| "Red Devil" Gets Relegated
The 3rd edition of the Giro di Lombardia classic was held on November 3, 1907.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Milano-Milano race had become the premier “end of the racing season” event and officially became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907.
A stellar field of riders came to contest the 1907 Giro di Lombardia. The top three from the Tour de France, Lucien Petit-Breton, Gustave Garrigou, and Emile Georget, came to test the Autumn Classic. 1905’s Lombardia champion Giovanni "the Red Devil" Gerbi entered after training extremely hard for the battle.
The one hundred riders rolled off at 6:54 am from Corso Sempione in Milan under heavy rain.
Giovanni Gerbi immediately attacked and set a pace that only Emile Georget (Fra), Henri Rheinwald (Sui), and Luigi Chiodi (Ita) could follow. Gerbi proceeded to push a hard pace and rode his breakaway companion off his wheel.
Race Status:
Just before a level toll crossing between Legnano (28 km into the race / 210 km) and Busto Arsizio (40 km / 210 km), Gerbi attacked and gained twenty second gap. He came to a “toll crossing” alone. The “Red Devil” stopped and made a deal with the toll collector to quickly close the gate.
The chasers arrived at high speed and could not brake in time, several riders crashed. A large group of spectators, mostly Gerbi fans, blocked the road to delay the group’s restart. The chaos was significant with multiple fistfights breaking out.
When race officials entered the scene peace was restored. The toll gate was raised and the race continued. Gerbi had opened a considerable time gap.
After Como, Gerbi’s advantage had grown to 7’00” over Garrigou. The Frenchman suffered an untimely puncture shortly after the check point. Reports indicated the road had been covered with tacks. Garrigou gave up his chase of the leader.
Giovanni Gerbi easily finished the race in first place with a 40-minute lead on a bewildered Gustave Garrigou. The French team filed an immediate protest.
Official discussions and rider interrogations continued throughout the night. In the morning of November 4, the race jury decided to disqualify Gerbi’s victory for multiple race infractions and dirty tricks. These infractions included:
- Paying a gate keeper to lower the toll-crossing barrier after he had passed so the other riders would be delayed.
- Drafting off multiple cars and moto-pacers.
- Throwing tacks on the race route causing multiple riders to puncture.
- Encouraging his fans to damage the roads to cause other riders to crash.
Second placed Frenchman Gustave Garrigou became the 1907 winner after the relegation.
SPECIAL NOTE: The legendary Red Devil’s relegation was accompanied by a two-year suspension from racing. However, the suspension was shortened to six months after overzealous Gerbi fans, his “tifosi,” started burning the promoter’s La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
GdL November 3, 1907 |
210 Km, Milan-Milan (Sesto San Giovanni) |
x1. DQ’d, relegated to 37th Giovanni Gerbi (Ita) |
1.
Gustave GARRIGOU (Fra) 7h53'41" |
2.
Ernesto Azzini (Ita) +12'23" |
3.
Luigi Ganna (Ita)
+18'49" |
Starters: 100 / Finishers: 37 Average Speed: 26.600 km/h |
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Lomb 1906
Lomb 1908
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