| 1939 Giro d'Italia | |
| Date: | 28 April - 18 May 1939 |
| Stages: | 17, including two split stages |
| Distance: | 3011.4 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 88h 02' 00" |
| Speed: | 34.150 |
| First: | Giovanni Valetti |
| First Nat: | ITA |
| First Natvar: | 1861 |
| First Team: | Fréjus |
| First Color: | pink |
| Second: | Gino Bartali |
| Second Nat: | ITA |
| Second Natvar: | 1861 |
| Second Team: | Legnano |
| Third: | Mario Vicini |
| Third Nat: | ITA |
| Third Natvar: | 1861 |
| Third Team: | Lygie |
| Mountains: | Gino Bartali |
| Mountains Nat: | ITA |
| Mountains Natvar: | 1861 |
| Mountains Team: | Legnano |
| Team: | Fréjus |
| Previous: | 1938 |
| Next: | 1940 |
The 1939 Giro d'Italia was the 27th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 28 April in Milan with a stage that stretched 182km (113miles) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 18 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of 3011.4km (1,871.2miles). The race was won by the Italian rider Giovanni Valetti of the Fréjus team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Mario Vicini coming in second and third respectively.
Valetti had the lead halfway the race. Bartali then took over the lead in the mountains, but Valetti took it back in the penultimate stage. Bartali attacked on the last stage, but Valetti stayed in his wake and won the race.
Of the 89 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 28 April,[1] 54 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 18 May.[2] Riders were allowed to ride as a member of a team or group; 56 riders competed as part of a team, while the remaining 33 competed as a part of a group.[1] The eight teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria, Legnano, Lygie, Olympia, and Belgium.[1] [2] The teams ranged from six to eight riders each.[1] There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race.[1] Those groups were: U.S. Azzini, Dopolavoro Di Novi, S.S. Genova 1913, Il Littoriale, La Voce Di Mantova, U.C. Modenese, and S.C. Vigor.[1] [2]
The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders.[2] The field featured three former Giro d'Italia winners with two-time winner Gino Bartali, Vasco Bergamaschi who won the 1935 edition, and reigning champion Giovanni Valetti.[1] [2] Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Ezio Cecchi, and Cino Cinelli.[1] [2]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type[3] | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 April | Milan to Turin | 180km (110miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 2 | 29 April | Turin to Genoa | 226.7km (140.9miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 3 | 30 April | Genoa to Pisa | 187km (116miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 4 | 1 May | Pisa to Grosseto | 154km (96miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 5 | 2 May | Grosseto to Rome | 222km (138miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 3 May | Rest day | |||||||
| 6a | 4 May | Rome to Rieti | 85.7km (53.3miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 6b | Rieti to Monte Terminillo | 14km (09miles) | Individual time trial | |||||
| 7 | 5 May | Rieti to Pescara | 191.3km (118.9miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| 8 | 6 May | Pescara to Senigallia | 177km (110miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 9a | 7 May | Senigallia to Forlì | 116.5km (72.4miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 9b | Forlì to Florence | 106.6km (66.2miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | |||||
| 8 May | Rest day | |||||||
| 10 | 9 May | Florence to Bologna | 120km (80miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| 11 | 10 May | Bologna to Venezia | 231.8km (144miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 12 | 11 May | Venezia to Trieste | 173.8km (108miles) | Plain stage | ||||
| 12 May | Rest day | |||||||
| 13 | 13 May | Trieste to Gorizia | 39.8km (24.7miles) | Individual time trial | ||||
| 14 | 14 May | Gorizia to Cortina d'Ampezzo | 195km (121miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| 15 | 15 May | Cortina d'Ampezzo to Trento | 256.2km (159.2miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| 16 May | Rest day | |||||||
| 16 | 17 May | Trento to Sondrio | 166km (103miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| 17 | 18 May | Sondrio to Milan | 168km (104miles) | Stage with mountain(s) | ||||
| Total | 3011.4km (1,871.2miles) | |||||||
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.[4]
In the mountains classification, the race organizers selected different mountains that the route crossed and awarded points to the riders who crossed them first.[4]
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 group classification was decided in the same manner, but the classification was exclusive to the competing groups.
The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.
| Stage | Winner | General classification | Mountains classification | Team classification | Group classification | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasco Bergamaschi | Vasco Bergamaschi | not awarded | ? | S.C. Vigor | |
| 2 | Gino Bartali | Gino Bartali | Legnano | |||
| 3 | Cino Cinelli | Cino Cinelli | ? | ? | ||
| 4 | Carmine Saponetti | Fréjus | La Voce di Mantova | |||
| 5 | Olimpio Bizzi | |||||
| 6a | Carmine Saponetti | |||||
| 6b | Giovanni Valetti | Giovanni Valetti | ||||
| 7 | Adolfo Leoni | Giovanni Valetti & Gino Bartali | S.C. Vigor | |||
| 8 | Diego Marabelli | |||||
| 9a | Glauco Servadei | Secondo Magni | ||||
| 9b | Gino Bartali | Giovanni Valetti | Enrico Mollo | |||
| 10 | Olimpio Bizzi | Enrico Mollo & Michele Benente | ||||
| 11 | Pietro Chiappini | |||||
| 12 | Giordano Cottur | |||||
| 13 | Giovanni Valetti | |||||
| 14 | Secondo Magni | Gino Bartali | ||||
| 15 | Gino Bartali | Gino Bartali | ||||
| 16 | Giovanni Valetti | Giovanni Valetti | ||||
| 17 | Gino Bartali | |||||
| Final | Giovanni Valetti | Gino Bartali | Fréjus | S.C. Vigor | ||
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fréjus | ||
| 2 | Legnano | + 2' 59" | |
| 3 | Lygie | + 5' 07" | |
| 4 | Gloria | + 7' 55" | |
| 5 | Il Littoriale | + 16' 40" | |
| 6 | Ganna | + 17' 52" | |
| 7 | Lygie | + 18' 40" | |
| 8 | Ganna | + 24' 34" | |
| 9 | Fréjus | + 26' 10" | |
| 10 | Gloria | + 27' 40" | |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Il Littoriale | ||
| 2 | S.C. Vigor | + 51' 32" | |
| 3 | La Voce Di Mantova | + 1h 09' 31" | |
| 4 | S.C. Vigor | + 1h 15' 39" | |
| 5 | Dopolavoro Di Novi | + 2h 02' 49" | |
| 6 | S.S. Genova 1913 | + 2h 16' 20" | |
| 7 | La Voce Di Mantova | + 2h 23' 45" | |
| 8 | U.C. Modenese | + 2h 35' 45" | |
| 9 | La Voce Di Mantova | + 2h 41' 12" | |
| 10 | S.C. Vigor | + 2h 43' 41" | |
| Name | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Legnano | 22 | |
| 2 | Fréjus | 19 | |
| 3 | Olympia | 14 | |
| 4 | Olympia | 10 | |
| Il Littoriale | |||
| 6 | Fréjus | 6 | |
| Lygie | |||
| Fréjus | |||
| 9 | Bianchi | 5 | |
| S.C Vigor | |||
| Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fréjus | |
| 2 | Ganna | + 27' 53" |
| 3 | Gloria | + 29' 52" |
| 4 | Lygie | + 57' 35" |
| 5 | Legnano | + 1h 03' 55" |
| 6 | Bianchi | + 3h 03' 19" |
| 7 | Olympia | + 5h 55' 57" |
| 8 | Belgio | + 9h 11' 50" |
| Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | S.C. Vigor | |
| 2 | La Voce di Mantova | + 1h 23' 36" |
| 3 | Il Littoriale | + 4h 20' 42" |