Giro d'Italia
| Tour of Italy | |
|---|---|
| Local name: | Giro d'Italia |
| Region: | Italy |
| Date: | May, sometimes until early June |
| Type: | Stage Race (Great Tour) |
| History | |
| First Edition: | 1909 |
| Editions: | 88 |
| First Winner: | Luigi Ganna ( ) |
| Most Recent: | Paolo Savoldelli () |
| Most Wins: | Alfredo Binda (), Fausto Coppi () and Eddy Merckx (.png){kind=small} ), 5 times |
The Giro d'Italia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy.
History
The Giro was inspired by the Tour de France and, just as the French race was intended to boost circulation of L'Auto, so Emilio Camillo Costamagna, the editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, aimed to increase his circulation. The first Giro d'Italia started on May 13, 1909 at Milan with eight stages totalling 2448 kilometres. Luigi Ganna was the first winner.
Along with the Tour de France and the World Cycling Championship, the Giro d'Italia makes up the Triple Crown of Cycling. Along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España it is one of the three Grand Tours.
Jerseys
Whereas the overall leader of the Tour de France is awarded a yellow jersey, since 1931 the overall leader in the Giro sports the Maglia rosa (pink jersey), after the colour of paper used by La Gazzetta dello Sport. The "King of the Mountains" wears a green jersey, while the leader of the points classification wears a mauve jersey (Maglia ciclamino) (from 1967 to 1969 the leader wore a red jersey but from 1970 it was changed to mauve). The Giro d'Italia also has a daily competition called the Intergiro and the leader is awarded a sky-blue jersey.
Italian Felice Gimondi holds the record for the most podium finishes: nine total, consisting of three victories, two second places and four third place finishes.
