1938 Giro d'Italia

1938 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates	May 7–29, 1938
Stages	18, including three split stages
Distance	3,645.8 km (2,265 mi)
Winning time	112h 49' 28"
Results
	Winner
	Second
	Third
	Mountains
	Team
	← 1937 1939 →

The 1938 Giro d'Italia was the 26th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 7 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 182 km (113 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 29 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3,645.8 km (2,265 mi). The race was won by the Italian rider Giovanni Valetti of the Fréjus team, with fellow Italians Ezio Cecchi and Severino Canavesi coming in second and third respectively.^[1]

Participants

Of the 94 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 7 May,^[2] 50 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 29 May.^[3] Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 61 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed as a part of a group.^[2] The nine teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Dei, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria-Ambrosiana, Lygie-Settebello, Legnano, Olympia, and Wolsit-Binda.^[2]^[3] The teams ranged from six to eight riders each.^[2] There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race.^[2] Those groups were: U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, La Voce di Mantova, U.S. Azzini, U.S. Canelli, Dopolavoro Mater, and Gruppo A.^[2]^[3]

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders.^[3] The field featured one former Giro d'Italia winners with Francesco Camusso who won the race in 1931.^[2]^[3] Reigning champion Gino Bartali did not enter the race because the Italian government ordered him to race the Tour de France instead.^[3] Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Giovanni Valetti, Ezio Cecchi, and Giuseppe Olmo.^[2]^[3] Swiss rider Leo Amberg who placed high at the 1936 and 1937 Tours de France competed in the race.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Route and stages

Stage results^[3]
Stage	Date	Course	Distance		Winner
1	May 7	Milan to Turin	182 km (113 mi)	Plain stage	Marco Cimatti (ITA)
2	May 8	Turin to Sanremo	204 km (127 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Mario Vicini (ITA)
3	May 9	Sanremo to Santa Margherita Ligure	172 km (107 mi)	Plain stage	Giovanni Gotti (ITA)
4a	May 10	Santa Margherita Ligure to La Spezia	81 km (50 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
4b	May 10	La Spezia to Montecatini Terme	110 km (68 mi)	Plain stage	Walter Generati (ITA)
	May 11	Rest day
5	May 12	Montecatini Terme to Chianciano Terme	184 km (114 mi)	Plain stage	Salvatore Crippa (ITA)
6	May 13	Chianciano Terme to Rieti	160 km (99 mi)	Plain stage	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
7a	May 14	Rieti to Monte Terminillo	19.8 km (12 mi)	Individual time trial	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
7b	May 14	Rieti to Rome	152 km (94 mi)	Plain stage	Cino Cinelli (ITA)
8	May 15	Rome to Naples	234 km (145 mi)	Plain stage	Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
	May 16	Rest day
9	May 17	Naples to Lanciano	221 km (137 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Giordano Cottur (ITA)
10	May 18	Lanciano to Ascoli Piceno	149 km (93 mi)	Plain stage	Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
11	May 19	Ascoli Piceno to Ravenna	268 km (167 mi)	Plain stage	Cino Cinelli (ITA)
12	May 20	Ravenna to Treviso	199 km (124 mi)	Plain stage	Raffaele Di Paco (ITA)
	May 21	Rest day
13	May 22	Treviso to Trieste	207 km (129 mi)	Plain stage	Cesare Del Cancia (ITA)
14	May 23	Trieste to Belluno	243 km (151 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
	May 24	Rest day
15	May 25	Belluno to Recoaro Terme	154 km (96 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)
	May 26	Rest day
16	May 27	Recoaro Terme to Bergamo	272 km (169 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Diego Marabelli (ITA)
17	May 28	Bergamo to Varese	154 km (96 mi)	Plain stage	Cesare Del Cancia (ITA)
18a	May 29	Varese to Locarno	100 km (62 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Leo Amberg (SUI)
18b	May 29	Locarno to Milan	180 km (112 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)
	Total		3,645.8 km (2,265 mi)

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.^[5]

In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first.^[5]

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.^[3]^[6] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.^[6] The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.^[6]

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

Stage	Winner	General classification	Best isolati rider	Mountains classification	Team classification	Group classification
1	Marco Cimatti	Marco Cimatti	Edoardo Molinar	not awarded	Bianchi	Il Littoriale
2	Mario Vicini	Mario Vicini	Settimo Simonini	Mario Vicini		U.S. Canelli
3	Giovanni Gotti	Cesare Del Cancia				Il Littoriale
4a	Giovanni Valetti					Dopolavoro Mater
4b	Walter Generati					Dopolavoro Mater
5	Salvatore Crippa		Michele Benente	Giovanni Valetti		U.S. Canelli
6	Adolfo Leoni					Il Littoriale
7a	Giovanni Valetti
7b	Cino Cinelli
8	Raffaele Di Paco
9	Giordano Cottur	Giovanni Valetti			Fréjus	Dopolavoro Mater
10	Raffaele Di Paco					Il Littoriale
11	Cino Cinelli					Il Littoriale
12	Raffaele Di Paco					U.S. Canelli
13	Cesare Del Cancia				Bianchi
14	Olimpio Bizzi				Bianchi
15	Giovanni Valetti		Settimo Simonini		Gloria-Ambrosiana
16	Diego Marabelli
17	Cesare Del Cancia
18a	Leo Amberg
18b	Olimpio Bizzi
Final		Giovanni Valetti	Settimo Simonini	Giovanni Valetti	Gloria-Ambrosiana	U.S. Canelli

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification		Denotes the winner of the Best Isolati Rider classification^[7]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[3]^[7]
Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)	Fréjus	112h 49' 28"
2	Ezio Cecchi (ITA)	Gloria	+ 8' 52"
3	Severino Canavesi (ITA)	Gloria	+ 9' 06"
4	Settimo Simonini (ITA)	U.S. Canelli	+ 15' 50"
5	Michele Benente (ITA)	U.S. Canelli	+ 19' 40"
6	Walter Generati (ITA)	Bianchi	+ 22' 02"
7	Cesare Del Cancia (ITA)	Ganna	+ 24' 07"
8	Karl Litschi (SUI)	Olympia	+ 29' 24"
9	Ruggero Balli (ITA)	Bianchi	+ 32' 23"
10	Adalino Mealli (ITA)	Wolsit	+ 38' 38"

Isolati classification

Final isolati rider classification (1–10)^[7]
Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Settimo Simonini (ITA)	U.S. Canelli	113h 05' 17"
2	Michele Benente (ITA)	U.S. Canelli	+ 3' 57"
3	Richard Menapace (ITA)	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 1h 04' 56"
4	Remo Cerasa (ITA)	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 05' 29"
5	Zoarino Guidi (ITA)	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 08' 03"
6	Edgardo Scappini (ITA)	U.S. Azzini	+ 2h 09' 54"
7	Fulvio Montini (ITA)	U.S. Azzini	+ 2h 17' 17"
8	Ascanio Arcangeli (ITA)	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 42' 08"
9	Gilberto De Paolis (ITA)	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 2h 43' 12"
10	Walter Fantini (ITA)	U.C. Modenese	+ 3h 15' 28"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–8)^[3]^[7]
	Name	Team	Points
1	Giovanni Valetti (ITA)	Fréjus	29
2	Giordano Cottur (ITA)	Lygie	26
3	Ezio Cecchi (ITA)	Gloria	18
4	Settimo Simonini (ITA)	U.S. Canelli	13
5	Karl Litschi (SUI)	Olympia	9
5	Adalino Mealli (ITA)	Wolsit	9
7	Severino Canavesi (ITA)	Gloria	8
8	Bernardo Rogora (ITA)	Gloria	5
	Michele Benente (ITA)	U.S. Canelli
	Olimpio Bizzi (ITA)	Fréjus

Team classification

Final team classification (1–7)^[3]^[6]
	Team	Time
1	Gloria-Ambrosiana	340h 5' 28"
2	Bianchi	+ 3' 06"
3	Fréjus	+ 51' 18"
4	Ganna	+ 1h 49' 00"
5	Wolsit-S.C. Binda	+ 4h 22' 32"
6	Dei	+ 5h 15' 52"
7	Olympia	+ 9h 11' 44"

Group classification

Final group classification (1–3)^[6]
Rank	Team	Time
1	U.S. Canelli	243h 17' 44"
2	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 53' 47"
3	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 3h 36' 32"

References

Notes

^ In 1938, there was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate that the stages 2, 4a, 9, 14, 15, 16, 18a, and 18b included major mountains. The stage 7a individual time trial also contained a summit finish.

Citations

^ "La Stampa - Consultazione Archivio". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "I corridori iscritti" [The runners registered]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 7 May 1938. p. 4. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Bill and Carol McGann. "1938 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
^ Bill and Carol McGann. "1937 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
^ ^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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Il valore del rinnovato spirito di gara nelle cifre del XXVI Giro d'Italia" [The value of the renewed spirit of competition in the figures of the XXVI Tour of Italy]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 30 May 1938. p. 3. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Il Giro-Primato: 3754km. percorsi a 33,272 all'ora è vinto da Valetti" [The Tour-Primacy: 3,754 km ridden at 33.272 km per hour was won by Valetti]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 30 May 1938. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.