Brunero and Binda Ride Away
The highlight of the 1926 Giro d'Italia was the Binda/Brunero breakaway on stage 7 from Foggia to Sulmona. The duo rode to a 25'08” margin over third place on the stage and 30 minutes plus on the field.
Giovanni Brunero gained 20 minutes against defending champion Alfredo Binda on stages 1 and 2 before Binda took six of the next ten stage wins.
Binda losing time after a stage 1 crash
Giovanni Brunero held off a late Binda charge (Binda won 5 of the last 7 stages) and arrived in Milan to claim the grand victory.
Teams:
There were six trade teams that competed in the race:
- Berrettini-Cycles Russell
- Ganna
- Legnano-Pirelli
|
- Meteore-Wolber
- Olympia-Dunlop
- Wolsit-Pirelli
|
There were eight individual teams that competed in the race:
- Agricola-Pirelli (I)
- Alcyon-Dunlop (I)
- Automoto-Hutchinson (I)
- Sivocci-Pirelli (I)
|
- Bianchi (I)
- Bottecchia (I)
- Dei (I)
- Jenis-Pirelli (I)
|
Race Summary:
Stage 1: Defending Giro champion Alfredo Binda crashed heavily descending the Serra and had to be coaxed to continue the race. He did remount but a broken brake further hindered on the way to the finish. Binda lost over 30 minutes and decided to abandon the race. With the strong encouragement of his team Binda did start stage 2.
Domenico Piemontesi won the stage and became 1926’s first GC leader. Girardengo led in a small group 15’27” after the stage winner and the unfortunate Binda finished the stage over 30 minutes behind. Binda was now the ultimate gregario (team helper).
Stage 2: Piemontesi was riding beyond the rest of the field. Over the Ligurian hills heading for Genoa he broke away again and soloed to the stage win, 2’39” ahead of Girardengo and Brunero, and a full nine minutes in front of Binda.
Stage 3: Binda might have given up any hope of winning the overall, but he had not finished racing hard. His solo stage win was 4’30” ahead of Brunero and Bresciani, and a full five minutes ahead of Girardengo. The General Classification lead may have been out of reach, but he could certainly win individual stages.
Stage 4: The three best Italian riders, Girardengo, Binda and Brunero, left the peloton behind in the fourth stage. They went over the climbs in the Apennines in that order. In Rome Girardengo won the sprint and the stage. Fourth place on the stage Arturo Bresciani finished 9’53” after the stage winner.
Race leader Piemontesi’s Giro ended unceremoniously after exhaustion in the Cimini Hills forced him to abandon the race. What looked like a sure victory was gone on stage 4. He threw himself into a ditch in despair.
Stage 7: 250 km from Foggia to Sulmona, Girardengo met with bad luck AGAIN… In the mountains near Abruzzo a sprained muscle forced him to abandon the race while leading the GC.
Teammates Binda and Brunero beat the stage’s third place rider by over 25’08”, making Brunero the new race leader.
Stage 9 to 12: Binda went on a rampage winning three of the last four stages. Always on his wheel was race leader Brunero.
Giovanni Brunero rode into Milan for the 1926 Giro d’Italia victory. He became the first champion to gain three Giro victories.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 Milan-Torino, 275 km |
Domenico Piemontesi (Ita) |
Domenico Piemontesi (Ita) |
Stage 2 Torino-Genova, 250 km |
Domenico Piemontesi (Ita) |
Domenico Piemontesi (Ita) |
Stage 3 Genova-Firenze, 312 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Domenico Piemontesi (Ita) |
Stage 4 Firenze-Rome, 287 km |
Constante Girardengo (Ita) |
Constante Girardengo (Ita) |
Stage 5 Rome-Napoli, 232 km |
Constante Girardengo (Ita) |
Constante Girardengo (Ita) |
Stage 6 Napoli-Foggia, 262 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Constante Girardengo (Ita) |
Stage 7 Foggia-Sulmona, 250 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Stage 8 Sulmona-Terni, 266 km |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Stage 9 Terni-Bologna, 357 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Stage 10 Bologna-Udine, 355 km |
Piero Bestetti (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Stage 11 Udine-Verona, 291 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
Stage 12 Verona-Milan, 291 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Giovanni Brunero (Ita) |
General Classification:
Final General Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Giovanni BRUNERO (Ita) |
Legnano-Pirelli |
137h 55' 59" |
2 |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Legnano-Pirelli |
+15' 28" |
3 |
Arturo Bresciani (Ita) |
Bianchi (I) |
+54' 41" |
4 |
Ermanno Valazza (Ita) |
Legnano-Pirelli |
+1h 11' 38" |
5 |
Giuseppe Enrici (Ita) |
Automoto-Hutchinson (I) |
+1h 15' 57" |
6 |
Pietro Bestetti (Ita) |
Wolsit-Pirelli |
+1h 26' 00" |
7 |
Gianbattista Gilli (Ita) |
Olympia-Dunlop |
+2h 02' 52" |
8 |
Angelo Gremo (Ita) |
Meteore-Wolber |
+3h 16' 58" |
9 |
Michele Robotti (Ita) |
Berrettini-Cycl Russell |
+3h 41' 39" |
10 |
Ezio Cortesia (Ita) |
Ganna |
+3h 59' 18" |
11 |
Romolo Lazzaretti (Ita) |
Olympia-Dunlop |
+4h 47' 39" |
12 |
Giuseppe Pancera (Ita) |
Olympia-Dunlop |
+4h 58' 19" |
13 |
Gino Balestrieri (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+5h 24' 11" |
14 |
Antonio Montevecchi (Ita) |
Jenis-Pirelli (I) |
+6h 32' 50" |
15 |
Umberto Berni (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+6h 39' 28" |
16 |
Umberto Brivio (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+7h 04' 034" |
17 |
Giovanni Rossignoli (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+7h 25' 00" |
18 |
Antonio Tecchio (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+8h 11' 20" |
19 |
Giuseppe Casadio (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+8h 34' 21" |
20 |
Marco Persichetti (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+8h 34' 21" |
21 |
Cesare Barbera (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+9h 51' 36" |
22 |
Arnaldo Bergami (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+10h 42' 45" |
23 |
Virgilio Beolchi (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+10h 53' 49" |
24 |
Angelo Cerro (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+13h 11' 25" |
25 |
Eliseo Pancera (Ita) |
Olympia-Dunlop |
+13h 49' 42" |
26 |
Alessandro Cattaneo (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+15h 04' 33" |
27 |
Azeglio Terreni (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+15h 18' 16" |
28 |
Antonio Venturi (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+15h 19' 50" |
29 |
Moise Arosio (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+15h 27' 27" |
30 |
Alessandro Orioli (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+15h 31' 04" |
31 |
Augusto Rho (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+16h 21' 06" |
32 |
Emanuele Caly (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+17h 02' 08" |
33 |
Pietro Barbati (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+17h 26' 33" |
34 |
Americo Giammei (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+17h 49' 07" |
35 |
Giuseppe Pedrali (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+19h 15' 39" |
36 |
Eustacchio Paliotta (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+19h 40' 33" |
37 |
Giuseppe Cattaneo (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+20h 04' 07" |
38 |
Biaggio Gavinelli (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+22h 20' 32" |
39 |
Giacomo Fassio (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+22h 45' 07" |
40 |
Davide Chiesa (Ita) |
Isolati/Independent |
+27h 26' 56" |
Return to the Timeline ToC
Return to the Race Snippets ToC |
