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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian
GdI May 16 - June 09, 1974 |
4,001 Km |
Starters: 140 (137: 3 Rokado riders DNS *)
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Finishers: 96 |
Average Speed: 35.372 km/h |
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Merckx’s 5th Giro Victory but Barely
Belgian Eddy Merckx won his fifth Giro d’Italia Championship but not without a fight. These were the Merckx "Golden Years,” but the competition was getting closer.
SPECIAL NOTE: A first in 1974 the leader of the Mountain Classification wore the Maglia Verde (Green Jersey). 
Teams:
The fourteen teams that took part in the race were:
- Molteni
- Bianchi-Campagnolo
- Brooklyn
- Filcas
- Dreherforte
- Rokado
- Filotex
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- Kas-Kaskol
- Vibor
- SCIC
- Jolly Ceramica
- Magniflex
- Sammontana
- Zonca
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Each team sent a squad of ten riders. NOTE: three riders from Rokado did not start the race after entering, which reduced the starting list to 137 *.
Classification Leadership:
New for this Giro edition, the leader of the Mountains Classification was awarded with a Maglia Verde (Green Jersey) . The mountain points were awarded by reaching the summit of a categorized climb first. In 1974 most of the stages included one or more categorized climbs.
Race Summary:
Stage 3: The third stage featured a late climb of Mount Faito, Jose Manuel Fuente attacked ten kilometers from the summit and rode the final 25 km solo to the finish for a 33 second stage win. Fuente took the race lead.
SPCIAL NOTE: After finishing the third stage 30 minutes behind Fuente, race leader Wilfried Reybrouck not only lost the lead but was eliminated from the race because he finished outside the stage’s time limit. This was the first time in the Giro’s history a race leader had to be disqualified while wearing the Maglia Rosa.
Stage 7: Although none of his family lived anywhere near the region, Italian Ugo Colombo told race leader Fuente he needed to ride ahead to greet his family. Colombo then rode into Chieti to win the seventh stage. Somehow Fuente allowed a maximum advantage of 13 minutes. When the peloton realized what had happened and they frantically closed the gap to 44 seconds at the finish.
Stage 12: Spanish climber Jose-Manuel Fuente controlled the race through stage 12’s Individual Time Trial, which Merckx won. Fuente lost over 2 minutes but retained the Maglia Rosa.
SPECIAL NOTE: Race officials changed the stage schedule after a terrorist bombing in Brescia, near Milan. The rest day originally scheduled for Saturday, June 1 after stage 14 in San Remo had to be re-scheduled to Wednesday, May 29. The Italian government declared a National Day of Mourning on May 29, and the race officials moved up the rest day.
Stage 14: Jose-Manuel Fuente rode poorly on the fourteenth stage. After not properly eating during the stage Fuente bonked and lost more than 10 minutes to the Merckx group. The Belgian took the Maglia Rosa.
Stage 20: After taking the Maglia Rosa the Cannibal tentatively controlled the race until the penultimate stage 20, the mountain top finish on Tre cime di Laverado.
There were only two stages until the finish in Milan and Merckx was struggling to hold the lead group on the finishing climb. Fuente set a brutal pace and split the leaders. Young Italian Gianbattista Baronchelli went after a solo Fuente and gapped Merckx to become the “race leader on-the-road.” With the Giro lead slipping away from the race leader Merckx found a huge effort in the final kilometer to close the gap to 1’47” at the finish. Fuente won the stage and the Cima Coppi. Baronchelli, second on the stage, closed his time gap to Merckx in the GC to 12 seconds.
Stage 20 (Cima Coppi): the ascent of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, scheduled on the 20th stage, which was a 163 km course from Pordenone to the summit of the Tre Cime. For a third year in a row Jose Manuel “El Tarangu” Fuente distanced the elites of the peloton and won the Cima Coppi prize.
Stage 21: Merckx left no doubt and won the next stage in Bassano del Grappa. The stage win cemented his hold on the Maglia Rosa.
Stage 22: Eddy Merckx rode into Milan for his record tying fifth Giro d’Italia victory, but it was not without a fight.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 Rome/Vatican-Formia, 164 km |
Wilfried Reybrouck (Bel) |
Wilfried Reybrouck (Bel) |
Stage 2 Formia-Pompei, 121 km |
Patrick Sercu (Bel) |
Wilfried Reybrouck (Bel) |
Stage 3 Pompei-Sorrento, 137 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 4 Sorrente-Sapri, 208 km |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 5 Sapri-Taranto, 215 km |
Pierino Gavazzi (Ita) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 6 Taranto-Foggia, 206 km |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 7 Foggia-Chieti, 257 km |
Ugo Colombo (Ita) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 8 Chieti-Macereta, 150 km |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 9 Macereta-Monte Carpegna, 191 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 10 Monte Carpegna-Modena, 205 km |
Patrick Sercu (Bel) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 11a Modena-Il Ciocco, 153 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 11b Il Ciocco-Forte dei Marmi, 62 km |
Patrick Sercu (Bel) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 12 Forte dei Marmi, 40 km ITT |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stg 13 Forte dei Marmi-Pietra Ligure, 231 km |
Enrico Paolini (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 14 Pietra Ligure-San Remo, 189 km |
Giuseppe Perletto (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 15 San Remo-Valenza, 206 km |
Ercole Gualazzini (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 16 Valenza-Mendrisio, 158 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 17 Como-Iseo, 158 km |
Santiago Lazcano (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 18 Iseo-Sella Valsugana, 190 km |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stg 19 Borgo Valsudana-Pordenone, 146 km |
Enrico Paolini (Ita) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stg 20 Pord.-Tre cime di Laverado, 163 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stg 21 Misurina-Bassano del Grappa, 194 km |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Stage 22 Bassano del Grappa-Milan, 257 km |
Marino Basso (Ita) |
 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
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Mountain Classification |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
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Points Classification |
 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
General Classification:
Final General Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Eddy MERCKX (Bel)  |
Molteni |
113h08'13" |
2 |
Gianbattista Baronchelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
+12" |
3 |
Felice Gimondi (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+33" |
4 |
Constantino 'Tino' Conti (Ita) |
Zonca |
+2'14" |
5 |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+3'22" |
6 |
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+4'22" |
7 |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Filotex |
+6'17" |
8 |
Vicente Lopez-Carril (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+10'28" |
9 |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
SCIC |
+16'05" |
10 |
Gosta Pettersson (Swe) |
Magniflex |
+17'08" |
11 |
Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) |
Brooklyn |
+18'28" |
12 |
Wladimiro Panizza (Ita) |
Brooklyn |
+20'48" |
13 |
Antoine Houbrechts (Bel) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+20'55" |
14 |
Jose-Luis Uribezubia (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+22'12" |
15 |
Walter Riccomi (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+23'29" |
16 |
Santiago Lazcano (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+24'29" |
17 |
Francisco Galdos (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+25'54" |
18 |
Martin Rodriguez (Col) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+26'36" |
19 |
Giuseppe Perletto (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+28'01" |
20 |
Roberto Poggiali (Ita) |
Filotex |
+30'33" |
21 |
Giovanni Cavalcanti (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+41'20" |
22 |
Giacinto Santambrogio (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+41'35" |
23 |
Primo Mori (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+46'35" |
24 |
Gianni Motta (Ita) |
Magniflex |
+47'33" |
25 |
Josef Fuchs (Sui) |
Filotex |
+47'33" |
26 |
Luciano Conati (Ita) |
SCIC |
+53'21" |
27 |
Luis Zubero (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+1h03'08" |
28 |
Jose-Antonio Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+1h03'27" |
29 |
Donato Giuliani (Ita) |
Filotex |
+1h05'40" |
30 |
Silvano Schiavon (Ita) |
Magniflex |
+1h05'52" |
31 |
Renato Laghi (Ita) |
SCIC |
+1h06'30" |
32 |
Louis Pfenninger (Sui) |
Zonca |
+1h13'48" |
33 |
Gonzalo Aja (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+1h17'13" |
34 |
Edward Janssens (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h19'08" |
35 |
Claudio Bortolotto (Ita) |
Filcas |
+1h19'38" |
36 |
Johan de Muynck (Bel) |
Brooklyn |
+1h21'32" |
37 |
Jos de Schoenmaecker (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h21'36" |
38 |
Adriano Pella (Ita) |
Zonca |
+1h22'03" |
39 |
Ugo Colombo (Ita) |
Filotex |
+1h22'07" |
40 |
Johan Ruch (Ger) |
Rokado |
+1h26'36" |
41 |
Raphael Nino (Ita) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+1h28'58" |
42 |
Antonio Martos (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+1h29'56" |
43 |
Fabrizio Fabbri (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+1h35'52" |
44 |
Mario Lanzafame (Ita) |
Dreherforte |
+1h36'54" |
45 |
Joseph Huysmans (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h38'07" |
46 |
Enrico Paolini (Ita) |
SCIC |
+1h38'41" |
47 |
Giancarlo Bellini (Ita) |
Brooklyn |
+1h38'56" |
48 |
Emanuele Bergamo (Ita) |
Filotex |
+1h40'47" |
49 |
Simone Fraccaro (Ita) |
Filcas |
+1h43'00" |
50 |
Ludo Delcroix (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h44'06" |
51 |
Victor Van Schil (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h44'54" |
52 |
Joseph Bruyere (Bel) |
Molteni |
+1h46'17" |
53 |
Efrem Dall'Anese (Ita) |
Filcas |
+1h47'34" |
54 |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+1h48'28" |
55 |
Enrico Guadrini (Ita) |
Zonca |
+1h49'53" |
56 |
Roland Salm (Sui) |
Zonca |
+1h50'33" |
57 |
Sigfrido Fontanelli (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+1h53'27" |
58 |
Attilio Rota (Ita) |
Brooklyn |
+1h56'26" |
59 |
Jose Grande (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
+1h56'54" |
60 |
Alessio Peccolo (Ita) |
Filcas |
+2h01'11" |
61 |
Eric Spahn (Sui) |
Zonca |
+2h06'27" |
62 |
Arnaldo Caverzasi (Ita) |
Filotex |
+2h09'06" |
63 |
Celestino Vercelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
+2h11'21" |
64 |
Karel Rottiers (Bel) |
Molteni |
+2h12'33" |
65 |
Roberto Sorlini (Ita) |
Filotex |
+2h13'27" |
66 |
Wilmo Francioni (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+2h14'11" |
67 |
Karl-Heinz Kuster (Ger) |
Rokado |
+2h15'25" |
68 |
Luigi Venturato (Ita) |
Filcas |
+2h15'38" |
69 |
Albert Van Vlierberghe (Bel) |
Molteni |
+2h16'49" |
70 |
Mauro Simonetti (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+2h19'22" |
71 |
Alessio Antonini (Ita) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+2h21'23" |
72 |
Alfred Gaida (Ger) |
Rokado |
+2h25'11" |
73 |
Bruno Zanoni (Ita) |
SCIC |
+2h28'34" |
74 |
Frans Mintjens (Bel) |
Molteni |
+2h28'43" |
75 |
Julien Van Lint (Bel) |
Brooklyn |
+2h31'26" |
76 |
Pietro Campagnari (Ita) |
Dreherforte |
+2h32'05" |
77 |
Sandro Quintarelli (Ita) |
Magniflex |
+2h33'46" |
78 |
Gino Fochesato (Ita) |
Dreherforte |
+2h35'39" |
79 |
Marcello Osler (Ita) |
Sammontana |
+2h38'33" |
80 |
Giacomo Bazzan (Ita) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+2h40'56" |
81 |
Gianfranco Foresti (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+2h41'40" |
82 |
Luciano Rossignoli (Ita) |
Filcas |
+2h43'58" |
83 |
Giorgio Favaro (Ita) |
Zonca |
+2h45'46" |
84 |
Gaetano Baronchelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
+2h47'27" |
85 |
Marino Basso (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+2h49'58" |
86 |
Roger Gilson (Lux) |
Rokado |
+2h51'01" |
87 |
Herman Van der Slagmolen (Bel) |
Brooklyn |
+2h53'16" |
88 |
Albert Zweifel (Sui) |
Furzi |
+2h53'23" |
89 |
Adriano Passuello (Ita) |
Brooklyn |
+2h53'55" |
90 |
Attilio Benfatto (Ita) |
Filcas |
+2h57'52" |
91 |
Piero Spinelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
+2h58'17" |
92 |
Gunther Haritz (Ger) |
Rokado |
+2h59'00" |
93 |
Giancarlo Tartoni (Ita) |
Furzi |
+2h59'49" |
94 |
Pietro Guerra (Ita) |
Bianchi-Campagnolo |
+3h01'22" |
95 |
Daniele Mazziero (Ita) |
Magniflex |
+3h02'54" |
96 |
Ercole Gualazzini (Ita) |
Brooklyn |
+3h14'23" |
Final Mountains Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Jose MANUEL FUENTE (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
510 |
| 2 |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Molteni |
330 |
3 |
Santiago Lazcano (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
230 |
4 |
Giuseppe Perletto (Ita) |
Sammontana |
160 |
5 |
Gianbattista Baronchelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
120 |
6 |
‘Tino’ Conti (Ita) |
Zonca |
100 |
7t |
José-Luis Uribezubia (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
80 |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
SCIC |
Vicente Lopez Carril (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
10 |
Gonzalo Aja (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
70 |
Final Points Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Roger DE VLAEMINCK (Bel)  |
Brooklyn |
295 |
2 |
Franco Bitossi (Ita) |
SCIC |
209 |
3 |
José Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Kas-Kaskol |
171 |
4 |
Eddy Merckx (Bel) |
Molteni |
161 |
5 |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Filcas |
152 |
Final Neo-Pro Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Gianbattista Baronchelli (Ita) |
SCIC |
113h 08' 25" |
2 |
Claudio Bortolotto (Ita) |
Filcas |
+ 1h 19' 22" |
3 |
Johann Ruch (Ger) |
Rokado |
+ 1h 26' 24" |
4 |
Raphael Nino (Ita) |
Jolly Ceramica |
+ 1h 28' 46" |
5 |
Simone Fraccaro (Ita) |
Filcas |
+ 1h 52' 48" |
GdI 1975
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