| 1938 Giro d'Italia | |
| Date: | May 7–29, 1938 |
| Stages: | 18, including three split stages |
| Distance: | 3645.8 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 112h 49' 28" |
| Speed: | 33.272 |
| First: | Giovanni Valetti |
| First Nat: | ITA |
| First Natvar: | 1861 |
| First Team: | Fréjus |
| First Color: | pink |
| Second: | Ezio Cecchi |
| Second Nat: | ITA |
| Second Natvar: | 1861 |
| Second Team: | Gloria |
| Third: | Severino Canavesi |
| Third Nat: | ITA |
| Third Natvar: | 1861 |
| Third Team: | Gloria |
| Mountains: | Giovanni Valetti |
| Mountains Nat: | ITA |
| Mountains Natvar: | 1861 |
| Mountains Team: | Fréjus |
| Team: | Gloria - Ambrosiana |
| Previous: | 1937 |
| Next: | 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 182km (113miles) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 29 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3645.8km (2,265.4miles). 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]
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]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type[5] | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 7 | 182km (113miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 2 | May 8 | 204km (127miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 3 | May 9 | 172km (107miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 4a | May 10 | 81km (50miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 4b | 110km (70miles) | Plain stage | ||||||
| May 11 | Rest day | |||||||
| 5 | May 12 | 184km (114miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 6 | May 13 | 160km (100miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 7a | May 14 | Rieti to Monte Terminillo | 19.8km (12.3miles) | Individual time trial | ||||
| 7b | 152km (94miles) | Plain stage | ||||||
| 8 | May 15 | 234km (145miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| May 16 | Rest day | |||||||
| 9 | May 17 | 221km (137miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 10 | May 18 | 149km (93miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 11 | May 19 | 268km (167miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 12 | May 20 | 199km (124miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| May 21 | Rest day | |||||||
| 13 | May 22 | 207km (129miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 14 | May 23 | 243km (151miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| May 24 | Rest day | |||||||
| 15 | May 25 | 154km (96miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| May 26 | Rest day | |||||||
| 16 | May 27 | 272km (169miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 17 | May 28 | 154km (96miles) | Plain stage | |||||
| 18a | May 29 | 100km (100miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 18b | 180km (110miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||||
| Total | 3645.8km (2,265.4miles) | |||||||
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.[6]
In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first.[6]
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] [7] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.[7] The group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.[7]
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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 12 | Raffaele Di Paco | U.S. Canelli | |||||
| 13 | Cesare Del Cancia | Bianchi | |||||
| 14 | Olimpio Bizzi | ||||||
| 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 | ||
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fréjus | ||
| 2 | Gloria | + 8' 52" | |
| 3 | Gloria | + 9' 06" | |
| 4 | U.S. Canelli | + 15' 50" | |
| 5 | U.S. Canelli | + 19' 40" | |
| 6 | Bianchi | + 22' 02" | |
| 7 | Ganna | + 24' 07" | |
| 8 | Olympia | + 29' 24" | |
| 9 | Bianchi | + 32' 23" | |
| 10 | Wolsit | + 38' 38" | |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | U.S. Canelli | ||
| 2 | U.S. Canelli | + 3' 57" | |
| 3 | Dopolavoro Mater | + 1h 04' 56" | |
| 4 | Il Littoriale | + 2h 05' 29" | |
| 5 | Il Littoriale | + 2h 08' 03" | |
| 6 | U.S. Azzini | + 2h 09' 54" | |
| 7 | U.S. Azzini | + 2h 17' 17" | |
| 8 | Il Littoriale | + 2h 42' 08" | |
| 9 | Dopolavoro Mater | + 2h 43' 12" | |
| 10 | U.C. Modenese | + 3h 15' 28" | |
| Name | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fréjus | 29 | |
| 2 | Lygie | 26 | |
| 3 | Gloria | 18 | |
| 4 | U.S. Canelli | 13 | |
| 5 | Olympia | 9 | |
| Wolsit | |||
| 7 | Gloria | 8 | |
| 8 | Gloria | 5 | |
| U.S. Canelli | |||
| Fréjus | |||
| Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gloria-Ambrosiana | |
| 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" |
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | U.S. Canelli | |
| 2 | Il Littoriale | + 2h 53' 47" |
| 3 | Dopolavoro Mater | + 3h 36' 32" |