1949 Giro d'Italia

A total of 15 teams were invited to participate in the 1949 Giro d'Italia.[7] Each team sent a squad of seven riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 105 cyclists.[7] Out of the 105 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 65 riders made it to the finish in Monza.[8]

The teams entering the race were:[7][9]

The main favorites entering the race were Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi.[10] Vito Ortelli, who placed fourth the year prior did not participate as he was suffering from an illness and stayed home.[10] l'Unità's Attilio Camoriano wrote that Coppi's form entering the race could allow him to gain the lead early on and hold it from Bartali, who was known to take several stages to warm up and adjust to the race.[10] Camoriano added that Bartali would likely not let that happen as he was known to find strength and referenced previous Tours de France.[10] He further stated that Coppi's Bianchi team was stronger and better organized than Bartali's eponymous team.[10] Aside from the aforementioned contenders, Fiorelli's Jean Goldschmit was thought to be the team's best contender as Ganna–Ursus's Albert Dubuisson was known to fade on climbs.[10]

The route for this edition of the Giro d'Italia was announced on 7 February 1949.[11][12] The stages involving the Piedmont region were finalized on 24 March.[13] The race was scheduled to begin at 8 am at the Villa Giulia in Palermo.[10] Attilio Camoriano of l'Unità stated that the riders were likely to use their heavy, thicker tires because after the Santo Stefano junction, the roads contained lava rocks from Mount Etna throughout and those were known to cut tires easily.[10][14][15][16][17][18] The Sicilian government offered race organizers ten million lire to host the start of the Giro.[19]

Prior to the start of the race, bandit Salvatore Giuliano who had been on the run near Sicily's Montelepre was being searched for by police as the area was in a state of emergency for several weeks.[19] It was rumored that Giuliano threatened to line the race route in the mountains and shoot at the participants with machine guns if the police did not call off their search for him.[19][20] Specifically Giuliano threatened to interrupt the first stage along its route from Palermo to Catania.[21] Due to these threats, there were discussions to cancel the two planned stages in Sicily, but the stages remained.[19] Instead, the normal police escort for the Giro d'Italia caravan that travels with the race would be increased from 6 to 10 cars and cars would not be allowed to stop along the route throughout the two stages on the island except in cases of "force majeure."[19] The added police were not due to the rumors of the attack, but allegedly to prevent a potential escape by Giuliano.[19]

Stage characteristics and results[8]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	21 May	Palermo to Catania	261 km (162 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Mario Fazio (ITA)
2	22 May	Catania to Messina	163 km (101 mi)		Plain stage	Sergio Maggini (ITA)
3	23 May	Villa San Giovanni to Cosenza	214 km (133 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Guido De Santi (ITA)
4	24 May	Cosenza to Salerno	292 km (181 mi)		Plain stage	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
5	26 May	Salerno to Naples	161 km (100 mi)		Plain stage	Serafino Biagioni (ITA)
6	27 May	Naples to Rome	233 km (145 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Ricci (ITA)
7	28 May	Rome to Pesaro	298 km (185 mi)		Plain stage	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
8	29 May	Pesaro to Venezia	273 km (170 mi)		Plain stage	Luigi Casola (ITA)
9	31 May	Venezia to Udine	249 km (155 mi)		Plain stage	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
10	1 June	Udine to Bassano del Grappa	154 km (96 mi)		Plain stage	Giovanni Corrieri (ITA)
11	2 June	Bassano del Grappa to Bolzano	237 km (147 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
12	4 June	Bolzano to Modena	253 km (157 mi)		Plain stage	Oreste Conte (ITA)
13	5 June	Modena to Montecatini Terme	160 km (99 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
14	6 June	Montecatini Terme to Genoa	228 km (142 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Vincenzo Rossello (ITA)
15	7 June	Genoa to Sanremo	136 km (85 mi)		Plain stage	Luciano Maggini (ITA)
16	9 June	Sanremo to Cuneo	190 km (118 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Oreste Conte (ITA)
17	10 June	Cuneo to Pinerolo	254 km (158 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
18	11 June	Pinerolo to Turin	65 km (40 mi)		Individual time trial	Antonio Bevilacqua (ITA)
19	12 June	Turin to Monza	267 km (166 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giovanni Corrieri (ITA)
	Total		4,088 km (2,540 mi)

In the 1949 Giro d'Italia there were two major classifications. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a pink jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Giro d'Italia, and the winner was considered the winner of the Giro.[22]

In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists.[23] This classification did not award a jersey to the leader.[22] The highest climb of the race was the Col d'Izoard in stage seventeen, which was 2360m. The other stages that included categorized climbs were stages: 1, 3, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 19.[23]

A white jersey was awarded to the rider from a non-major "industrial" team with the lowest total time."[24][11][25]

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.

There was a classification for sprints called the "Gran Premio Tappa Volanti" classification.[25] This consisted of a sprint line that was marked in eight stages of the race, stages 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, and 19.[25] Specifically the eight sprints were located in the following places Taormina, Castrovilliari, Terni, Ferrara, Trieste, Verone, Chiavari, and Novara, respectivey.[25]

For placing in the top three for each classification, on the final stage placings, the "Gran Premio Tappa Volanti", or crossing a categorized climb for the mountains classification, time bonuses were awarded.[23] One minute time bonus was given to the first placed rider, thirty seconds to second place, and fifteen second to third.[23]

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Best non-industrial team rider	Mountains classification	Last in General classification	Team classification
1	Mario Fazio	Mario Fazio	Mario Fazio	Mario Fazio	?	?
2	Sergio Maggini	Giordano Cottur	Andrea Carrea		Sante Carollo
3	Guido De Santi			Mario Fazio & Léon Jomaux
4	Fausto Coppi		Mario Fazio		Vitaliano Lazzerini	Wilier Triestina
5	Serafino Biagioni
6	Mario Ricci
7	Adolfo Leoni	Mario Fazio
8	Luigi Casola				Marcel Buysse
9	Adolfo Leoni	Adolfo Leoni			Sante Carollo
10	Giovanni Corrieri				Marcel Buysse
11	Fausto Coppi		Giancarlo Astrua	Fausto Coppi	Sante Carollo
12	Oreste Conte
13	Adolfo Leoni
14	Vincenzo Rossello
15	Luciano Maggini
16	Oreste Conte
17	Fausto Coppi	Fausto Coppi
18	Antonio Bevilacqua
19	Giovanni Corrieri
Final		Fausto Coppi	Giancarlo Astrua	Fausto Coppi	Sante Carollo	Wilier Triestina