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The 1939 Giro d'Italia was the 27th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaperLa Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 28 April in Milan with a stage that stretched 182 km (113 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 18 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3,011.4 km (1,871 mi). 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 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.
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 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.
In 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 major mountains. The stage 6b individual time trial also contained a summit finish to Monte Terminillo.
Citations
^ "Gli iscritti" [Subscribers]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 28 April 1938. p. 4. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
^ Bill and Carol McGann. "1939 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
"I vincitori delle categorie speciali" [The winners of the special categories]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 14 June 1950. p. 6. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
Vasco Bergamaschi (ITA)
