1929 Giro d'Italia
17th edition: May 19 - June 9
Results, stages with running GC, photos and history
1928 Giro | 1930 Giro | Giro d'Italia Database | 1929 Giro Quick Facts | 1929 Giro d'Italia Final GC | Stage results with running GC | Teams | The Story of the 1929 Giro d'Italia
2,920 kilometers raced at an average speed of 27.29 km/hr.
166 starters and 99 classified finishers.
14 stages, giving an average stage length of 209 km.
Alfredo Binda so dominated the 1929 Giro that when the race finished in Milan, he was booed by some in the crowd. Binda won eight consecutive stages, still the Giro record. This was Binda's third consecutive Giro win and fourth overall.
This was the Giro's second time to start outside of Milan and the first edition to have an extended visit to southern Italy.
Plato's Crito is available as an audiobook here.
1929 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification:
Alfredo Binda (Legnano): 107 hr 19min 24sec- Domenico Piemontesi (Bianchi) @ 3min 44sec
- Leonida Frascarelli (Ideor) @ 5min 4sec
- Antonio Negrini (Maino) @ 6min 36sec
- Luigi Giacobbe (Maino) @ 8min 43sec
- Allegro Grandi (Bianchi) @ 12min 52sec
- Giuseppe Pancera (La Rafale) @ 14min 44sec
- Alfonso Piccin (Bianchi) @ 15min 29sec
- Michele Orecchia (La Rafale) @ 15min 33sec
- Ambrogio Morelli (Gloria-Hutchinson) @ 16min 29sec
- Albino Binda (Legnano) @ 18min 31sec
- Felice Gremo (Ideor) @ 18min 39sec
- Carlo Rovida (Gloria) @ 20min 27sec
- Pietro Mori @ 21min 52sec
- Michele Mara (Bianchi) @ 24min 39sec
- Alessandro Catalani (Wolsit) @ 29min 16sec
- Ambrogio Beretta (Legnano) @ 29min 36sec
- Alfonso Crippa (La Rafale) @ 30min 46sec
- Mario Pomposi (La Rafale) @ 31mn 1sec
- Marco Giuntelli (Touring) @ 32min 19sec
- Adriano Zanaga (Touring) @ 32min 38sec
- Roberto Lorenzetti @ 36min 2sec
- Ermanno Vallazza (Bianchi) @ 37min 15sec
- Learco Guerra (Maino) @ 37min 34sec
- Battista Visconti (Wolsit) @ 40min 11sec
- Nello Ciaccheri (Ideor) @ 44min 46sec
- Raffaele Di Paco @ 52min 38sec
- Settimo Innocenti (La Rafale) @ 58min 41sec
- Nicolo Mammina @ 59min 13sec
- Mario Bianchi (Gloria) @ 1hr 5min 17sec
- Primo Guasco @ 1hr 18min 0sec
- Giovanni Briano @ 1hr 18min 35sec
- Pierino Ferioli @ 1hr 20min 15sec
- Pietro Chesi (Bianchi) @ 1hr 20min 43sec
- Enrico Eboli @ 1hr 22min 36sec
- Amulio Viarengo @ 1hr 26min 22sec
- Raffaele Perna @ 1hr 30min 52sec
- Enrico Negri @ 1hr 34min 5sec
- Anselmo Del Mastro @ 1hr 48min 3sec
- Alfredo Dinale (Legnano) @ 2hr 3min 51sec
- Carlo Moretti @ 2hr 12min 53sec
- Carlo Polo @ 2hr 17min 47sec
- Natale Nobile @ 2hr 18min 16sec
- Angelo Alberici @ 2hr 20min 40sec
- Giulio Bonugli @ 2hr 22min 40sec
- Giovanni Pizzarelli @ 2hr 23min 45sec
- Aurelio Scazzola @ 2hr 27min 7sec
- Cresare Strappazon @ 2hr 44min 55sec
- Alfredo Francini @ 2hr 53min 1sec
- Umberto Bricio @ 3min 9min 40sec
- Aldo Canazza @ 3hr 13min 16sec
- Amilcare Galloni @ 3hr 17min 20sec
- Saverio Rossi @ 3hr 24min 58sec
- Caimiro Bianchin @ 3hr 27min 4sec
- Leonardo Mariatoni @ 3hr 27min 7sec
- Luciano Bergami @ 3hr 33min 39sec
- Marcello Spadolini @ 3hr 41min 3sec
- Mario Borsotti @ 4hr 10min 18sec
- Giuseppe Valente @ 4hr 33min 24sec
- Manilo Piazza @ 5hr 5min 35sec
- Michele Tutolo @ 5hr 19min 35sec
- Luigi Cecilli @ 5hr 25min 19sec
- Francesco Da Fano @ 5hr 28min 5sec
- Luigi Errico @ 5hr 53min 6sec
- Aldo Bonacina @ 6hr 8min 37sec
- Angelo Campacci @ 6hr 16min 41sec
- Giuseppe Barale @ 6hr 23min 20sec
- Marco Della Valle @ 6hr 24min 11sec
- Riccardo Terreni @ 6hr 28min 0sec
- Alfredo Maffei @ 6hr 40min 24sec
- Adriano Santamaria @ 6hr 49min 41sec
- Augusto Zanzi @ 7hr 5min 45sec
- Gaetano Riva @ 7hr 15min 44sec
- Giulio Campasso @ 7hr 23min 45sec
- Francesco Basile @ 7hr 32min 30sec
- Mario Cesaroni @ 7hr 48min 20sec
- Umberto Reina @ 7hr 54min 25sec
- Antonio Di Venosa @ 8hr 15min 34sec
- Cristoforo Barbieri @ 8hr 34min 0sec
- Michele Pennisi @ 8hr 38min 9sec
- Antonio Viani @ 8hr 48min 13sec
- Tullio Verzini @ 8hr 51min 20sec
- Francesco Covre @ 9hr 12mn 7sec
- Loris Dall'Oglio @ 9hr 14min 32sec
- Giacomo Fassio @ 9hr 29min 42sec
- Francesco Ricco @ 10hr 6min 52sec
- Ottavio Dominici @ 10hr 7min 5sec
- Luigi Bovarino @ 10hr 19min 19sec
- Augusto Rho @ 10hr 34min 47sec
- Luigi Vasselli @ 10hr 41min 21sec
- Bruno Fontana @ 11hr 17min 10sec
- Guido Crovesi @ 11hr 42min 53sec
- Pietro De Bernardi @ 14hr 20min 21sec
- Gildo Lievore @ 15hr 0min 11sec
- Alessandro Avesani @ 15hr 20min 28sec
- Giovanni Marchesini @ 16hr 22min 46sec
- Giovanni Carnielli @ 17hr 15min 28sec
- Carlo Capra @ 20hr 31min 17sec
- Giuseppe Borghi @ 21hr 37min 55se
Content continues below the ads
1929 Giro stage results with running GC:
Stage 1: Sunday, May 19, Roma - Napoli, 235 km
Ascent: Ferentino (313m)
- Gaetano Belloni: 8hr 27min 9sec
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Alfredo Binda s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Pierino Ferioli s.t.
- Battista Giuntelli s.t.
- Allegro Grandi s.t.
- Giovanni Pizzarelli s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
Stage 2: Tuesday, May 21, Napoli - Foggia, 186 km
Ascent: Ariano Irpino (817m)
- Alfredo Binda: 6hr 28min 17sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Alfredo Dinale s.t.
- Alfonso Crippa s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Averardi s.t.
- Alessandro Catalani s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
GC after Stage 2:
- Alfredo Binda: 14hr 54min 26sec
- Gaetano Belloni s.t.
- Antonio Negrini @ 1min
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Battista Giuntelli s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
- Ambrogio Beretta @ 1min 26sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 1min 28sec
- Battista Visconti s.t.
Stage 3: Thursday, May 23, Foggia - Lecce, 283 km
- Alfredo Binda: 9hr 45min 10sec
- Gaetano Belloni s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Mario Bianchi s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Angelo Alberici s.t.
- Pierino Bestetti s.t.
- Ambrogio Beretta s.t.
GC after Stage 3:
- Gaetano Belloni: 24hr 41min 36sec
- Alfredo Binda @ 1min
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Battista Giuntelli s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Allegro Grandi @ 1min 42sec
- Giovanni Pizzarelli @ 2min 28sec
- Amulio Viarengo @ 2min 46sec
Stage 4: Saturday, May 25, Lecce - Potenza, 270 km
Ascent: Altamura (461m)
- Alfredo Binda: 10hr 30min 24sec
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Alfonso Piccin s.t.
- Michele Mara s.t.
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 1min 23sec
- Mario Pomposi @ 2min 59sec
GC after Stage 4:
- Alfredo Binda: 35hr 12min 0sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 1min
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 2min 7sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 2min 23sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 3min 0sec
- Gaetano Belloni @ 5min 6sec
- Michele Mara @ 8min 25sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 8min 48sec
Stage 5: Monday, May 27, Potenza - Cosenza, 264 km
- Alfredo Binda: 10hr 35min 8sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Felice Gremo s.t.
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Albino Binda s.t.
- Allegro Grandi s.t.
- Mario Pomposi s.t.
- Michele Orecchia s.t.
GC after Stage 5:
- Alfredo Binda: 45hr 47min 8sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 1min
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 2min 23sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 3min 7sec
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Alfonso Piccin @ 5min 12sec
- Ambrogio Beretta @ 7min 13sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 8min 48sec
Stage 6: Wednesday, May 29, Cosenza - Salerno, 295 km
Ascent: Le Teste (1,030m)
- Alfredo Binda: 12hr 14min 0sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Adriano Zanaga s.t.
- Michele Mara s.t.
- Pierino Bestetti s.t.
- Gaetano Belloni s.t.
- Mario Bianchi s.t.
- Alfredo Dinale s.t.
- Enrico Eboli s.t.
- Alfonso Piccin s.t.
GC after stage 6:
- Alfredo Binda: 58hr 1min 20sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 1min
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 2min 23sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 3min 7sec
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Alfonso Piccin @ 5min 12sec
- Ambrogio Beretta @ 7min 13sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 8min 48sec
Stage 7: Friday, May 31, Salerno - Formia, 211 km
Ascent: Roccamonfrina (608m)
- Alfredo Binda: 7hr 58min 37sec
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Gaetano Belloni s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Alfonso Crippa s.t.
- Adriano Zanaga s.t.
- Raffaele Di Paco s.t.
- Albino Binda s.t.
- Alessandro Catalani s.t.
GC after Stage 7:
- Alfredo Binda: 65hr 59min 57sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 1min
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 2min 23sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 3min 7sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 6min 15sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 6min 20sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 8min 48sec
- Mario Pomposi @ 9min 4sec
Stage 8: Sunday, June 2, Formia - Roma, 196 km
- Alfredo Binda: 6hr 44min 59sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Anotnio Negrini s.t.
- Mario Bianchi s.t.
- Alfonso Crippa s.t.
- Pierino Ferioli s.t.
- Adriano Zanaga s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
GC after Stage 8:
- Alfredo Binda: 72hr 44min 56sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 1min
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 2min 23sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 3min 7sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 6min 15sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 6min 20sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 8min 48sec
- Mario Pomposi @ 9min 4sec
Stage 9: Monday, June 3, Roma - Orvieto, 120 km
Ascent: Cimini (814m)
- Alfredo Binda: 4hr 45min 17sec
- Alfonso Crippa @ 24sec
- Domenico Piemontesi @ 30sec
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
- Felice Gremo s.t.
- Michele Mara s.t.
- Allegro Grandi s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Learco Guerra s.t.
GC after Stage 9:
- Alfredo Binda: 77hr 28min 13sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 3min 30sec
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 5min 37sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 38sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 23sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 9min 26sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 11min 16sec
- Mario Pomposi 2 12min 55sec
Stage 10: Tuesday, June 4, Orvieto - Siena, 146 km
Ascent: Montepulciano
- Mario Bianchi: 5hr 32min 52sec
- Alfredo Binda s.t.
- Marco Giuntelli s.t.
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
- Albino Binda s.t.
- Alessandro Catalani s.t.
- Alfonso Crippa s.t.
GC after Stage 10:
- Alfredo Binda: 83hr 1min 5sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 3min 30sec
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi @ 4min 44sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 5min 37sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 38sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 23sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 10min 51sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 11min 18sec
- Mario Pomposi @ 12min 55sec
Stage 11: Wednesday, June 5, Siena - La Spezia, 192 km
- Alfredo Dinale: 7hr 7min 58sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Alfredo Binda s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Felice Bianchi s.t.
- Enrico Eboli s.t.
- Alfonso Crippa s.t.
- Ambrogio Morelli s.t.
- Michele Mara s.t.
GC after Stage 11:
- Alfredo Binda: 90hr 9min 3sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 3min 30sec
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi @ 4min 44sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 5min 37sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 38sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 23sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 11min 15sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 12min 23sec
- Mario Pomposi @ 12min 55sec
Stage 12: Friday, June 7, La Spezia - Parma, 132 km
Ascent: Poggio di Berceto (841m)
- Domenico Piemontesi: 4hr 7min 49sec
- Alfredo Binda s.t.
- Albino Binda @ 1min 34sec
- Amulio Viarengo s.t.
- Allegro Grandi s.t.
- Michele Orecchia s.t.
- Carlo Rovida s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Felice Gremo s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
GC after Stage 12:
- Alfredo Binda: 94hr 16min 52sec
- Domenico Piemontesi @ 3min 44sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 5min 4sec
- Antonio Negrini @ 6min 36sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 8min 43sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 12min 52sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 14min 44sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 15min 29sec
- Michele Orecchia @ 15min 33sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 16min 29sec
Stage 13: Saturday, June 8, Parma - Alessandria, 153 km
- Alfredo Binda: 5hr 6min 16sec
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Felice Bianchi s.t.
- Alfredo Dinale s.t.
- Leonida Frascarelli s.t.
- Adriano Zanaga s.t.
- Amulio Viarengo s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Luigi Giacobbe s.t.
GC after Stage 13:
- Alfredo Binda: 99hr 22min 8sec
- Domenico Piemontesi @ 3min 44sec
- Leonida Frascarelli @ 5min 4sec
- Antonio Negrini @ 6min 36sec
- Luigi Giacobbe @ 8min 43sec
- Allegro Grandi @ 12min 52sec
- Giuseppe Pancera @ 14min 44sec
- Alfonso Piccin @ 15min 29sec
- Michele Orecchia @ 15min 33sec
- Ambrogio Morelli @ 16min 29sec
14th and Final Stage: Sunday, June 9, Alessandria - Milano, 218 km
Ascent: Brinzio
- Alfredo Dinale: 7hr 56min 16sec
- Alfredo Binda s.t.
- Domenico Piemontesi s.t.
- Pierino Ferioli s.t.
- Alfonso Piccin s.t.
- Battista Visconti s.t.
- Felice Gremo s.t.
- Giovanni Pizzarelli s.t.
- Antonio Negrini s.t.
- Learco Guerra s.t.
1929 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification
Bianchi-Pirelli
Gloria-Hutchinson
Ideor-Pirelli
Legnano-Hutchinson
Maino-Clément
Prina-Pirelli
Touring-Pirelli
Wolsit-Hutchinson
Content continues below the ads
The Story of the 1929 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.
The organizers designed a fourteen-stage race covering 2,920 kilometers in 1929. That made the average stage only 209 kilometers. The 1929 peloton was about half as large as the 1928 pack, numbering only 166 at the start. Given that 99 riders made it to Milan in 1929, it appeared that Giro management had done a better job of selecting riders who could withstand the rigors of a three week race.
The 1929 edition was seen, quite reasonably, to have Binda as the odds-on favorite against the rest of Italy’s finest: Belloni, Piemontesi, Pancera and Antonio Negrini. There were two new entrants whose gifts had not fully matured, but would put their mark on the Giro in later editions, Raffaele Di Paco and Learco Guerra.
Spring competition gave the pretenders reason to believe that they were in for another caning by the Trumpeter. Binda masterfully won Milan–San Remo, cruising across the finish line with over eight minutes to spare. Both Milan–San Remo and the Giro were Italian contests that year, with only two foreign finishers in Milan–San Remo and none in the Giro.
For only the second time Giro started not in Milan, but in Rome, the other occasion being the 1911 celebration of the unification of Italy.
The first stage was 235 kilometers from Rome to Naples. The evergreen Belloni, who had by now been a professional racer for fourteen years, won the ten-man sprint. Right with him were Negrini, Piemontesi, Binda and Pancera.
Gaetano Belloni wins stage 1.
For the first time, the race went into southern Italy for an extended visit. Stages one through eight were held in Lazio and regions further south. Stage two left Naples and crossed over the Apennines to Foggia. Binda took the win in a seventeen-man sprint. Since Belloni had received a one-minute bonus for winning the first stage he remained the leader. After the third stage, also won by Binda, records differ as to who was the leader. Some say Belloni, while one says Binda by “one-quarter wheel length”.
The southern experiment made for an extremely difficult race. At the end of the 1920s, most of the roads in Italy’s deep south were still unpaved. The race was plagued with loose animals, difficulty in finding lodging, scarce gasoline for the cars and even trouble getting safe water for the riders.
Stage four went through the rugged countryside of Puglia and Basilicata and was Belloni’s undoing where he lost over six minutes. The lead was now inarguably Binda’s.
Binda kept on winning stages, eight in a row in fact, from the second to the ninth stage. To this day, eight consecutive stage victories remains the Giro record.
As the race progressed, Belloni continued to lose time. His fifth stage (Potenza–Cosenza) loss of almost an hour meant the end of any hopes of a high placing for “The Eternal Second”.
Amazingly, in the eighth stage his luck managed to get even worse. He crashed and lost fourteen minutes before he was able to remount, and give what must have been a desperate chase to regain the field. While he was climbing the hill into Ferentino, a town southeast of Rome, a young boy darted in front of the pack at a bend in the road. Belloni ran right into him, killing the boy. Belloni was distraught. Overwhelmed by the tragedy, he climbed off his bike and wept. He abandoned the Giro and eventually a car took him back to Rome.
After Binda’s record-setting blitz of stage wins, the race was still surprisingly tight. Following the end of stage nine to Orvieto the General Classification now had this shape:
1. Alfredo Binda
2. Leonida Frascarelli @ 3 minutes 30 seconds
3. Antonio Negrini @ same time
4. Domenico Piemontesi @ same time
5. Luigi Giacobbe @ 5 minutes 37 seconds
The winning Legnano team. Italian champion Alfredo Binda reads the paper.
From Orvieto the race headed towards Milan. Binda didn’t win any of the next three stages but he was always in the top three, careful not to lose any time. Piemontesi, also an alert and careful rider, stayed close to Binda. When Binda and Piemontesi broke away in the twelfth stage, leaving Frascarelli 94 seconds behind, Piemontesi was able to move up to second place.
Binda took the thirteenth stage, but it wasn’t his to keep. The judges ruled that the first four across the line; Binda, Piemontesi, Negrini and Alfredo Dinale, had not sprinted fairly and the fifth rider, Mario Bianchi, was given the stage. Binda did come in second in the final stage to Milan, thus sealing his fourth Giro and in doing so, had taken nine (OK, eight) out of fourteen stages.
Binda’s win brought some pain to the great rider. When the Giro ended at the Arena stadium in Milan, Binda was booed by race fans tiring of his hegemony. Binda had been the subject of abuse before, but he was deeply shaken by the crowd’s reaction. He retired to the Legnano team van to cry in private.
La Gazzetta said that his “crime” was being superior to all the other riders in the race. Writers of the time spoke of Binda’s tyrannical hold on the race. It was true. There were no riders of Binda’s class racing in Italy in 1929.
Not everybody was unhappy with Binda's victory.
Final 1929 Giro d’Italia General Classification:
1. Alfredo Binda (Legnano-Torpedo) 107 hours 18 minutes 24 seconds
2. Domenico Piemontesi (Bianchi) @ 3 minutes 44 seconds
3. Leonida Frascarelli (Ideor) @ 5 minutes 4 seconds
4. Antonio Negrini (Maino) @ 6 minutes 36 seconds
5. Luigi Giacobbe (Maino) @ 8 minutes 43 seconds
We all like our sports’ outcomes to be determined by grit and athletic ability. Stage racing is such a complex and expensive endeavor that there is a tendency for the best-sponsored rider to have a large advantage. The Giri of the era gave the richer riders another advantage. For an extra sum, the organizers would provide superior food for them at the feed stations.
Through the second half of the 1920s, Mussolini consolidated his power. He was able to take advantage of a collapse of the liberal and leftist parties and ban all political parties except the Fascists. He instituted some economic reforms, but when he tried to touch the power of the giant landowners of the south, he had to back off. They were a law unto themselves and even Il Duce couldn’t touch them. Thus, the promised reform and prosperity for the south did not happen under Mussolini, and the region sank into even deeper poverty.
Mussolini’s desire to create a totalitarian state in which the government controlled all aspects of the Italian citizens’ lives caused the Fascists to embrace sports, and cycling was one activity the regime particularly encouraged. Furthering the government’s marriage to sport, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) was made part of the Fascist Party in 1927. We have seen Mussolini offer prizes in his name to the Giro racers. Historian Christopher Duggan believes the Fascist emphasis on sports and competition in the decades before the Second World War had a lot to do with making them the integral part of Italian life that they are today.
Content continues below the ads
.