1984 Giro d'Italia

Teams

A total of nineteen teams were invited to participate in the 1984 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 171 cyclists. The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager are introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place at the Piazza San Marco in Lucca on 16 May. Robin Morton, the team manager of the Gianna-Motta-Linea MD team, was the first female team manager ever in the Giro d'Italia. From the riders that began this edition, 143 made it to the finish in Merano.

The teams entering the race were:

Route and stages

The route for the 1984 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani on 18 February 1984. Covering a total of 3,808 km (2,366 mi), it included four time trials (three individual and one for teams), and eleven stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points. Five of these eleven stages had summit finishes: stage 3, to Madonna di San Luca; stage 5, to Blockhaus; stage 16, to Bardonecchia; stage 19, to Selva di Val Gardena; and stage 20, to Arabba. The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 114 km (71 mi) shorter and contained the same amount of time trials and rest days. In addition, this race contained the same amount of stages.

Classification Leadership

Four different jerseys were worn during the 1984 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.

For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the originally the Passo dello Stelvio, but it was changed to the Pordoi Pass. The first rider to cross the Pordoi Pass was French rider Laurent Fignon. The white jersey was worn by the leader of young rider classification, a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but considering only neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).

Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time. There was another team classification that awarded points to each team based off their riding's finishing position in every stage. The team with the highest total of points was the leader of the classification.

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

Aftermath

Since the race's conclusion, the race has been marred by accusations of race officials favoring Francesco Moser. On several occasions, Moser was seen drafting behind team cars and being pushed up mountains which is not allowed in the race rules. Moser was not penalized the times he committed the violations, but several other riders in the race were punished by officials when they committed the same infractions. Another instance appeared when the race officials cancelled the crossing of the Stelvio Pass during the eighteenth stage. Snow had fallen on the Stelvio and was thought to be able to be cleared by the day of the stage as race director Vincenzo Torriani had photos showing that it could be done. However, the day before the stage, the snow had yet to be cleared. There's speculation that a government official from Trent – Moser's hometown – would not allow the Giro to cross the Stelvio. The race was re-routed to go over the Tonale Pass and Palade Pass. The changes in the stage resulted in another collective finish of the general classification contenders, thus keeping the time gaps the same and playing into the hand of Moser. 1986 race winner Roberto Visentini quit the race because he felt the it was being fixed. In the final time trial, TV helicopters have been accused of flying low behind Moser in order to propel him forward, increasing his speed. Fignon told the media that the helicopters were flying in front of him in order to slow his pace.

In 2015, Moser was inducted to the Giro d’Italia Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, he modern-day trophy for his victory in the race. Moser spoke of how he and Fignon talked years after the race and he still blamed his victory on the helicopter, while Moser insisted that the cheering from the crowds is what motivated him to perform so well during the day. He further commented on Fignon: "Poor Fignon! He lost two Grand Tours on the last day and in time trials, too. If either of those races had ended with a climb, it would have been a very different story."