cecchi & Fausto Coppi Prosper Depredomme
14 Oreste Conte Fiorenzo Magni ?
15 Vincenzo Rossello Ezio Cecchi
16 Fausto Coppi
17 Fausto Coppi Fiorenzo Magni Fausto Coppi Aldo Bini Wilier-Triestina
18 Elio Bertocchi
19 Fiorenzo Magni
Final Fiorenzo Magni Fausto Coppi Aldo Bini Wilier Triestina

Final standings edit

Legend
      Denotes the winner of the General classification

General classification edit

Final general classification (1–10)[6]
Rank Name Team Time
1   Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)   Wilier Triestina 125h 51' 52"
2   Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Cimatti + 11"
3   Giordano Cottur (ITA) Wilier Triestina + 2' 37"
4   Vito Ortelli (ITA) Atala s.t.
5   Primo Volpi (ITA) Arbos + 8' 24"
6   Angelo Brignole (ITA) Arbos + 9' 14"
7   Giulio Bresci (ITA) Wilier Triestina + 9' 17"
8   Gino Bartali (ITA) Legnano + 11' 52"
9   Serafino Biagioni (ITA) Viani Cral Imperia + 15' 05"
10   Alfredo Martini (ITA) Wilier Triestina + 18' 22"

Mountains classification edit

Final mountains classification (1–9)[14][15]
Name Team Points
1   Fausto Coppi (ITA) Bianchi 25
2   Ezio Cecchi (ITA) Cimatti 16
3   Gino Bartali (ITA) Legnano 14
4   Vito Ortelli (ITA) Atala 12
5   Giordano Cottur (ITA) Wilier-Triestina 9
6   Serafino Biagioni (ITA) Viani-C.R.A.L. Imperia 8
7   Primo Volpi (ITA) Arbos 6
8   Vincenzo Rossello (ITA) Legnano 5
9   Aldo Baito (ITA) Viscontea 4
  Luigi Casola (ITA) Cimatti
  Alfredo Martini (ITA) Wilier-Triestina

Team classification edit

Final team classification (1-8)[16]
Team Time
1 Wilier Triestina 374h 47' 30"
2 Arbos + 28' 30"
3 Legnano + 1h 40' 07"
4 Viani-C.R.A.L. Imperia + 2h 04' 25"
5 Benotto + 2h 56' 36"
6 Atala + 3h 02' 43"
7 Viscontea + 4h 40' 14"
8 Cimatti + 5h 40' 45"

Aftermath edit

The Italian cycling federation gave Coppi a suspension of one month because he refused to finish the Giro.[10] After being caught cheating, Magni was the subject of the tifosi's animosity, he was frequently booed and writing on the road included the phrase Abbasso Magni (English: Down with Magni).[17] After winning the final stage into Milan's Vignorelli Velodrome, the crowd's behavior (whistles, boos, and anti–Magni banners) reduced him to tears.[17] The Communist Mayor of Prato sent Magni a telegram congratulating him on the victory, stating that his victory brought "honor to [their] city."[17] Later in his life, Magni said that the telegram pleased him greatly.[17]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Giuseppe Ambrosini (7 June 1948). "Melanconico epilogo di un Giro sbagliato" [Melancholic epilogue of a wrong Giro]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  2. ^ "Ultima tappa senza storia" [Last stop no history]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 7 June 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Coppi ha fatto bene" [Coppi did well]. l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 8 June 1948. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ^ "La Vuelta a Italia Magni, vencedor" [The Tour of Italy Magni, Winner] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. 7 June 1948. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Le squadre iscritte" [The teams entered]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 15 May 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bill and Carol McGann. "1948 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  7. ^ a b "Il Giro d'Italia 1948" [The 1948 Giro d'Italia]. La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 28 October 1947. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Il Giro d'Italia 1948 è stato già varato" [The Tour of Italy in 1948 is already under way]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 28 October 1947. p. 2. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Foot 2011, p. 185.
  10. ^ a b c "Coppi stapt uit Giro" [Coppi quits Giro]. De tijd (in Dutch). Delpher. 7 June 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  11. ^ a b Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  12. ^ a b "L'ultima tappa in una immensa cornice di folla e la vittoria di Leoni" [The final step in a huge frame of the crowd and the victory of Leoni]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 10 June 1940. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  13. ^ a b "1948". Giro d'Italia. La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Fausto Coppi vince il Gr. Pr. della Montagna" [Fausto Coppi wins the Mountains Classification]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 5 June 1948. p. 4. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  15. ^ "La XVIII Tappa del Giro d'Italia" [The XVIII stage of the Giro d'Italia] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 5 June 1948. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  16. ^ "Classifica a squadre" [Team classification]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 7 June 1948. p. 3. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  17. ^ a b c d Foot 2011, p. 186.

Bibliography edit

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