| The 1915 Lombardia defies World War 1
The 11th edition of the Giro di Lombardia was held on November 7, 1915. With World War 1 raging across Europe the 232 km race rolled off on the Corso Sempione in Milan and finished in the Villa Torretta section of Milan.
SPECIAL NOTE: the organizers invited a large number of amateur riders to make up for the small number of registered professionals.
The eventful opening kilometers saw a fast pace with numerous crashes and multiple punctures. Campionissimo Constante Girardengo (Bianchi) came to the race strangely overweight and struggled to stay with the fast pace. He sat prominently at the tail end of the peloton.
Race Status:
On the Brinzio climb (81 Km into the race / 232 km), the fast pace broke the peloton into small groups under the aggressive pressure of Camillo Bertarelli (Ganna) and Alfonso Calzolari (Stucchi). All the big pre-race favorites found themselves in difficulty.
Five riders pass the summit, with Rinaldo Spinelli (Isolati) and Calzolari trailing by a few seconds. Girardengo struggled more than 2'00” behind.
On the descent Calzolari found disaster, he crashed heavily and abandoned the race.
In Erba (130 Km / 232 km), the road was blocked by fans on bicycles, when Angelo Vay (Isolati) tried to pass them, he fell. While on the ground a support car from the race’s entourage ran over his bicycle making it unusable. He was forced to abandon the race. In the confusion the two new leaders, Gaetano Belloni (Isolati) and Paride Ferrari (Isolati) rode clear of the group.
In Lecco (190 Km / 232 km), amateurs/Isolati riders were in control. The two leaders maintained a 3'00” lead on Romeo Poid (Isolati) and Spinelli (Isolati), with 5'00” on Gaetano Garavaglia (Isolati) and Bertarelli (Ganna), and 10'00” on Lauro Bordin (Dei) and Umberto Ripamonti (Isolati).
Garavaglia’s late attempt to catch the two leaders in the final kilometers fell short. Belloni and Ferrari rode into Milan to sprint for the win.
Ferrari attacked under the “final km” flag, but Belloni easily controlled the sprint and clearly crosses the finish line first. Gaetano Belloni sprinted to the 1915 Lombardia victory.
SPECIAL NOTE: 1915 was the first of three Lombardia victories for Gaetano Belloni (1915, 1918, and 1928).
GdL November 7, 1915 |
232 Km, Milan-Milan (Villa Torretta) |
1.
Gaetano BELLONI (Ita) 6h42'24" |
2.
Paride Ferrari (Ita) |
3.
Gaetano Garavaglia (Ita) +2'56" |
Starters: 117 / Finishers: 55 Average Speed: 28.330 km/h |
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Lomb 1914
Lomb 1916
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