Dates 15 May - 6 June Distance 4,164 km (2,587 mi) Winner Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) | Stages 19 Winning time 124h 51' 52" Second Ezio Cecchi (ITA) | |
The 1948 Giro d'Italia was the 31st edition of the Giro d'Italia, a cycling race organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 15 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 190 km (118 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 6 June after a 231 km (144 mi) stage and a total distance covered of 4,164 km (2,587 mi). The race was won by the Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni of the Wilier Triestina team, with fellow Italians Ezio Cecchi and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.
Contents
Teams
A total of eleven teams entered the 1948 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of seven riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 77 cyclists. Out of the 77 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 44 riders made it to the finish in Milan.
The teams entering the race were:
Race details
During the Giro, the French and Belgian teams left the race because they thought it was made impossible for foreign riders to ride the Giro. When the leader Magni was punished with only two minutes after being pushed up a mountain, Fausto Coppi and his Bianchi team also left the race out of protest. As a result, only forty riders finished the Giro.
Route and stages
Race organizer and newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport released the preliminary route for the Giro d'Italia on 27 October, 1947. The race was originally planned to start on 22 May and finish on 13 June, while covering 3,715 km (2,308 mi) over nineteen stages.
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.
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 rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.
Aftermath
The Italian cycling federation gave Coppi a suspension of one month because he refused to finish the Giro.