1968 Giro d'Italia

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description The 1968 Giro d'Italia was the 51st running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Campione d'Italia, on 20 May, with a stage and concluded in Naples, on 11 June, with a mass-start stage. A total of 130 riders from 13 teams entered the 22-stage race, which was won by Belgian Eddy Merckx of the Faema team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Vittorio Adorni and Felice Gimondi, respectively.

Teams

At the route's announcement on 21 March, the organizers announced twelve teams of ten would participate; however, one more team (Peugeot) was later invited. Each team sent a squad of ten riders so the Giro began with a peloton of 130 cyclists. Out of the 130 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 98 riders made it to the finish in Naples where eight riders were subsequently disqualified for testing positive for drugs leaving the general classification tally at 90 riders. The starting peloton consisted of 70 Italians, 16 Belgians, 15 Frenchmen, 11 Spanish, 7 Swiss, four Germans, three Dutch, two Danes, one English, and one Luxembourgian rider. The presentation of the teams – where each team's roster and manager were introduced in front the media and local dignitaries – took place on 20 May, in the Campione d'Italia at 9:30 AM local time.

The teams entering the race were:

Template:Cycling data Bic Faema Template:Cycling data Fagor Template:Cycling data Filotex Template:Cycling data GBC

Germanvox–Wega Kelvinator Template:Cycling data Max Meyer Template:Cycling data Molteni

Template:Cycling data Vittadello Template:Cycling data Peugeot Template:Cycling data Salvarani Template:Cycling data Smith's

Pre-race favorites

The starting peloton did include the previous year's winner Felice Gimondi. Eddy Merckx was confirmed to participate with his Faema team. Eight-time Grand Tour winner Jacques Anquetil did not participate in the race because of a dispute over pay.

Route and stages

The race route was revealed to the public on 21 March 1968 by race director Vincenzo Torriani. The starting date of the event was moved from 18 or 19 May to the 20th because of the general election taking place within Italy that ended on 19 May. The race was broadcast by RAI throughout Italy. l'Unita writer Gino Sala's felt the route was geared towards climbers, referencing the inclusion of Tre Cime di Lavaredo which had been the previous year and eliminated several riders. Former racer Cino Cinelli felt the Tre Cime di Lavaredo would be the decisive stage, while three-time champion Gino Bartali felt the Spanish would benefit from the route. The average length of the stages was . The second individual time trial, in San Marino, was seen as an important stage as it featured inclines of 5-6%. Gianni Motta commented that "I've never seen so many mountains in a row one after another." Four mountains approached or exceeded : Monte Grappa, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Rocca di Cambio, and Blockhaus. Following the route's unveil, El Mundo Deportivo author Juan Plans Bosch wrote that the Giro would always be second to the Tour de France as it was the first premier bike race, while he felt the Giro had better "historical and geographical illustrations."

To begin race festivities there was a parade through the streets of Campione d'Italia before the prologue started during the night. The race started with a prologue, which consisted of a circuit being crossed twice. The times from this stage were not included in the final times for the general classification, but were just done to determine the first person to wear the race leader's maglia rosa (Template:Langx). This was the first Giro d'Italia to have a prologue to open the race. The 130 starting riders were divided into thirteen groups of ten, with each group of ten contesting the course at the same time. The times of the fastest riders from each group were put together and the fastest of those times was the rider that would wear the first pink jersey. The route finished for the first time in Naples near Mount Vesuvius along the Mediterranean Ocean.

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	20 May	Campione d'Italia		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:FlagathleteTemplate:Refn
1	21 May	Campione d'Italia to Novara		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
2	22 May	Novara to Saint-Vincent		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:FlagathleteTemplate:Refn
3	23 May	Saint-Vincent to Alba		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
4	24 May	Alba to Sanremo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
5	25 May	Sanremo to Sanremo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
6	26 May	Sanremo to Alessandria		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
7	27 May	Alessandria to Piacenza		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
8	28 May	San Giorgio Piacentino to Brescia		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
9	29 May	Brescia to Lido di Caldonazzo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
10	30 May	Trento to Monte Grappa		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
11	31 May	Bassano del Grappa to Trieste		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
12	1 June	Gorizia to Tre Cime di Lavaredo		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
13	2 June	Cortina d'Ampezzo to Vittorio Veneto		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
14	3 June	Vittorio Veneto to Marina Romea		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
15	4 June	Ravenna to Imola		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	5 June	Rest day
16	6 June	Cesenatico to City of San Marino (San Marino)		File:Time Trial.svg	Individual time trial	Template:Flagathlete
17	7 June	City of San Marino (San Marino) to Foligno		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
18	8 June	Foligno to Abbadia San Salvatore		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
19	9 June	Abbadia San Salvatore to Rome		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
20	10 June	Rome to Rocca di Cambio		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:Flagathlete
21	11 June	Rocca di Cambio to Blockhaus		File:Mountainstage.svg	Stage with mountain(s)	Template:FlagathleteTemplate:Refn
22	12 June	Chieti to Naples		File:Plainstage.svg	Plain stage	Template:Flagathlete
	Total

Race overview

The race's twelfth stage saw heavy rain from the start of the stage in Gorizia, which turned to snow as the race began to elevate into the Dolomites.Template:Sfn Police lined the sides of the roads of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo as the riders passed through due to incidents that had occurred on the slopes the previous year.Template:Sfn The leading group on the road had a ten-minute advantage on Eddy Merckx.Template:Sfn Merckx was able to traverse the ten-minute gap, win the stage, and take the lead of the race.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Doping

At a presentation in Campione d'Italia, Torriani announced the measures for doping controls. This was the first Giro d'Italia to administer tests in attempt to catch riders doping,Template:Sfn To determine whether a not tests would be administered, a set of twenty-two envelopes were made with each envelope having a slip of paper inside that read either "Yes" or "No". Following the finish of each stage one envelope was opened, if it read "No," then all riders could leave immediately. If it read "Yes," then riders with high placings on the stage and in the overall classification were tested. The results from these tests, however, would be available fifteen days after the conclusion of the race. On 15 June, the Italian Cycling Federation announced that nine riders had tested positive during the race. The riders were Gimondi, Motta, Franco Balmamion, Franco Bodrero, Raymond Delise, Peter Abt, Victor van Schil, Mariano Diaz, Joaquin Galera.Template:Sfn Balmamion was cleared of the charges as the substance found in his urine had not been officially banned.Template:Sfn Gimondi's ban was overturned on 13 July as he persuaded the authorities he had used Reactivan.Template:Sfn Years later, author John Foot wrote "Doubts remain about how much the influence of Gimondi's fame and his ability to employ expensive lawyers and experts had on his case," casting further doubt on the legitimacy of Gimondi's claims of innocence.Template:Sfn The Tour de France organizers adopted the Giro's doping control scheme for their 1968 race.

Classification Leadership

Two different jerseys were worn during the 1968 Giro d'Italia. 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.

For the points classification, which awarded a red jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15. The mountains classification leader. The climbs were ranked in first and second categories. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. There were a total of nineteen categorized climbs, of which the highest one, the Cima Coppi, was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. 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.

Stage	Winner	General classification File:Jersey pink.svg	Points classification A red jersey	Mountains classification	Team classification
P	Charly Grosskost	(Charly Grosskost)Template:Refn	not awarded	not awarded	not awarded
1	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx		Faema
2	Eddy MerckxTemplate:Refn			Julio Jiménez
3	Guido Reybrouck	Michele Dancelli
4	Ward Sels		Guido Reybrouck
5	Italo Zilioli			Julio Jiménez & Eddy Merckx
6	José Antonio Momeñe		Eddy Merckx
7	Guerrino Tosello			Mariano Díaz
8	Eddy Merckx
9	Julio Jiménez			Julio Jiménez
10	Emilio Casalini
11	Guido Reybrouck
12	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx		Eddy Merckx
13	Lino Farisato
14	Luigi Sgarbozza
15	Marino Basso
16	Felice Gimondi
17	Franco Bitossi
18	Julio Jiménez
19	Luciano Dalla Bona
20	Luis Pedro Santamarina
21	Franco BitossiTemplate:Refn
22	Guido Reybrouck
Final		Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	Faema

Final standings

Legend
A pink jersey	Denotes the winner of the General classification	A red jersey	Denotes the winner of the Points classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Template:Flagathlete Pink jersey green jersey	Faema	108h 42' 27"
2	Template:Flagathlete	Faema	+ 5' 01"
3	Template:Flagathlete	Salvarani	+ 9' 05"
4	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	+ 9' 17"
5	Template:Flagathlete	Bic	+ 10' 43"
DSQ	Template:FlagathleteTemplate:Refn	Molteni	+ 12' 23"
6	Template:Flagathlete	Pepsi Cola	+ 12' 33"
7	Template:Flagathlete	Molteni	+ 15' 43"
8	Template:Flagathlete	Fagor	+ 16' 59"
9	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	+ 19' 02"
10	Template:Flagathlete	Bic	+ 19' 51"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–5)

	Name	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete green jersey Pink jersey	Faema	198
2	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	138
3	Template:Flagathlete	Pepsi Cola	132
DSQ	Template:FlagathleteTemplate:Refn	Molteni	122
4	Template:Flagathlete	Molteni	122
5	Template:Flagathlete	Faema	115
6	Template:Flagathlete	Salvarani	96
7	Template:Flagathlete	Faema	88
8	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	73
9	Template:Flagathlete	Bic
10	Template:Flagathlete	Germanvox	60

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–6)

	Name	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete Pink jersey green jersey	Faema	340
DSQ	Template:Flagathlete	Fagor	210
3	Template:Flagathlete	Bic	180
4	Template:Flagathlete	Pepsi Cola	140
	Template:Flagathlete	Fagor
6	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	90

Traguardi a sorpresa classification

Final traguardia a sorpresa classification (1–10)

	Name	Team	Points
1	Template:Flagathlete	Molteni	22
2	Template:Flagathlete	Max Meyer	15
3	Template:Flagathlete	Molteni	14
4	Template:Flagathlete	Faema	13
5	Template:Flagathlete	Pepsi Cola	10
6	Template:Flagathlete	Bic	8
	Template:Flagathlete	Fagor
	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex
9	Template:Flagathlete	Germanvox-Vega	6
10	Template:Flagathlete	Filotex	5
	Template:Flagathlete	Max Meyer
	Template:Flagathlete	Fagor
	Template:Flagathlete	Faema
	Template:Flagathlete
	Template:Flagathlete	Max Meyer
	Template:Flagathlete	G.B.C.
	Template:Flagathlete	Smith's

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)

	Team	Points
1	Faema	?
2	Molteni	?
3	Fagor-Fargas	?
4	Pepsi Cola	?
5	Filotex	?
6	Bic	?
7	Salvarani	?
8	Max Meyer	?
9	Germanvox-Vega	?
10	Smith's	?

Minor classifications

Franco Bitossi (Filotex) won the traguardi tricolori classification and Merckx won the Trofeo dei Circuiti.