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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian |
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Camusso's Late Charge to Victory
SPECIAL NOTE: Innovation in 1931 featured a distinctive race leader's jersey, the Maglia Rosa. Stage 1 winner Learco Guerra received the honor of wearing the ever Maglia Rosa. The jersey's color was the same as the newspaper page of the lead sponsor La Gazetta della Sport.
A very tight battle for the General Classification and the Maglia Rosa was taken into the final 3 stages of the 1931 Giro d'Italia. The early stages saw “Campionissimo” Alfredo Binda hold a slim lead until disaster struck after a hard crash on stage 5 from Pescara to Napoli. Binda finished the stage but abandoned as the race leader before stage 6.
The struggle for race leadership continued through stage 10. Luigi Giacobbe and Francesco Camusso finished a breakaway 1st and 2nd with Luigi Giacobbe taking a 23 second GC lead over Camusso. There was only one (mountain) stage remaining before the finish in Milan, when Francesco Camusso launched a Giro winning solo attack to win stage 11. Camusso's Stage 11 heroics into Torino gained 3'10” on the race leader. The Maglia Rosa was his with 1 stage into the finish in Milan.
Camusso's Giro winning attack
The next day Francesco Camusso rode into Milan to claim the 1931 Giro d'Italia victory.
Francesco Camusso, 1st Maglia Rosa winner in 1931
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 Milan-Mantova, 206 km |
Learco Guerra (Ita) |
Learco Guerra (Ita) * 1st  |
Stage 2 Mantova-Ravenna, 216 km |
Learco Guerra (Ita) |
Learco Guerra (Ita) |
Stage 3 Ravenna-Macerata, 288 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Stage 4 Macerata-Pescara, 234 km |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Stage 5 Pescara-Napoli, 282 km |
Michele Mara (Ita) |
Alfredo Binda (Ita) |
Stage 6 Napoli-Rome, 265 km |
Ettore Meini (Ita) |
Michele Mara (Ita) |
Stage 7 Rome-Perugia, 247 km |
Learco Guerra (Ita) |
Luigi Marchisio (Ita) |
Stage 8 Perugia-Montecatini, 246 km |
Learco Guerra (Ita) |
Luigi Marchisio (Ita) |
Stage 9 Montecatini-Genova, 248 km |
Michele Mara (Ita) |
Luigi Marchisio (Ita) |
Stage 10 Genova-Cuneo, 263 km |
Luigi Giacobbe (Ita) |
Luigi Giacobbe (Ita) |
Stage 11 Cuneo-Torino, 252 km |
Francesco Camusso (Ita) |
Francesco Camusso (Ita) |
Stage 12 Torino-Milan, 263 km |
Ambrogio Morelli (Ita) |
Francesco Camusso (Ita) |
GdI May 10-May 31, 1931 |
| 3,010 Km |
1. Francesco CAMUSSO (Ita) 102h40'46" |
| 2. Luigi Giacobbe (Ita) +2'47" |
| 3.
Luigi Marchisio (Ita) +6'15" |
Starters: 109 |
Finishers: 65 |
Average Speed: 29.332 km/h |
GdI 1932
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