1938 Giro d'Italia

Template:Short description 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 to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 29 May after a split stage and a total distance covered of . 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.

Participants

Of the 94 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 7 May, 50 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 29 May. 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. The nine teams that partook in the race were: Bianchi, Dei, Fréjus, Ganna, Gloria-Ambrosiana, Lygie-Settebello, Legnano, Olympia, and Wolsit-Binda. The teams ranged from six to eight riders each. There were also seven groups, made up of three to five riders each, that participated in the race. Those groups were: U. C. Modenese, Il Littoriale, La Voce di Mantova, U.S. Azzini, U.S. Canelli, Dopolavoro Mater, and Gruppo A.

The peloton was composed primarily of Italian riders. The field featured one former Giro d'Italia winners with Francesco Camusso who won the race in 1931. Reigning champion Gino Bartali did not enter the race because the Italian government ordered him to race the Tour de France instead. Other notable Italian riders included Olimpio Bizzi, Giovanni Valetti, Ezio Cecchi, and Giuseppe Olmo. Swiss rider Leo Amberg who placed high at the 1936 and 1937 Tours de France competed in the race.

Route and stages

Stage results

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	May 7	Milan to Turin		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
2	May 8	Turin to Sanremo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
3	May 9	Sanremo to Santa Margherita Ligure		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
4a	May 10	Santa Margherita Ligure to La Spezia		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
4b		La Spezia to Montecatini Terme		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	May 11	Rest day
5	May 12	Montecatini Terme to Chianciano Terme		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
6	May 13	Chianciano Terme to Rieti		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
7a	May 14	Rieti to Monte Terminillo		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
7b		Rieti to Rome		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
8	May 15	Rome to Naples		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	May 16	Rest day
9	May 17	Naples to Lanciano		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
10	May 18	Lanciano to Ascoli Piceno		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
11	May 19	Ascoli Piceno to Ravenna		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
12	May 20	Ravenna to Treviso		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	May 21	Rest day
13	May 22	Treviso to Trieste		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
14	May 23	Trieste to Belluno		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
	May 24	Rest day
15	May 25	Belluno to Recoaro Terme		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
	May 26	Rest day
16	May 27	Recoaro Terme to Bergamo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
17	May 28	Bergamo to Varese		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
18a	May 29	Varese to Locarno		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
18b		Locarno to Milan		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
	Total

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 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 File:Jersey pink.svg	Best isolati rider File:Jersey white.svg	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

Final standings

Legend
Pink jersey	Denotes the winner of the General classification	White jersey	Denotes the winner of the Best Isolati Rider classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete Pink jersey	Fréjus	112h 49' 28"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Gloria	+ 8' 52"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Gloria	+ 9' 06"
4	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli	+ 15' 50"
5	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli	+ 19' 40"
6	Template:Flagathlete	Bianchi	+ 22' 02"
7	Template:Flagathlete	Ganna	+ 24' 07"
8	Template:Flagathlete	Olympia	+ 29' 24"
9	Template:Flagathlete	Bianchi	+ 32' 23"
10	Template:Flagathlete	Wolsit	+ 38' 38"

Isolati classification

Final isolati rider classification (1–10)

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli	113h 05' 17"
2	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli	+ 3' 57"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 1h 04' 56"
4	Template:Flagathlete	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 05' 29"
5	Template:Flagathlete	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 08' 03"
6	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Azzini	+ 2h 09' 54"
7	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Azzini	+ 2h 17' 17"
8	Template:Flagathlete	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 42' 08"
9	Template:Flagathlete	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 2h 43' 12"
10	Template:Flagathlete	U.C. Modenese	+ 3h 15' 28"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–8)

	Name	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete Pink jersey	Fréjus	29
2	Template:Flagathlete	Lygie	26
3	Template:Flagathlete	Gloria	18
4	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli	13
5	Template:Flagathlete	Olympia	9
	Template:Flagathlete	Wolsit
7	Template:Flagathlete	Gloria	8
8	Template:Flagathlete	Gloria	5
	Template:Flagathlete	U.S. Canelli
	Template:Flagathlete	Fréjus

Team classification

Final team classification (1–7)

	Team	Time
1	Gloria-Ambrosiana	340h 5' 28"
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"

Group classification

Final group classification (1–3)

Rank	Team	Time
1	U.S. Canelli	243h 17' 44"
2	Il Littoriale	+ 2h 53' 47"
3	Dopolavoro Mater	+ 3h 36' 32"

References

Notes

Citations