- The race committee chose to increase the length of the race after the success of the first edition. The original race was eight stages, the 1910 edition increased by two stages, to ten. The overall length of the race increased to close to 3,000 kilometers, which made the race close to five hundred kilometers longer than the inaugural edition of the race.
Race Summary:
Stage 1: (Wednesday, May 18, 1910) began with a large crowd to send off the riders in the start City of Milan. A hotly contested stage finish in Udine saw five riders come to the finish line in a small group. Ernesto Azzini outsprinted the other four riders to win the stage.
Stage 2: (Friday, May 20, 1910) the Giro d'Italia saw the first ‘non-Italian’ stage winner in the race’s history. Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq managed to escape from his fellow breakaway companion Carlo Galetti and rode alone to win the stage. The five riders chased hard and nearly caught the Frenchman. Galetti won the field sprint for second place. The finish on the stage was high enough for him to give him the race lead.
SPECIAL NOTE: The French success in this Giro enraged the Italian fans. The reaction led the competing Italian riders to form an alliance against the foreign riders.
Stage 3: (Sunday, May 22, 1910) three major Italian riders, Luigi Ganna, Carlo Galetti, and Eberardo Pavesi, attacked early in the stage. The three riders rode together all the way to the finish in Teramo. Galetti took the sprint to win the stage, with Ganna and Pavesi following in quick succession.
Stage 4: (Tuesday, May 24, 1910) This was a tough stage with poor riding conditions. The harsh weather led to the withdrawal of riders including Lucien Petit-Breton, who ranked third overall at the time. The poor weather conditions saw the stage’s race-pace progress slowly and the riders arrived in Naples two hours later than expected. Pierino Albini beat Frenchman Maurice Brocco by 36 seconds for stage win.
SPECIAL NOTE: Controversy arose when prior to the fifth stage's start, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq still riding high in the General Classification (on points) withdrew from the race after becoming violently ill. Ingestion of poison was suspected. The Italian police suspected foul play and investigated the situation. Subsequently twenty riders were disqualified.
Stage 5: (Thursday, May 26, 1910) Due to impassable roads, the start of the fifth stage had to be moved from Naples to Capua, decreasing the distance of the stage from 224.1 km to 192.3 km. Eberardo Pavesi won the fifth stage after leading for most of the race.
Stage 6: (Saturday, May 28, 1910) The peloton remained together for the first half of the sixth stage. Luigi Ganna and Carlo Galetti broke away from the peloton and rode into in Rome together. Ganna sprinted past Galetti for the stage win.
Stage 7: (Monday, May 30, 1910) During the seventh stage a group of six riders rode in a breakaway for the stage before Galetti and Ganna broke away the group… AGAIN. The two riders flew into Genoa, where a large crowd of spectators came to see the finish. Ganna sprinted to win his second consecutive stage, while Galetti extended his lead in the General Classification.
Stage 8: (Wednesday, June 1, 1910) The eighth stage contained the harsh climb of the Passo dei Giovi. Galetti, Ganna, and Eberardo Pavesi hotly contested the end of the stage. Race leader Galetti won the stage.
Stage 9: (Friday, June 3, 1910) Eberardo Pavesi dominated the difficult ninth stage that contained the major climbs of the Colle di Nava, Colle di Tenda, and Poggio di San Bartolomeo. Climbing brilliantly Pavesi soloed to win the stage by close to six minutes over the second-place finisher Luigi Ganna.
Stage 10: (final stage, Sunday, June 5, 1910) Race leader Carlo Galetti crashed into a hay wagon early in the stage. With cuts and bruises the race leader quickly remounted and finished the stage off the back in fifth place.
Despite heavy rain in Milan, a large crowd came to watch the riders arrive. Luigi Ganna sprinted to his third stage win in Milan. Carlo Galetti finished second on the stage and took the Giro d'Italia victory by a margin of eighteen points over Eberardo Pavesi.
