1932 Giro d'Italia

20th edition: May 14 - June 5, 1932

Results, stages with running GC, photos and history

1931 Giro | 1933 Giro | Giro d'Italia Database | 1932 Giro Quick Facts | 1932 Giro d'Italia Final GC | Stage results with running GC | Teams | The Story of the 1932 Giro d'Italia

---

Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the great unwashed created the Tour de France is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

1932 Giro Quick Facts:

3,235 km ridden at an average speed of 30.59 km/hr.

13 stages given an average stage length of 249 km

109 starters and 66 classified finishers

During stage seven, Antonio Pesenti unleashed a devastating attack and took the lead, which he held to the end.

Pesenti's teammate and four-time Giro winner Alfredo Binda did not come to the Giro in good form and instead worked for Pesenti's victory.

---

1932 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification:

1. Antonio Pesenti (Wolsit): 105hr 53min 50sec
2. Joseph Demuysère (Ganna) @ 11min 9sec
3. Remo Bertoni (Legnano) @ 12min 27sec
4. Learco Guerra (Miano) @ 16min 34sec
5. Kurt Stoepel (Atala) @ 17min 21sec
6. Michele Mara (Bianchi) @ 17min 48sec
7. Alfredo Binda (Legnano) @ 19min 27sec
8. Luigi Barral (Olympia) @ 25min 1sec
9. Felice Gremo (Legnano) @ 27min 24sec
10. Renato Scorticati (Olympia) @ 37min 56sec
11. Julien Vervaecke @ 38min 49sec
12. Luigi Giacobbe @ 42min 23sec
13. Aristide Cavallini (independent) @ 44min 38sec
14. Francesco Bonino @ 46min 37sec
15. Agostino Bellandi @ 49min 40sec
16. Herman Buse @ 51min 36sec
17. Ettore Balmamion @ 54min 39sec
18. Mario Cipriani @ 56min 22sec
19. Luigi Tramontini @ 1hr 3min 26sec
20. Carlo Moretti @ 1hr 5min 35sec
21. Michele Orecchia @ 1hr 7min 36sec
22. Antonio Negrini (Maino) @ 1hr 16min 51sec
23. Amerigo Cacioni @ 1hr 21min 31sec
24. Raymond Louviot (France Sport) @ 1hr 21min 57sec
25. Angelo Rinaldi @ 1hr 22min 20sec
26. Ambrogio Morelli @ 1hr 25min 17sec
27. Albino Binda @ 1hr 37min 31sec
28. Émile Decroix @ 1hr 28min 56sec
29. Mario Praderio @ 1hr 32min 37sec
30. Armando Zucchini @ 1hr 38min 30sec
31. Nicolo Mammina @ 1hr 38min 33sec
32. Marco Giuntelli (independent) @ 1hr 44min 10sec
33. Fabio Battesini (Gloria) @ 1hr 46min 38sec
34. Antonin Magne @ 1hr 47min 27sec
35. Ludwig Geyer @ 1hr 48min 53sec
36. Vasco Bergamschi @ 2hr 6min 56sec
37. Antonio Ligouri @ 2hr 7min 3sec
38. Angelo Lalle @ 2hr 7min 53sec
39. Piero Fossati @ 2hr 15min 6sec
40. Ettore Meini (Ganna) @ 2hr 23min 47sec
41. Domenico Pileo @ 2hr 25min 10sec
42. Siro Maganini @ 2hr 28min 47sec
43. Julien Moineau @ 2hr 31min 11sec
44. Antonio Folco @ 2hr 37min 7sec
45. Alfredo Bovet @ 2hr 38min 47sec
46. Oreste Cignoli @ 2hr 41min 49sec
47. André Godinat @ 2hr 45min 24sec
48. Guglielmo Marin @ 2hr 46min 24sec
49. Jules Merviel @ 2hr 57min 50sec
50. Decimo Dell'Arsina @ 3hr 9min 48sec
51. Angelo Lavazza @ 3hr 12min 55sec
52. Aldo Canazza @ 3hr 14min 52sec
53. Carlo Rovida @ 3hr 16min 2sec
54. Gennaro Improta @ 3hr 24min 26sec
55. Silvio Montessoro @ 3hr 27min 15sec
56. Virgilio Zuffi @ 3hr 43min 41sec
57. Giulio Fatticcioni @ 4hr 5min 17sec
58. Battista Scimia @ 4hr 9min 48sec
59. Natale Nobile @ 4hr 29min 36sec
60. Raffaele Perna @ 4hr 53min 41sec
61. Camillo Erba @ 4hr 57min 25sec
62. Giuseppe Valente @ 5hr 43min 4sec
63. Francesco Ricco @ 7hr 3min 4sec
64. Nicola Ranieri @ 7hr 19min 25sec
65. Umberto Reina @ 8hr 58min 2sec
66. Tullio Vincenzi @ 9hr 9min 25sec

Winning Team:

1. Legnano
2. Ganna
3. Maino
4. Olympia
5. Atala

1932 Giro stage results with running GC:

Apologies for the incomplete listing of ascents.

Stage 1: Saturday, May 14, Milano - Vicenza, 207.4 km

1. Learco Guerra: 5hr 56min 50sec
2. Costante Girardengo s.t.
3. Ettore Meini s.t.
4. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
5. Alfredo Binda s.t.
6. Michele Mara s.t.
7. 77 riders all at same time and place

Stage 2: Sunday, May 15, Vicenza - Udine, 183 km

1. Hermann Buse: 5hr 19min 34sec
2. Raymond Louviot @ 11min 7sec
3. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 9sec
4. Fabio Battesini @ 13min 8sec
5. Ettore Meini s.t.
6. Costante Girardengo s.t.
7. Remo Bertoni s.t.
8. Michele Mara s.t.
9. 43 riders all at same time and place

GC after stage 2:

1. Hermann Buse: 11hr 16min 24sec
2. Raymond Louviot @ 11min 7sec
3. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 9sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 13min 8sec
5. Costante Girardengo s.t.
6. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
7. Alfredo Binda s.t.
8. Michele Mara s.t.
9. Fabio Battesini s.t.
10. Remo Bertoni s.t.

Stage 3: Tuesday, May 17, Udine - Ferrara, 225 km

1. Fabio Battesini: 6hr 43min 30sec
2. Raffaele Di Paco s.t.
3. Learco Guerra s.t.
4. Aleardo Menegazzi s.t.
5. Gaetano Belloni s.t.
6. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
7. Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
8. Antonin Magne s.t.
9. Carlo Rovida s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

1. Hermann Buse: 18hr 1min 54sec
2. Raymond Louviot @ 11min 7sec
3. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 9sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 13min 8sec
5. Fabio Battesini s.t.
6. Ettore Meini s.t.
7. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
8. Alfredo Binda s.t.
9. Costante Girardengo s.t.
10. Michele Mara s.t.

Stage 4: Wednesday, May 18, Ferrara - Rimini, 215.5 km

Ascent: Verucchio (330m)

1. Learco Guerra: 6hr 39min 55sec
2. Raffaele Di Paco s.t.
3. Ettore Meini s.t.
4. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
5. Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
6. Antonio Pesenti s.t.
7. Michele Mara s.t.
8. Mario Cipriani s.t.
9. Marco Giuntelli s.t.
10. Alfredo Binda s.t.

GC after Stage 4:

1. Hermann Buse: 24hr 41min 49sec
2. Raymond Louviot @ 11min 30sec
3. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 32sec
4. Alfredo Binda @ 13min 8sec
5. Aristide Cavallini s.t.
6. Mario Cipriani s.t.
7. Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
8. Eugenio Gestri s.t.
9. Marco Giuntelli s.t.
10. Luigi Giacobbe s.t.

Stage 5: Friday, May 20, Rimini - Teramo, 286 km

Ascent: Amandola (550m)

1. Raffaele Di Paco: 9hr 57min 0sec
2. Fabio Battesini @ 3min 50sec
3. Michele Mara s.t.
4. Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
5. Giovanni Firpo s.t.
6. Alfredo Bovet s.t.
7. Mario Cipriani s.t.
8. 29 riders all at same time and place

GC after Stage 5:

1. Hermann Buse: 34hr 42min 39sec
2. Raymond Louviot @ 10min 30sec
3. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 32sec
4. Raffaele Di Paco @ 12min 30sec
5. Alfredo Binda @ 13min 8sec
6. Aristide Cavallini s.t.
7. Mario Cirpriani s.t.
8. Eugenio Gestri s.t.
9. Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
10. Learco Guerra s.t.

Stage 6: Sunday, May 22, Teramo - Lanciano, 220.5 km

Ascent: Capannelle

1. Learco Guerra: 7hr 22min 10sec
2. Alfredo Binda s.t.
3. Raffaele Di Paco s.t.
4. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
5. Remo Bertoni s.t.
6. Alfredo Bovet s.t.
7. Michele Mara s.t.
8. Antonio Pesenti s.t.
9. Luigi Barral s.t.
10. Antonin Magne s.t.

GC after Stage 6:

1. Hermann Buse: 42hr 4min 57sec
2. Alfredo Bovet @ 11min 24sec
3. Raffaele Di Paco @ 12min 22sec
4. Alfredo Binda @ 13min 0sec
5. Learco Guerra s.t.
6. Michele Mara s.t.
7. Antonio Pesenti s.t.
8. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
9. Antonin Magne @ 13min 22sec
10. Domenico Piemontesi @ 13min 32sec

Stage 7: Tuesday, May 24, Lanciano - Foggia, 280.5 km

1. Antonio Pesenti: 9hr 23min 43sec
2. Raffaele Di paco @ 3min 42sec
3. Joseph Demuysère @ 3min 45sec
4. Kurt Stoepel @ 6min 29sec
5. Luigi Barral s.t.
6. Remo Bertoni @ 8min 58sec
7. Alfredo Binda s.t.
8. Felice Gremo @ 14min 28sec
9. Learco Guerra @ 17min 7sec
10. Francesco Bonino @ 16min 15sec

GC after Stage 7:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 51hr 39min 40sec
2. Raffaele Di Paco @ 5min 4sec
3. Kurt Stoepel @ 8min 29sec
4. Alfredo Binda @ 10min 58sec
5. Joseph Demuysère @ 11min 42sec
6. Remo Bertoni @ 13min 22sec
7. Luigi Barral @ 16min 49sec
8. Learco Guerra @ 18min 7sec
9. Michele Mara @ 18min 21sec
10. Domenico Piemontesi @ 18min 52sec

Stage 8: Thursday, May 26, Foggia - Napoli, 217 km

1. Learco Guerra: 6hr 58min 30sec
2. Michele Mara s.t.
3. Joseph Demuysère s.t.
4. Remo Bertoni s.t.
5. Felicien Vervaecke @ 40sec
6. Aristide Cavallini @ 44sec
7. Antonio Pesenti @ 59sec
8. Émile Decroix @ 2min 58sec
9. Felice Gremo s.t.
10. Julien Moineau @ 3min 5sec

GC after Stage 8:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 58hr 39min 9sec
2. Joseph Demuysère @ 10min 43sec
3. Remo Bertoni @ 12min 23sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 16min 8sec
5. Kurt Stoepel @ 16min 32sec
6. Michele Mara @ 17min 22sec
7. Alfredo Binda @ 19min 1sec
8. Luigi Barral @ 24min 57sec
9. Felice Gremo @ 27min 12sec
10. Felicien Vervaecke @ 36min 28sec

Stage 9: Saturday, May 28, Napoli - Roma, 265.3 km

1. Learco Guerra: 9hr 5min 25sec
2. Michele Mara s.t.
3. Antonio Negrini s.t.
4. Ettore Meini s.t.
5. Fabio Battesini s.t.
6. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
7. Alfredo Binda s.t.
8. Ettore Balmamion s.t.
9. Aleardo Menegazzi s.t.
10. Marco Giuntelli s.t.

GC after Stage 9:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 67hr 44mjin 34sec
2. Joseph Demuysère @ 10min 43sec
3. Remo Bertoni @ 12min 23sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 16min 8sec
5. Kurt Stoepel @ 16min 32sec
6. Michele Mara @ 17min 22sec
7. Alfredo Binda @ 19min 1sec
8. Luigi Barral @ 24min 57sec
9. Felice Gremo @ 27min 13sec
10. Felicien Vervaecke @ 36min 28sec

Stage 10: Monday, May 30, Roma - Firenze, 321 km

Ascent: Radicofani (896m)

1. Ettore Meini: 11hr 50min 30sec
2. Learco Guerra s.t.
3. Alfredo Binda s.t.
4. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
5. Remo Bertoni s.t.
6. Michele Mara s.t.
7. 42 riders all given same time and place

GC after Stage 10:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 79hr 35min 0sec
2. Joseph Demuysère @ 10min 47sec
3. Remo Bertoni @ 12min 27sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 16min 12sec
5. Kurt Stoepel @ 16min 36sec
6. Michele Mara @ 17min 26sec
7. Alfredo Binda @ 19min 5sec
8. Luigi Barral @ 25min 1sec
9. Felice Gremo @ 27min 17sec
10. Felicien Vervaecke @ 36min 32sec

Stage 11: Wednesday, June 1, Firenze - Genova, 276 km

Ascent: Passo del Bracco

1. Remo Bertoni: 8hr 32min 45sec
2. Marco Giuntelli s.t.
3. Luigi Barral s.t.
4. Angelo Rinaldi s.t.
5. Felice Gremo s.t.
6. Antonio Negrini s.t.
7. Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
8. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
9. Amerigo Cacioni s.t.
10. Ettore Meini s.t.

GC after Stage 11:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 88hr 7min 45sec
2. Joseph Demuysère @ 11min 9sec
3. Remo Bertoni @ 12min 27sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 15min 34sec
5. Kurt Stoepel @ 16min 36sec
6. Michele Mara @ 17min 48sec
7. Alfredo Binda @ 19min 27sec
8. Luigi Barral @ 25min 1sec
9. Felice Gremo @ 27min 17sec
10. Felicien Vervaecke @ 37min 9sec

Stage 12: Friday, June 3, Genova - Torino, 267.1 km

Ascent: Salita del Pino

1. Ettore Meini: 9hr 9min 46sec
2. Learco Guerra s.t.
3. Michele Mara s.t.
4. Alfredo Binda s.t.
5. Remo Bertoni s.t.
6. Luigi Barral s.t.
7. Renato Scorticati s.t.
8. Amerigo Cacioni s.t.
9. Joseph Demuysère s.t.
10. Agostino Bellandi s.t.

GC after Stage 12:

1. Antonio Pesenti: 97hr 17min 31sec
2. Joseph Demuysère @ 11min 9sec
3. Remo Bertoni @ 12min 27sec
4. Learco Guerra @ 16min 34sec
5. Kurt Stoepel @ 17min 21sec
6. Michele Mara @ 17min 48sec
7. Alfredo Binda @ 19min 27sec
8. Luigi Barral @ 25min 1sec
9. Felice Gremo @ 27min 24sec
10. Felicien Vervaecke @ 37min 54sec

13th and Final Stage: Sunday, June 5, Torino - Milano, 271 km

Ascents: Passo della Serra (595m), Brinzio (508m)

1. Learco Guerra: 8hr 25min 10sec
2. Alfredo Binda s.t.
3. Ettore Meini s.t.
4. Michele Mara s.t.
5. Fabio Battesini s.t.
6. Kurt Stoepel s.t.
7. Amerigo Cacioni s.t.
8. Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
9. Ettore Balmamion s.t.
10. 35 riders all given same time and place

1932 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification

---

Teams:

Atala-Hutchinson
Bianchi-Pirelli
France Sport-Pirelli
Ganna-Dunlop
Gloria-Hutchinson
Ilva-Pirelli
Legnano-Hutchinson
Maino-Clément
Olympia-Superga
Wolsit-Hutchinson

The Story of the 1932 Giro d'Italia

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Giro d'Italia", Volume 1. If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will make the purchase easy.

Thirty-nine year old Costante Girardengo was at the start line along with Guerra, Binda, Mara, Giacobbe, Camusso, Piemontesi, Di Paco and the man who had taken third in the 1931 Tour, Antonio Pesenti. Transalpine riders had grown in number and quality. Magne returned along with Giro newcomers Joseph Demuysère (second in the ’31 Tour with two stage wins), Kurt Stöpel (he would be second in the ’32 Tour), Julien Vervaecke (first in the ’32 Paris–Roubaix, third in the ’27 Tour) and Raymond Louviot (future champion of France).

Girardengo wasn’t the only old veteran looking for another shot at racing glory. Giovanni Gerbi, the old Red Devil, entered as an independent at the age of 47.
In a cloud of dust, 83 of the 109 starters roared into Vicenza to contest the first stage. Like the year before, Guerra was the Giro’s first maglia rosa. But right with the speeding locomotive was Girardengo, apparently not quite past his sell date. And close by, even though they were several bike lengths back, showing what the era called “at same time”, were Ettore Meini and Kurt Stöpel. Further back, lost in the obscuring dusty haze were Binda and Mara.

And the Red Devil? He finished the first stage outside the time limit at 59 minutes 10 seconds. He decided to continue racing all the way back to Milan even though he was no longer a classified rider.

The 1932 Giro continued to surprise. German Herman Buse soloed in to Udine more than eleven minutes in front of Frenchman Raymond Louviot and Italian (Swiss if you ask a person from Switzerland) Alfredo Bovet, winner of that year’s Milan–San Remo. When the big men of the peloton were inattentive, the German saw his chance and lost no time in scuttling away.

Buse may be forgotten today, but he was the winner of the 1930 Liège–Bastogne–Liège and his stage win was no fluke. For the first time ever, a German led the Giro. The race went south down the eastern side of the peninsula and for five stages Buse maintained his substantial lead while Di Paco and Guerra fought furiously for stage wins. At the end of the sixth stage in Lanciano, the standings were thus:
1. Herman Buse
2. Alfredo Bovet @ 11 minutes 24 seconds
3. Raffaele Di Paco @ 12 minutes 22 seconds
4. Alfredo Binda @ 13 minutes
5. Learco Guerra @ same time

The tifosi were furious. They felt the Italians were sandbagging the race. As far as the Italian fans were concerned, Buse, a German for gosh sakes, was getting a free ride.

Eberardo Pavesi had turned his last pedal in anger in 1919. But it would be decades before he retired from the sport. He was now the Legnano team director and in the hills between Lanciano and Foggia, Pavesi had the brilliant tactical insight to tell Antonio Pesenti, rather than his teammate Binda, to launch an attack. Pesenti’s incendiary acceleration was irresistible. The day’s racing was so fast that Pesenti and the chasing peloton arrived in Foggia an hour ahead of the projected time. The gates of the stadium were unlocked by the local organizers just in time for Pesenti to roll in. Here’s how they finished:
1. Antonio Pesenti
2. Raffaele Di Paco @ 3 minutes 42 seconds
3. Joseph Demuysère @ 3 minutes 45 seconds
4. Kurt Stöpel @ 6 minutes 29 seconds
9. Learco Guerra @ 16 minutes 7 seconds
26. Herman Buse @ 33 minutes 19 seconds

Pesenti’s assault came at the worst possible time for Buse, who was suffering from gut problems. Pesenti had started the race as one of Binda’s gregari and was now in the lead while Guerra had lost more time than even his remarkable talent could be expected to regain. The standings now looked this way:
1. Antonio Pesenti
2. Raffaele Di Paco @ 5 minutes 4 seconds
3. Kurt Stöpel @ 8 minutes 29 seconds
4. Alfredo Binda @ 10 minutes 58 seconds
8. Learco Guerra @ 18 minutes 7 seconds
Binda, acknowledging the obvious, said to Pesenti, “Now you'll be the [team] captain to Milan.”

Always looking for ways to make the racers popular, the press chose to nickname Pesenti “Il Gatto di Zogno” (the Cat of Zogno, Zogno being Pesenti’s hometown).

Learco Guerra wins stage nine in Rome.

Guerra was not a man to give up, and his stage win in Naples brought him up to fourth place, but still a distant sixteen minutes behind the leader Pesenti. In the winning break with Guerra were Mara (called l’Aquilotto or “Eaglet” by the press), the ever attentive Demuysère and Remo Bertoni. Demuysère was now second and Bertoni third.

The remarkable Guerra went on to win two more stages including the prestigious final stage into Milan. That made Guerra the winner of six out of the year’s thirteen stages.

Stage 10, the pack climbs to Radicofani in Tuscany.

By 1932 Guerra had become the sought-after anti-Binda, but nothing could shake Pesenti’s lead. The five-minute gap he carved out of the seventh stage grew to over eleven at the end of the race. Clearly, he was the race’s finest rider. La Gazzetta thought Pesenti an inelegant pedaler, but given his admitted superiority, gave him a pass on his lack of cycling style.

That final stage finish brought another advance. For the first time a Giro d’Italia race finish was broadcast live over the radio.

1932 Giro d'Italia winner Antonio Pesenti

Final 1932 Giro d’Italia General Classification:
1. Antonio Pesenti (Wolsit-Hutchinson) 105 hours 53 minutes 50 seconds
2. Joseph Demuysère (Ganna) @ 11 minutes 9 seconds
3. Remo Bertoni (Legnano) @ 12 minutes 27seconds
4. Learco Guerra (Maino) @ 16 minutes 34 seconds
5. Kurt Stöpel (Atala) @ 17 minutes 21 seconds
6. Michele Mara (Bianchi) @ 17 minutes 48 seconds
7. Alfredo Binda (Legnano) @ 19 minutes 27 seconds

Binda didn’t bring his usual tremendous form to the 1932 Giro, choosing instead to make a virtue out of necessity and manage the Legnano team’s effort to deliver Pesenti to Milan in pink. From that point of view, his Giro was a success. Moreover, La Gazzetta noted that Pesenti had both the Wolsit and Legnano teams riding on his side, which meant both Binda and Bertoni were working for him. That made an impregnable wall of strength against which teams like Ganna (Demuysère), Maino (Guerra and Giacobbe) and the others could do little. After Binda won his third World Championship in Rome in August of that year with compatriot Bertoni second, he could call his season a success as well.
Magne went home empty-handed again with a 34th place, nearly two hours down. With no notable victories, 1932 clearly wasn’t Magne’s year. But while he would never again try to win the Giro, he would go on to a second Tour win in 1934 and a World Championship in 1935.

The 1932 Giro was raced at an average speed of 30.594 kilometers per hour, the first edition to crack 30 kilometers per hour.

And how about Gerbi, who was still addicted to the sport after his body no longer had the strength to answer the demands his iron will made on it? Long after the crowds had left the finish line of the final stage in Milan, his wife, the only remaining spectator, was waiting for him with a bouquet of flowers. Writer Beppe Conti summed it up perfectly when he wrote, “The bicycle was his life.”
Gerbi died in a car accident in 1955 while returning from a visit with his old adversary, Giovanni Rossignoli.

Until 1932, Buysse’s and Alavoine’s third places in the 1919 and 1920 Giri were the only times foreigners had made it to the final podium. Demuysère’s second place as well as Stöpel’s fifth showed the rising international quality of the Giro peloton.

.