1956 Giro d'Italia

1956 Giro d'Italia

Race details
Dates		19 May - 10 June
Stages		22, including one split stage
Distance		3,523.45 km (2,189 mi)
Winning time		101h 39' 46" (34.667 km/h or 21.541 mph)
Palmares
	Winner	Charly Gaul (LUX)	(Faema)
	Second	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)	(Nivea-Fuchs)
	Third	Agostino Coletto (ITA)	(Fréjus)
	Mountains	Three riders[N 1]
	Team	Atala

The 1956 Giro d'Italia was the 39th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started off in Milan on 19 May with a 210 km (130.5 mi) flat stage and concluded back in Milan with a 113 km (70.2 mi) relatively flat mass-start stage on 10 June. Sixteen teams entered the race, which was won by Luxembourgian Charly Gaul of the Faema team. Second and third respectively were Italian riders Fiorenzo Magni and Agostino Coletto.^[2]

Gaul took the lead in the legendary stage up Monte Bondone, where under a snow storm he won with an 8-minute margin over runner up Alessandro Fantini. This edition is unique since there were two Mountains Classification winners. There were two awards for the Dolomites and the Apennine mountains, the winners were Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes respectively.^[3]

Teams

Fifteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1957 edition of the Giro d'Italia.^[4] Each team sent a squad of seven riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 105 cyclists.^[4] From the riders that began the race, 43 made it to the finish in Milan.^[1]

The teams entering the race were:^[4][5]

Arbos-Bif-Clément Atala-Pirelli Bianchi-Pirelli Carpano-Coppi Eldorado

Faema-Guerra Francia Fréjus-Superga Girardengo-ICEP Italcover

Ignis Legnano Leo-Chlorodont Nivea-Fuchs Torpado-Pirelli

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and winners^[1]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	19 May	Milan to Alessandria	210 km (130 mi)		Plain stage	Pierino Baffi (ITA)
2a	20 May	Alessandria to Genoa	96 km (60 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Alessandro Fantini (ITA)
2b		Circuito di Lido d'Albaro	12 km (7 mi)		Team time trial	Leo-Chlorodont
3	21 May	Genoa to Salice Terme	152 km (94 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Alessandro Fantini (ITA)
4	22 May	Voghera to Mantua	198 km (123 mi)		Plain stage	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
5	23 May	Mantua to Rimini	228 km (142 mi)		Plain stage	Giuseppe Minardi (ITA)
6		San Marino	13 km (8 mi)		Individual time trial	Jan Nolten (NED)
7	24 May	Rimini to Pescara	245 km (152 mi)		Plain stage	Arrigo Padovan (ITA)
8	25 May	Pescara to Campobasso	205 km (127 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Charly Gaul (LUX)
9	26 May	Campobasso to Salerno	156 km (97 mi)		Plain stage	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
10	27 May	Salerno to Frascati	[N 2]		Plain stage	Stage Cancelled
11	28 May	Rome to Grosseto	198 km (123 mi)		Plain stage	Bruno Tognaccini (ITA)
12	29 May	Grosseto to Livorno	230 km (143 mi)		Plain stage	Pietro Nascimbene (ITA)
	30 May	Rest day
13	31 May	Livorno to Lucca	54 km (34 mi)		Individual time trial	Pasquale Fornara (ITA)
14	1 June	Lucca to Bologna	168 km (104 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Michel Stolker (NED)
15	2 June	Bologna to Madonna di San Luca	2.45 km (2 mi)		Individual time trial	Charly Gaul (LUX)
16	3 June	Bologna to Rapallo	271 km (168 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
17	4 June	Rapallo to Lecco	278 km (173 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giorgio Albani (ITA)
18	5 June	Lecco to Sondrio	98 km (61 mi)		Plain stage	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
	6 June	Rest day
19	7 June	Sondrio to Merano	163 km (101 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Cleto Maule (ITA)
20	8 June	Merano to Monte Bondone	242 km (150 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Charly Gaul (LUX)
21	9 June	Trento to San Pellegrino Terme	191 km (119 mi)		Plain stage	Giorgio Albani (ITA)
22	10 June	San Pellegrino Terme to Milan	113 km (70 mi)		Plain stage	Donato Piazza (ITA)
	Total		3,523.45 km (2,189 mi)

Classification leadership

One jersey was worn during the 1956 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.^[6]

There were three mountains classifications in the 1956 Giro d'Italia, one for the Dolomites, Apennines, and one for the highest mountain in the race, the Passo dello Stelvio.^[1] The rider that was the first over the Stelvio was Ignis' Aurelio Del Rio.^[1][7] Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the teams were awarded points for their rider's performance during the stages.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Trofeo Dolomiti	Trofeo Appennini	Team classification
1	Pierino Baffi	Pierino Baffi	not awarded	not awarded	?
2a	Alessandro Fantini			Giuseppe Fallarini	Legnano
2b	Leo-Chlorodont	Vincenzo Zucconelli
3	Alessandro Fantini	Alessandro Fantini		Federico Bahamontes	Atala
4	Miguel Poblet
5	Giuseppe Minardi				?
6	Jan Nolten				Atala & Legnano
7	Arrigo Padovan				Atala
8	Charly Gaul				?
9	Miguel Poblet				Legnano
10	Stage Cancelled
11	Bruno Tognaccini
12	Pietro Nascimbene
13	Pasquale Fornara	Pasquale Fornara
14	Michel Stolker
15	Charly Gaul
16	Miguel Poblet
17	Giorgio Albani
18	Miguel Poblet
19	Cleto Maule
20	Charly Gaul	Charly Gaul	Charly Gaul		Atala
21	Giorgio Albani
22	Donato Piazza
Final		Charly Gaul	Charly Gaul	Federico Bahamontes	Atala

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[1][8][9]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Charly Gaul (LUX)	Faema-Guerra	101h 39' 49"
2	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)	Nivea-Fuchs	+ 3' 27"
3	Agostino Coletto (ITA)	Fréjus	+ 6' 53"
4	Cleto Maule (ITA)	Torpado	+ 7' 25"
5	Aldo Moser (ITA)	Torpado	+ 7' 30"
6	Alessandro Fantini (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	+ 8' 46"
7	Jean Brankart (BEL)	Eldroado	+ 9' 21"
8	Bruno Monti (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	+ 10' 54"
9	Waldemaro Bartolozzi (ITA)	Legnano	+ 18' 14"
10	Hilaire Couvreur (BEL)	Eldorado	+ 18' 41"

Trofeo Dolomiti

Final mountains classification (1-7)^[1][10]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Charly Gaul (LUX)	Faema-Guerra	20
2	Bruno Monti (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	5
3	Arrigo Padovan (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	4
	Alessandro Fantini (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli
	Agostino Coletto (ITA)	Fréjus
6	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)	Nivea-Fuchs	8
7	Pierino Baffi (ITA)	Nivea-Fuchs	8

Trofeo Appennini

Final mountains classification (1–5)^[1][7][11]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Federico Bahamontes (ESP)	Girardengo	30
2	Bruno Monti (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	13
3	Giuseppe Buratti (ITA)	Bianchi	11
4	Pasquale Fornara (ITA)	Arbos	10
5	Aldo Moser (ITA)	Torpado	8

Gran premio traguardi volanti

Final Gran premio traguardi volanti classification (1–6)^[8][9][12]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Giorgio Albani (ITA)	Legnano	22
2	Giuseppe Favero (ITA)	Bianchi	11
3	Mies Stolker (NED)	Italcover	10
4	Guido De Santi (ITA)	Ignis	8
	Mario Baroni (ITA)	Nivea-Fuchs
6	Gino Guerrini (ITA)	Carpano-Coppi	7
	Alessandro Fantini (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli

Trofeo della plata

Final Trofeo della plata classification (1–4)^[8][9][13]

	Name	Team	Points
1	Giorgio Albani (ITA)	Legnano	8
2	Bruno Monti (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	6
	Guido De Santi (ITA)	Ignis
4	Arrigo Padovan (ITA)	Atala-Pirelli	5
	Bruno Tognaccini (ITA)	Leo-Chlorodont
	Pietro Nascimbene (ITA)	Carpano-Coppi
	Mies Stolker (NED)	Italcover
	Cleto Maule (ITA)	Torpado
	Donato Piazza (ITA)	Nivea-Fuchs

Team classification

Final team classification (1–6)^[1][8][14]

	Team	Points
1	Atala-Pirelli	1014
2	Torpado	1054
3	Nivea-Fuchs	1200
4	Carpano-Coppi	1545
5	Leo-Chlorodont	1619
6	Ignis	1637

References

Footnotes

1. There were three mountains classifications in the 1956 Giro d'Italia, one for the Dolomites, Apennines, and one for the highest mountain in the race, the Passo dello Stelvio.^[1] The rider that was the first over the Stelvio was Aurelio Del Rio. Federico Bahamontes won the Trofeo Appennini, while Charly Gaul won the Trofeo Dolomiti.
2. This stage was removed and the day was used to transfer the riders to Rome.

Citations

1. Bill and Carol McGann. "1956 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
2. "Gaul Vencedor Del "Giro"" [Gaul the Winner of the "Tour"] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 14 June 1956. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
3. John Wilcockson (23 May 2006). "50 years later: Remembering Charly Gaul’s great ride". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc). Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
4. "I Partenti" [Participants]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 19 May 1956. p. 5. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
5. "Gli Avvenimenti Sportivi" [The Sporting Events] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian) (PCI). 19 May 1956. p. 6. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
6. Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
7. "Del Rio primo sul valico dello Stelvio e Maule vincitore in volata a Merano" [Del Rio on the first pass of the Stelvio and Maule winner in the sprint in Merano] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian) (Editrice La Stampa). 8 June 1956. p. 4. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
8. "Gaul ha vinto il Giro d'Italia" [Gaul has won the Tour of Italy] (PDF). Stampa Sera (in Italian) (Editrice La Stampa). 11 June 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
9. "Gaul, Vencedor Del "Giro"" [Gaul, the Winner of the "Tour"] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 14 June 1956. p. 5. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
10. "Trofeo delle Dolomiti" [Trophy of the Dolomites]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 9 June 1956. p. 6. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
11. "Magni sara in gara nella "grande boucle"?" [Magni will be competing in the "grand boucle"?] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian) (Editrice La Stampa). 5 June 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
12. "Trofeo Traguardi Volanti" [Flying Trophy Successes]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 11 June 1956. p. 12. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
13. "Trofeo della Pista" [Trophy Track]. Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 11 June 1956. p. 12. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
14. "G. P. Dell'Industria". Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 11 June 1956. p. 12. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2013.