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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian |
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Titanic Battle between Magni and Van Steenbergen
Grand champion Fausto Coppi experienced the saddest year of his life with death of his brother Serse. He did compete in the Giro but finish a lackluster 4th over 4 minutes behind the winner.
A very talented field of riders saw Italian Fiorenzo Magni and Belgian Rik Van Steenbergen trade the race lead 5 times before Magni took control of the race for good on stage 18 into Bolzano.
In Milan two stages later, three years after his first victory, Fiorenzo Magni claimed his second exciting Giro d'Italia victory.
SPECIAL NOTE: French Champion Louison Bobet felt a harsh ruling by the race officials on stage 16 (Venezia-Trieste, 182 km) after he punctured and changes wheels with a teammate. Although the rule would have normally been suspended because of the team car delay in the mountains, Bobet was assigned a 5 minute penalty. The Frenchman dropped from 4th to 8th and out of contention in the General Classification. Bobet continued and did win the Mountain Classification.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 Milan-Torino, 202 km |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 2 Torino-Alassio, 202 km |
Antonio Bevilacqua (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 3 Alassio-Genova, 252 km |
Rodolfo Falzoni (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 4 Genova-Firenze, 265 km |
Guido De Santi (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 5 Firenze-Perugia, 192 km |
Pietro Giudici (Ita) |
Fritz Schaer (Sui) |
Stage 6 Perugia-Terni, 81 km ITT |
Fausto Coppi (Ita) |
Fritz Schaer (Sui) |
Stage 7 Terni-Rome, 290 km |
Angelo Menon (Ita) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 8 Rome-Napoli, 234 km |
Luigi Casola (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 9 Napoli-Foggia, 181 km |
Giovanni Corrieri (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 10 Foggia-Pescara, 311 km |
Giuseppe Minardi (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 11 Pescara-Rimini, 246 km |
Serafino Biagioni (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 12 Rimini-San Marino, 24 km ITT |
Giancarlo Astrua (Ita) |
Giancarlo Astrua (Ita) |
Stage 13 Rimini-Bologna, 249 km |
Luciano Maggini (Ita) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 14 Bologna-Brescia, 220 km |
Adolfo Leoni (Ita) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 15 Brescia-Venezia, 188 km |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 16 Venezia-Trieste, 182 km |
Luciano Frosini (Ita) * |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 17 Trieste-Cortina, 255 km |
Louison Bobet (Fra) |
Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) |
Stage 18 Cortina-Bolzano, 242 km |
Fausto Coppi (Ita) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 19 Bolzano-St Moritz (Sui), 165 km |
Hugo Koblet (Sui) |
Fiorenzo Magni (Ita) |
Stage 20 St Moritz (Sui)- Milan , 242 km |
Antonio Bevilacqua (Ita) |
 Fiorenzo Magni (Ita)
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Mountain Classification |
Louison Bobet (Fra) |
GdI May 19 - June 10, 1951 |
| 4,153 Km |
1. Fiorenzo MAGNI (Ita) 121h11'37" |
| 2. Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) +1'46" |
| 3.
Ferdi Kubler (Sui) +2'36" |
Starters: 98 |
Finishers: 75 |
Average Speed: 34.217 km/h |
GdI 1952
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