3rd Giro d'Italia 1911 (Italy)

Galetti Again but with a Challenge

The 1910 Giro d'Italia was the second edition of the Italy’s Grand Tour. The race began on May 18, 1910, in Milan and finished back in Milan on June 5, 1910, after a total distance covered of 2,984 km.

1911 Race Changes from the 1910 Giro d'Italia:

Race Summary:

Stage 1: (Monday, May 15, 1911) the race began in Rome and went into Florence. The stage experienced heavy rain, which led to ten stage 1 rider withdrawals. Carlo Galetti sprinted past Giovanni Rossignoli and Dario Beni for the stage win.

Stage 2: (Wednesday, May 17, 1911) the stage, 261 km from Florence to Genova, again rain made for extremely poor road conditions. The riders faced the hard climb of the Colle di Bacco. Giovanni Gerbi attacked and was the first rider to reach the summit. However, fatigue from the climb got the better of Gerbi. The chasers, Vincenzo Borgarello, Giuseppe Santhia, and Giuseppe Contesini, caught and passed the fading Gerbi. He struggled and rode solo to the finish and finished fourth on the stage. A large crowd at the finish waited for the riders, and Vincenzo Borgarello sprinted across the finish line in Genova for the stage win. After finishing sixth on the stage, two spots ahead of the race leader, Giovanni Rossignoli took over the lead, one point ahead of Galetti.

Stage 3: (Friday, May 19, 1911) the third day of racing was the first with clear weather. Race leader Rossignoli bested Giovanni Gerbi and Carlo Durando for the stage win. Rossignoli consolidated his lead in the General Classification (GC).

Stage 4: (Sunday, May 21, 1911) the entire peloton hotly contested the next stage. No breakaways could escape. Carlo Galetti took the stage win and moved up in the GC.

Stage 5: (Tuesday, May 23, 1911) The race's fifth stage was the first “real” mountain stage in Giro d'Italia history. The stage contained the brutal climb to Sestriere, which rises over 2,000 meters (6,560 feet). The race entered Val Chisone at the beginning of the brutal climb to Sestriere. On the climb the peloton found muddy roads, with riders forced to walk their bikes. Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton led the riders up the slopes before tiring near the snow-covered summit. Ezio Corlaita passed Petit-Breton and rode first to summit the Sestriere. On the long descent into the finish in Torino the Frenchman caught the leading group and formed a group with Ezio Corlaita, Rossignoli, and Galetti. A fast finisher Petit-Breton edged out Galetti for the stage win. Galetti’s fourth place stage finish tied Rossignoli for the overall GC lead.

Stage 6: (Thursday, May 25, 1911) The riders set off on the sixth stage in Torino with a huge crowd in attendance for the start. By the stage finish in Milan Fiat-Pirelli’s Giuseppe Santhia sprinted to the stage win as the peloton rolled over a ‘tifosi’ packed finish line.

Stage 7: (Saturday, May 27, 1911) 394 km from Milan to Bologna, Dario Beni soloed to victory on the seventh stage, finishing over a minute ahead of the second-place finisher Santhia.

Stage 8: (Monday, May 29, 1911) Lauro Bordin won the eighth. Galetti extending his overall GC lead by a single point over Rossignoli.

Stage 9: (Wednesday, May 31, 1911) Ezio Corlaita won the Giro's ninth stage, while the second placed Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton took the race lead. He became the first non-Italian to lead the Giro d'Italia.

Stage 10: (Friday, June 2, 1911) In the following stage, the leading breakaway contained six riders, race leader Petit-Breton and five Bianchi riders, and rode into the finish in the City of Bari together. Carlo Galetti took the stage win and gained enough time to take the race lead. Petit-Breton finished the stage in sixth place and dropped to second overall in the GC.

Stage 11: (Sunday, June 4, 1911) the race's penultimate day of racing was scheduled to go 345 km from Bari to Naples. During the stage, Lucien Petit-Breton crashed heavily and abandoned the race. The route had the peloton ride through very rough dirt roads that were heavy with dust and occasionally ‘stream flooded’ roads. To make things worse an enraged buffalo also chased the riders.
All these factors forced the race director to end the stage early. Alfredo Sivocci won the stage in the new finish in Pompeii.

Stage 12: (final stage, Tuesday, June 6, 1911) the last stage ended back in Rome. Ezio Corlaita took his second stage win.
The Giro victory went to Bianchi's Carlo Galetti, he became the first rider to win two editions of the Giro d'Italia.

General Classification:

GdI 1912

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