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Giro d’Italia Stats

Historical stats

– The race was created in 1909 and the inaugural edition was won by Luigi Ganna

– In 1912 there was no individual classification, but a team classification, won by Atala

– Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx share the record for the most GC wins, five each

– Italy leads the nations standings, with 68 triumps, way head of Belgium, which has only seven

– Felice Gimondi has the most podium finishes: 9

– Longest edition took place in 1962 (4180 kilometers), while the shortest one was the inaugural one (2445 kilometers)

– The race had 11 foreign starts until now: San Marino (1965), Monaco (1966), Belgium (1973), Vatican (1974), Greece (1996), France (1998), Netherlands (2002), Belgium (2006), Netherlands (2010), Denmark (2012), Northern Ireland (2014)

– Fausto Coppi is the youngest ever winner: 20 years and 268 days (1940); the oldest winner is Fiorenzo Magni: 34 years and 180 days (1955)

– Olimpio Bizzi (19 years and 299 days in 1936) is the youngest stage winner, while Giovanni Rossignoli (37 years and 186 days in 1920) is the oldest one

– In 1932, Giovanni Gerbi – 47 at that time – became the oldest rider to compete in the event

– Wladimiro Panizza has the most Giro d’Italia starts (18) and finishes (16)

– Between 1909 and 1913, the scoring format used a points-based system, which was subsequently changed to a time-based system

– Only three cyclists from outside of Europe have won the race: Andrew Hampsten (U.S.A.), Ryder Hesjedal (Canada) and Nairo Quintana (Colombia)

– The pink jersey is awarded to the race leader since 1931 and the first rider to wear it was Learco Guerra

– Eddy Merckx has the most days in the maglia rosa, 79

– Andrea Noe is the oldest ever cyclist to take the pink jersey: 38 years in 2007

– Four riders have led the race from start to finish: Costante Girardengo (1919), Alfredo Binda (1927), Eddy Merckx (1973) and Gianni Bugno (1990)

– Two cyclists have lost the race in the last day: Laurent Fignon (1984) and Joaquim Rodriguez (2012)

– There are 14 riders who have won the overall without taking a stage win

– Longest ever stage took place in 1914 (Lucca-Rome, 430 km), and was won by Costante Girardengo

– Shortest one was won by Roger Swerts – 20 kilometers starting and finishinf in Forte dei Marmi – in 1972

– The longest ever individual time trial came at the 1951 edition – 81 kilometers between Perugia and Terni – and was won by Fausto Coppi

– Switzerland was the first foreign country to be visited by the peloton, in 1920

– In 1921, the race began to be filmed in order to be screened in cinemas

– 1928 was the year with the most cyclists at the start: 298

– Alfredo Binda holds the record for the most consecutive stage wins, 8 in 1929, and for the most stage wins at one edition, 12 in 1927

– Another Italian, Mario Cipollini, has the most stage in the history of the Giro: 42

– The mountains classification was introduced in 1933, same year an individual time trial took place

– First edition to feature the Dolomites was the 1937 one; same year, the team time trial was introduced

– The closest winning margin Giro history came in 1948, when only 11 seconds separated Fiorenzo Magni and Ezio Cecchi

– The largest winning margin was recorded in 1914, when Alfonso Calzolari won for 1h 57’ 26’’

2015 stats

– 22 teams (17 World Tour, 5 Pro Continental) will line-up for the 98th edition of the Corsa Rosa

– Of these, two are winless this season: Bardiani and Nippo-Vini Fantini

– The 2015 race start in San Lorenzo al Mare and finishes in Milan, after 3481,8 kilometers and 43 000 meters of vertical climbing meters

– This is going to be the 9th time when the Giro d’Italia kicks off with a team time trial

– Four former winners are at the start of the Giro d’Italia this year: Ivan Basso, Alberto Contador, Damiano Cunego and Ryder Hesjedal

– Sky and Trek are only teams not fielding a single rider from the country in which they are registered

– Cyclists from 36 countries will run the Giro d’Italia: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazahstan, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A., Venezuela

– As expected, Italy has the most riders in the peloton: 59

– Germany’s Rick Zabel (21 years) is the youngest cyclist at the start, while Alessandro Petacchi (41 years) is the oldest one

– The riders who are at the start have won a combined total of 10 Grand Tours, 14 Monuments, 5 world titles (RR+ITT) and more than 150 Grand Tour stages

– Seven neo-pros will make their debut in a Grand Tour: Giacomo Berlato, Clement Chevrier, Luca Chirico, Eduard Grosu, Stefan Küng, Riccardo Stacchiotti and Louis Vervaeke