34th Giro d'Italia 1951 (Italy)

 
   
 
By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian
 

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)

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 1950

GdI 1952

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