The Giro d'Italia is Italy's most important stage race and ranks 2nd in importance behind the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta stage races.
Although the Giro does not have the immense popularity of the Tour de France, in recent years a lot of top cyclists have participated with the intention of going for the final win. This has not always been the case over the past decade and the stage race has been regarded much more as a preparation for the Tour de France or completely ignored by the favourites.
Luigi Ganna, winner of the 1st edition in 1909
In recent years, the Giro has also been more exciting than the Tour de France. Just think of Chris Froome's monster breakaway in 2018 that turned the standings upside down or the battle between Nairo Quintana and Tom Dumoulin in 2017.
Here are some important facts and trivia about the Giro d'Italia
Pink jersey: the leader in the classification wears the leader's pink jersey (maglia rosa), this is because the organizer of the competition La Gazzetta dello Sport was printed in pink which is still the case.
1909: this year the 1st Giro d'Italia started, the riders had to cover 2448km in 8 stages. Overall winner was the Italian Luigi Ganna
Hugo Koblet: was the first non-Italian to win the competition in 1950
5 times: is the number of times Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx managed to win the match
Johan de Muynck: is the last Belgian winner, his victory dates back to 1978. It is high time that one Remco Evenepoel breaks this sad record
Tom Dumoulin: is the only Dutchman to have won the Giro d'Italia so far, he did this in 2017
Mario Cipollini: holds the record for the most wins, with 42. He is closely followed by Alfredo Binda with 41
15 years: is the difference between the 1st and the last stage win that Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali achieved, they share this record together
69 victories: an Italian rider achieved the overall victory no less than 69 times, followed by the only 7 victories of a Belgian rider
Belgian victories: only 3 Belgian riders could ever win the Giro d'Italia: Eddy Merckx (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974), Michel Pollentier (1977) and Johan de Muynck (1978)
Cima Coppi: is awarded to the highest mountain the riders have to cross, usually this is the Passo dello Stelvio, De Passo della Gavia or the Passo Pordoi. There is also a cash prize for the rider who comes to the top first
Mortirolo and Monte Zoncolan: are much feared climbs that are often part of the Giro
Wouter Weylandt: unfortunately died during the Giro 2011 after a crash in which he suffered a skull fracture. The shirt number 108 that he wore then has not been used in the game since then due to tribute
Gino Bartali: not only won the Giro d'Italia 3 times, but also won the jersey for best climber 7 times
Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi fought legendary duels from the Giro d'Italia
Alfredo Binda: not only won the Giro 5 times, but also holds the record with 12 stage victories in 1 Giro (1927)
Pink jersey from start to finish: 4 riders managed to wear the leader's pink jersey from start to finish: Costante Girardengo (1919), Alfredo Binda (1927), Eddy Merckx (1973) and Gianni Bugno (1990)
Giro Rosa: this is the female version that takes place annually but lasts less, namely 10 days
Baby Giro: is the stage race for U26s up to the age of 26. Well-known riders who have ever won this race are Francesco Moser, Marco Pantani, Danilo Di Luca, Gilberto Simoni and Thomas Pidcock. Since 2009 this race is called Girobio
Tenslotte vind je hieronder een overzicht van alle winnaars vanaf de 1ste editie
Overwinnaars Giro d’Italia
| 1909 | Luigi Ganna | 1976 | Felice Gimondi |
| 1910 | Carlo Galetti | 1977 | Michel Pollentier |
| 1911 | Carlo Galetti | 1978 | Johan de Muynck |
| 1912 | Team Atala | 1979 | Giuseppe Saronni |
| 1913 | Carlo Oriani | 1980 | Bernard Hinault |
| 1914 | Alfonso Calzolari | 1981 | Giovanni Battaglin |
| 1915 – 1918 | geen organisatie | 1982 | Bernard Hinault |
| 1919 | Costante Girardengo | 1983 | Giuseppe Saronni |
| 1920 | Gaetano Belloni | 1984 | Francesco Moser |
| 1921 | Giovanni Brunero | 1985 | Bernard Hinault |
| 1922 | Giovanni Brunero | 1986 | Roberto Visentini |
| 1923 | Costante Girardengo | 1987 | Stephen Roche |
| 1924 | Giuseppe Enrici | 1988 | Andrew Hampsten |
| 1925 | Alfredo Binda | 1989 | Laurent Fignon |
| 1926 | Giovanni Brunero | 1990 | Gianni Bugno |
| 1927 | Alfredo Binda | 1991 | Franco Chioccioli |
| 1928 | Alfredo Binda | 1992 | Miguel Indurain |
| 1929 | Alfredo Binda | 1993 | Miguel Indurain |
| 1930 | Luigi Marchisio | 1994 | Eugeni Berzin |
| 1931 | Francesco Camusso | 1995 | Tony Rominger |
| 1932 | Antonio Pesenti | 1996 | Pavel Tonkov |
| 1933 | Alfredo Binda | 1997 | Ivan Gotti |
| 1934 | Learco Guerra | 1998 | Marco Pantani |
| 1935 | Vasco Bergamaschi | 1999 | Ivan Gotti |
| 1936 | Gino Bartali | 2000 | Stefano Garzelli |
| 1937 | Gino Bartali | 2001 | Gilberto Simoni |
| 1938 | Giovanni Valetti | 2002 | Paolo Savoldelli |
| 1939 | Giovanni Valetti | 2003 | Gilberto Simoni |
| 1940 | Fausto Coppi | 2004 | Damiano Cunego |
| 1941 – 1945 | geen organisatie | 2005 | Paolo Savoldelli |
| 1946 | Gino Bartali | 2006 | Ivan Basso |
| 1947 | Fausto Coppi | 2007 | Danilo Di Luca |
| 1948 | Fiorenzo Magni | 2008 | Alberto Contador |
| 1949 | Fausto Coppi | 2009 | Denis Menchov |
| 1950 | Hugo Koblet | 2010 | Ivan Basso |
| 1951 | Fiorenzo Magni | 2011 | Michele Scarponi |
| 1952 | Fausto Coppi | 2012 | Ryder Hesjedal |
| 1953 | Fausto Coppi | 2013 | Vincenzo Nibali |
| 1954 | Carlo Clerici | 2014 | Nairo Quintana |
| 1955 | Fiorenzo Magni | 2015 | Alberto Contador |
| 1956 | Charly Gaul | 2016 | Vincenzo Nibali |
| 1957 | Gastone Nencini | 2017 | Tom Dumoulin |
| 1958 | Ercole Baldini | 2018 | Chris Froome |
| 1959 | Charly Gaul | 2019 | Richard Carapaz |
| 1960 | Jacques Anquetil | 2020 | Tao Geoghehan Hart |
| 1961 | Arnaldo Pambianco | 2021 | Egan Bernal |
| 1962 | Franco Balmamion | 2022 | Jai Hindley |
| 1963 | Franco Balmamion | 2023 | |
| 1964 | Jacques Anquetil | ||
| 1965 | Vittorio Adorni | ||
| 1966 | Gianni Motta | ||
| 1967 | Felice Gimondi | ||
| 1968 | Eddy Merckx | ||
| 1969 | Felice Gimondi | ||
| 1970 | Eddy Merckx | ||
| 1971 | Gosta Petterson | ||
| 1972 | Eddy Merckx | ||
| 1973 | Eddy Merckx | ||
| 1974 | Eddy Merckx | ||
| 1975 | Fausto Bertoglio |
