1947 Giro d'Italia

The 1947 Giro d'Italia was the 30th edition of the Giro d'Italia, organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 24 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 190 km (118 mi) to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 15 June after a 278 km (173 mi) stage and a total distance covered of 3,843 km (2,388 mi).

1947 Giro d'Italia

Race details
Dates	24 May - 15 June 1947
Stages	20
Distance	3,843 km (2,388 mi)
Winning time	115h 55' 07"
Results
Winner  Fausto Coppi (ITA) (Bianchi)   Second  Gino Bartali (ITA) (Legnano)   Third  Giulio Bresci (ITA) (Welter)   Mountains  Gino Bartali (ITA) (Legnano)   Team Welter
← 1946 1948 →

The Giro was won by Fausto Coppi of the Bianchi team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Giulio Bresci coming in second and third respectively.

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1947 Giro d'Italia

A total of twelve teams entered the 1947 Giro d'Italia.^[1] Each team sent a squad of seven riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 84 cyclists.^[1] Out of the 84 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 50 riders made it to the finish in Milan.^[1][2]

The teams entering the race were:^[1]

• Arbos–Talbot
• Benotto
• Bianchi
• Cozzi-Silger
• Legnano
• Lygie
• Olmo
• Monterosa
• Viscontea
• Wally
• Welter
• Wilier Triestina

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and results^[2]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	24 May	Milan to Turin	190 km (118 mi)		Plain stage	Renzo Zanazzi (ITA)
2	25 May	Turin to Genoa	206 km (128 mi)		Plain stage	Gino Bartali (ITA)
3	26 May	Genoa to Reggio Emilia	220 km (137 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Luciano Maggini (ITA)
4	27 May	Reggio Emilia to Prato	190 km (118 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
	28 May	Rest day
5a	29 May	Prato to Bagni di Casciana Terme	84 km (52 mi)		Plain stage	Luciano Maggini (ITA)
5b		Bagni di Casciana Terme to Florence	141 km (88 mi)		Plain stage	Renzo Zanazzi (ITA)
6	30 May	Florence to Perugia	161 km (100 mi)		Plain stage	Giordano Cottur (ITA)
7	31 May	Perugia to Rome	240 km (149 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Oreste Conte (ITA)
8	1 June	Rome to Naples	231 km (144 mi)		Plain stage	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
	2 June	Rest day
9	3 June	Naples to Bari	288 km (179 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Elio Bertocchi (ITA)
10	4 June	Bari to Foggia	129 km (80 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Ricci (ITA)
11	5 June	Foggia to Pescara	223 km (139 mi)		Plain stage	Oreste Conte (ITA)
	6 June	Rest day
12	7 June	Pescara to Cesenatico	267 km (166 mi)		Plain stage	Giovanni Corrieri (ITA)
13	8 June	Cesenatico to Padua	175 km (109 mi)		Plain stage	Antonio Bevilacqua (ITA)
14	9 June	Padua to Vittorio Veneto	132 km (82 mi)		Plain stage	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
15	10 June	Vittorio Veneto to Pieve di Cadore	200 km (124 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Gino Bartali (ITA)
	11 June	Rest day
16	12 June	Pieve di Cadore to Trento	194 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
17	13 June	Trento to Brescia Sant'Eufemia	114 km (71 mi)		Plain stage	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
18	14 June	Brescia Sant'Eufemia to Lugano (Switzerland)	180 km (112 mi)		Plain stage	Giulio Bresci (ITA)
19	15 June	Lugano (Switzerland) to Milan	278 km (173 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)
	Total		3,843 km (2,388 mi)

Race overview

In the fifteenth stage, Bartali dismounted his bike to punch a spectator who shouted an anti-Catholic slur at him.^[3] He then continued to win the stage.^[3]

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.^[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]

There was a black jersey (maglia nera) awarded to the rider placed last in the general classification. The classification was calculated in the same manner as the general classification.

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.^[2][5] If a team had fewer than three riders finish, they were not eligible for the classification.^[2][5]

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

Stage	Winner	General classification	Mountains classification	Last in General classification	Team classification
1	Renzo Zanazzi	Renzo Zanazzi	not awarded	Ernesto Ciardossino	?
2	Gino Bartali			Armando Peverelli
3	Luciano Maggini		Giovanni Corrieri	?
4	Fausto Coppi	Gino Bartali	Gino Bartali	Antonio Ausenda	Benotto
5a	Luciano Maggini			?
5b	Renzo Zanazzi
6	Giordano Cottur			Antonio Ausenda
7	Oreste Conte
8	Fausto Coppi
9	Elio Bertocchi			Luigi Malabrocca	Welter
10	Mario Ricci
11	Oreste Conte
12	Giovanni Corrieri
13	Antonio Bevilacqua			Riccardo Sarti
14	Adolfo Leoni			Luigi Malabrocca
15	Gino Bartali			Riccardo Sarti	Welter
16	Fausto Coppi	Fausto Coppi		?
17	Adolfo Leoni
18	Giulio Bresci
19	Adolfo Leoni			Luigi Malabrocca
Final		Fausto Coppi	Gino Bartali	Luigi Malabrocca	Welter

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[2]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Fausto Coppi (ITA)	Bianchi	115h 55' 07"
2	Gino Bartali (ITA)	Legnano	+ 1' 43"
3	Giulio Bresci (ITA)	Welter	+ 5' 54"
4	Ezio Cecchi (ITA)	Welter	+ 15' 01"
5	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Olmo	+ 15' 06"
6	Alfredo Martini (ITA)	Welter	+ 19' 00"
7	Mario Vicini (ITA)	Bianchi	+ 30' 46"
8	Salvatore Crippa (ITA)	Lygie	+ 31' 05"
9	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)	Viscontea	+ 34' 07"
10	Angelo Menon (ITA)	Lygie	+ 35' 49"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)^[6]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Gino Bartali (ITA)	Legnano	24
2	Fausto Coppi (ITA)	Bianchi	21
3	Giulio Bresci (ITA)	Welter	13
4	Giovanni Corrieri (ITA)	Viscontea	7
	Sylvère Maes (BEL)	Olmo
6	Oreste Conte (ITA)	Benotto	5
	Alfredo Martini (ITA)	Welter
	Ezio Cecchi (ITA)	Welter
	Luigi Casola (ITA)	Bianchi
10	Sergio Pagliazzi (ITA)	Cozzi-Silger	4
	Adolfo Leoni (ITA)	Bianchi
	Antonio Bevilacqua (ITA)	Lygie

Team classification

Final team classification (1-9)^[7]

	Team	Time
1	Welter	348h 25' 36"
2	Bianchi	+ 1h 10' 35"
3	Legnano	+ 1h 15' 14"
4	Viscontea	+ 1h 28' 23"
5	Lygie	+ 2h 15' 17"
6	Wally	+ 3h 38' 13"
7	Benotto	+ 3h 44' 28"
8	Arbos-Talbot	+ 4h 00' 41"
9	Wilier-Triestina	+ 5h 14' 43"

Minor awards

Coppi won the blue bracelet for winning the stage with the greatest time between the second placed rider.^[6] He managed to achieve a gap of 4' 24" during the stage from Pieve di Cadore to Trento, where he won by a margin of 4' 24".^[6] Coppi and Adolfo Leoni split the "premato veloce" classification which was given to the rider with the most stage wins.^[6] Leoni and Coppi both won three stages, while four riders won two stages.^[6]

References

Citations

1. "Il quadro dei partecipanti" [The framework of the participants]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 24 May 1947. p. 1. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
2. Bill and Carol McGann. "1947 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
3. McConnon & McConnon 2012, p. 174.
4. Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
5. "L'ultima tappa in una immensa cornice di folla e la vittoria di Leoni" [The final step in a huge frame of the crowd and the victory of Leoni]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). Milan, Italy. 10 June 1940. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
6. "Gino Bartali vince il G.P. della Montagna" [Gino Bartali wins the Mountains Classification]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 16 June 1947. p. 2. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
7. "Classifica a squadre" [Team classification]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 16 June 1947. p. 2. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.

Bibliography

• McConnon, Aili; McConnon, Andres (2012). Road to Valour: Gino Bartali – Tour De France Legend and World War Two Hero. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-85999-4.
• Pratolini, Vasco (1992). Cronache dal Giro d'Italia (maggio-giugno 1947) [Reports from the Tour of Italy (May–June 1947)] (in Italian). Milan, Italy: Claudio Lombardi editore. ISBN 978-8-8779-9016-7.