1925 Giro d'Italia


The 1925 Giro d'Italia was the 13th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a Grand Tour organized and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 16 May in Milan with a stage that stretched to Turin, finishing back in Milan on 7 June after a stage and a total distance covered of. The race was won by the Alfredo Binda of the Legnano team. Second and third respectively were the Italian riders Costante Girardengo and Giovanni Brunero.

Participants

Of the 126 riders that began the Giro d'Italia on 16 May, 39 of them made it to the finish in Milan on 7 June. As in the previous Giro, riders entered the race individually, not as part of a team. Most of the disagreements between the professional teams and the Giro organisation were resolved, so most teams agreed to send riders. There were six professional teams that had one ore more riders competing in the race: Aliprandi-Pirelli, Jenis, Legnano-Pirelli, Olympia-Pirelli, Peugeot-Pirelli, and Wolsit-Pirelli.
The peloton was completely composed of Italians, a trend which continued until the 1950s because of Italy's fascist policies and political climate. The field featured two former Giro d'Italia champions in the 1919 Giro d'Italia winner Costante Girardengo and returning champion Giovanni Brunero. Other notable Italian riders that started the race included Gaetano Belloni, Giovanni Rossignoli, and Pietro Bestetti. This was the first Giro d'Italia that Alfredo Binda competed in. The winner of 1924, Giuseppe Enrici, did not start this race, as he had moved to the French Armor-Dunlop team, and targeted the 1925 Tour de France.

Race summary

In the first stage, eighteen riders rode away, taking almost five minutes on the others. Linari won the stage and became the leader, the main favourites were behind him in this group.
In the second stage, a group of four riders was away. The sprint was won by Girardengo, who then became the new leader based on his stage positions, Binda and Brunero were second and third in the general classification with the same time.
Girardengo and Binda finished in the first groups in the third and fourth stage, such that Girardengo was still leading with Binda in second place in the same time. Girardengo helped his team mate Bestetti to win the third stage, and won the fourth stage himself.
Another team mate of Girardengo was Gaetano Belloni, the winner of the 1920 Giro d'Italia. Belloni was not satisfied with Girardengo's support for Bestetti in a stage where Belloni struggled. In the fifth stage, Girardengo had a flat tire; Belloni decided to not help his team mate, but to help Binda escape. Belloni won the stage, but Girardengo lost more than five minutes, making Binda the new leader.
Girardengo tried to win back the lead in the next stages. He only won back seconds in the seventh stage. Despite winning six stages, he ended in second place in the general classification, with Binda as winner.

Final standings

General classification

There were 39 cyclists who had completed all twelve stages. For these cyclists, the times they had needed in each stage was added up for the general classification. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the winner; there were no time bonuses for stage winners. Riccardo Gagliardi won the prize for best ranked "indipendente" rider in the general classification, this was a category in between professional and amateur.
RankNameTeamTime
1Alfredo Binda.png" />Alfredo Binda|ITA|1861nowrap|137h 31' 13"

Aftermath

Girardengo lost the Giro despite winning a plurality of stages. In the next year, the Giro organization introduced a time bonus of 1:30 for the stage winner; had this been in place in 1925, Girardengo would have won the Giro.