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1976 Giro d'Italia

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1976 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates21 May – 12 June 1976
Stages22
Distance4,161 km (2,586 mi)
Winning time119h 58' 15"
Results
Winner  Felice Gimondi (ITA) (Bianchi-Campagnolo)
  Second  Johan De Muynck (BEL) (Brooklyn)
  Third  Fausto Bertoglio (ITA) (Jolly Ceramica)

Points  Francesco Moser (ITA) (Sanson)
Mountains  Andrés Oliva (ESP) (KAS)
  Youth  Alfio Vandi (ITA) (Magniflex)
  Combination  Francesco Moser (ITA) (Sanson)
  Team Brooklyn
← 1975
1977 →

The 1976 Giro d'Italia was the 59th running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Catania, on 21 May, with a set of split stages and concluded in Milan, on 12 June, with another split stage, consisting of an individual time trial and a mass-start stage. A total of 120 riders from twelve teams entered the 22-stage race, that was won by Italian Felice Gimondi of the Bianchi-Campagnolo team. The second and third places were taken by Belgian Johan De Muynck and Italian Fausto Bertoglio, respectively.[1][2][3]

Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Sanson's Francesco Moser won the points classification, Andrés Oliva of KAS won the mountains classification, and Magniflex's Alfio Vandi completed the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing seventh overall. Brooklyn finishing as the winners of the team points classification.[4] The race was marred by the death of Spanish rider Juan Manuel Santisteban during the first stage.

Teams

[edit]

A total of twelve teams were invited to participate in the 1976 Giro d'Italia.[5] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 120 cyclists.[5][6] From the riders that began this edition, 86 made it to the finish in Milan.[6]

The teams entering the race were:[5]

  • Sanson
  • Scic
  • Teka
  • Zonca-Santini

Route and stages

[edit]

The route for the race was revealed on 30 January 1976,[7] while a final draft of the race was released on 13 April 1976.[8][9][10]

Stage results[6]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1a 21 May Catania to Catania 64 km (40 mi) Plain stage  Patrick Sercu (BEL)
1b Catania to Siracusa 78 km (48 mi) Plain stage  Patrick Sercu (BEL)
2 22 May Siracusa to Caltanissetta 210 km (130 mi) Plain stage  Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
3 23 May Caltanissetta to Palermo 163 km (101 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Rik Van Linden (BEL)
4 24 May Cefalù to Messina 192 km (119 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Francesco Moser (ITA)
5 25 May Reggio Calabria to Cosenza 220 km (137 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
6 26 May Cosenza to Matera 207 km (129 mi) Plain stage  Johan De Muynck (BEL)
7 27 May Ostuni to Ostuni 37 km (23 mi) Individual time trial  Francesco Moser (ITA)
8 28 May Selva di Fasano [it] to Lago Laceno 256 km (159 mi) Plain stage  Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
9 29 May Bagnoli Irpino to Roccaraso 204 km (127 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Fabrizio Fabbri (ITA)
10 30 May Roccaraso to Terni 203 km (126 mi) Plain stage  Patrick Sercu (BEL)
11 31 May Terni to Gabicce Mare 222 km (138 mi) Plain stage  Antonio Menéndez (ESP)
12 1 June Gabicce Mare to Porretta Terme 215 km (134 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Sigfrido Fontanelli (ITA)
13 2 June Porretta Terme to Il Ciocco 146 km (91 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Ronny De Witte (BEL)
14 3 June Il Ciocco to Varazze 227 km (141 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Francesco Moser (ITA)
4 June Rest day
15 5 June Varazze to Ozegna 216 km (134 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Rik Van Linden (BEL)
16 6 June Castellamonte to Arosio 258 km (160 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
17 7 June Arosio to Verona 196 km (122 mi) Plain stage  Ercole Gualazzini (ITA)
18 8 June Verona to Longarone 174 km (108 mi) Plain stage  Simone Fraccaro (ITA)
19 9 June Longarone to Vajolet Towers 132 km (82 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Andrés Gandarias (ESP)
20 10 June Vigo di Fassa to Terme di Comano 170 km (106 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Luciano Conati (ITA)
21 11 June Terme di Comano to Bergamo 238 km (148 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Felice Gimondi (ITA)
22a 12 June Arcore to Arcore 28 km (17 mi) Individual time trial  Joseph Bruyère (BEL)
22b Milan to Milan 106 km (66 mi) Plain stage  Daniele Tinchella (ITA)
Total 4,161 km (4,161 km)

Race overview

[edit]

During the stage 1A on 21 May, Juan Manuel Santisteban crashed and hit his head, ultimately dying from his injuries.[11] The Giro organisation allowed his team to let another rider take his place, but the team had no rider available so this was not done.[12]

Patrick Sercu would win both stage 1A and 1B, Roger de Vlaeminck would win stage 2 and the two of them would alternate between wearing the leader's jersey depending on the tie-breakers following the first few stages. De Muynck took over the lead after winning stage 6 by 0:21 over the main field following a crash which left him alone at the front as a group of eight riders were now tied for 2nd in the overall standings :05 behind. The time trial in Stage 7 was won by Francesco Moser with Gimondi placing 2nd seven seconds behind putting Moser into the Maglia Rosa as the overall leader and Gimondi in 2nd seven seconds behind[13] Stage 8 was won by de Vlaeminck as Eddy Merckx crossed the line in 2nd which would be his highest stage placing in this final Giro of his remarkable career. Gimondi crossed in 3rd and while he was by no means a favorite for overall victory, because Moser lost nearly a minute Gimondi would wear the Pink Jersey for the first time since the 1969 Giro.

Over the next ten stages Gimondi maintained his overall lead but on stage 19 Johan de Muynck was able to get away from him and he took over the lead by 0:16. Stage 21 was the final day in the mountains where Merckx took 2nd and Gimondi won the stage. De Muynck finished 9th, but finished in the same time so the overall situation remained the same. Stage 22a was the final ITT and it was here that Gimondi won the Giro. He finished in 6th place 0:43 behind stage winner Joseph Bruyere but 0:44 ahead of de Muynck effectively making him the winner by 0:19.[14]

Classification leadership

[edit]
A picture of a mountain.
The Vajolet Towers was the finish of stage 19 for the 1976 running of the Giro d'Italia.

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1976 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. The general classification was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage.[15] The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Giro.[15] The rider leading the classification wore a pink jersey to signify the classification's leadership.[15]

The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing in the top positions in a stage finish, with first place getting the most points, and lower placings getting successively fewer points.[15] The rider leading this classification wore a purple (or cyclamen) jersey.[15] The mountains classification was the third classification and its leader was denoted by the green jersey. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. Most stages of the race included one or more categorized climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.[15] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Sella Pass, which was crossed first by Spanish rider Andrés Gandarias during stage 19.[16] The fourth classification, the young rider classification, was a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but only considered neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).[15]

The final classification, the team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. This was calculated by adding together points earned by each rider on the team during each stage through the intermediate sprints, the categorized climbs, stage finishes, etc. The team with the most points led the classification.[15]

There were other minor classifications within the race, including the Campionato delle Regioni classification. The leader wore a blue jersey with colored vertical stripes ("maglia azzurra con banda tricolore verticale").[17] New to the race for the 1976 edition was the Fiat 131 classification, which was created in honour of Santisteban, who died during stage 1a.[11] In all stages longer than 131 km (81 mi), there would be a banner at that point in the stage to designate a special sprint.[11] The winner of the sprint in each stage received a Fiat 131.[11]

Classification leadership by stage
Stage Winner General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Young rider classification Team classification
1a Patrick Sercu Patrick Sercu not awarded not awarded ? not awarded
1b Patrick Sercu Patrick Sercu Brooklyn
2 Roger De Vlaeminck Roger De Vlaeminck
3 Rik Van Linden Patrick Sercu Eddy Merckx
4 Francesco Moser Roger De Vlaeminck Roger De Vlaeminck
5 Roger De Vlaeminck
6 Johan De Muynck Johan De Muynck
7 Francesco Moser Francesco Moser
8 Roger De Vlaeminck Felice Gimondi
9 Fabrizio Fabbri Fabrizio Fabbri
10 Patrick Sercu
11 Antonio Menéndez
12 Sigfrido Fontanelli
13 Ronny De Witte
14 Francesco Moser Andrés Oliva
15 Rik Van Linden
16 Roger De Vlaeminck
17 Ercole Gualazzini
18 Simone Fraccaro
19 Andrés Gandarias Johan De Muynck Alfio Vandi
20 Luciano Conati Francesco Moser
21 Felice Gimondi
22a Joseph Bruyère Felice Gimondi
22b Daniele Tinchella
Final Felice Gimondi Francesco Moser Andrés Oliva Alfio Vandi Brooklyn

Final standings

[edit]
Legend
  Pink jersey   Denotes the winner of the General classification   Green jersey   Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification
  Purple jersey   Denotes the winner of the Points classification

General classification

[edit]
Final general classification (1–10)[6][18][19][20]
Rank Name Team Time
1  Felice Gimondi (ITA) Pink jersey Bianchi-Campagnolo 119 h 58' 16"
2  Johan de Muynck (BEL) Brooklyn + 19"
3  Fausto Bertoglio (ITA) Jolly Ceramica + 49"
4  Francesco Moser (ITA) Purple jersey Sanson + 1' 07"
5  Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA) Scic + 1' 35"
6  Wladimiro Panizza (ITA) Scic + 2' 35"
7  Alfio Vandi (ITA) Magniflex + 4' 07"
8  Eddy Merckx (BEL) Molteni + 7' 40"
9  Walter Riccomi (ITA) Scic + 8' 49"
10  Juan Pujol Pagés (ESP) KAS + 8' 50"

Points classification

[edit]
Final points classification (1-5)[6][20]
Rider Team Points
1  Francesco Moser (ITA) Purple jersey Sanson 272
2  Eddy Merckx (BEL) Molteni 149
3  Felice Gimondi (ITA) Pink jersey Bianchi-Campagnolo 143
4  Pierino Gavazzi (ITA) Jolly Ceramica 122
5  Enrico Paolini (ITA) Scic 110

Mountains classification

[edit]
Final mountains classification (1-5)[6][19][20]
Rider Team Points
1  Andrés Oliva (ESP) Green jersey Zonca 535
2  Andrés Gandarias (ESP) Teka 390
3  Francesco Moser (ITA) Purple jersey Sanson 270
4  Fabrizio Fabbri (ITA) Bianchi-Campagnolo 210
5  Wladimiro Panizza (ITA) Scic 195

Young rider classification

[edit]
Final young rider classification (1-3)[6][20]
Rider Team Time
1  Alfio Vandi (ITA) Magniflex 120h 02' 22"
2  Juan Pujol Pagés (ESP) KAS + 4' 43"
3  Ruggero Gialdini (ITA) Magniflex + 32' 32"

Combination classification

[edit]
Final combination classification (1-3)[6][20]
Rider Team Points
1  Francesco Moser (ITA) Purple jersey Sanson 12
2  Eddy Merckx (BEL) Molteni 31
3  Arnaldo Caverzasi (ITA) Scic 52

Campionato delle Regioni classification

[edit]
Final Campionato delle Regioni classification (1-3)[20]
Rider Team Points
1  Giacinto Santambrogio (ITA) Bianchi-Campagnolo 35
2  Arnaldo Caverzasi (ITA) Scic 33
3  Frans van Looy (BEL) Molteni 28

Premio 131 Fiat classification

[edit]
Final Premio 131 Fiat classification (1-3)[19]
Rider Team Points
1  Tullio Rossi (ITA) Furzi-Vibor 39
2  Fabrizio Fabbri (ITA) Bianchi-Campagnolo 23
3  Giacinto Santambrogio (ITA) Bianchi-Campagnolo 12

Team points classification

[edit]
Final team points classification (1-3)[20]
Team Points
1 Brooklyn 11,035
2 Bianchi-Campagnolo 7,315
3 Sanson 5,915

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Javier Dalmases (13 June 1976). "Gimondi (34 Años) Se Impuso Por Tercera Vez" [Gimondi (34 years) was Imposed for Third Time] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  2. ^ Maurizio Caravella (13 June 1976). "Gimondi ha vinto il Giro del cuore" [Gimondi won the Tour of the heart] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 16. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  3. ^ Gino Sala (13 June 1976). "Gimondi: uno splendido <<tris>>" [Gimondi: a beautiful <<trio>>] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-09. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant | 14 juni 1976 | pagina 13".
  5. ^ a b c "Lista de inscritos" [Entry List] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 21 May 1976. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Bill and Carol McGann. "1976 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  7. ^ Gino Sala (31 January 1976). "Vartao il <<Giro>> '76" [The <<Giro>> '76 Launched] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  8. ^ Gino Sala (14 April 1976). "È un <<Giro>> davvero terribile (e 12 giorni dopo c'e il Tour)" [It's a <<Giro>> really terrible (and 12 days later there's the Tour)] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Moser et Baronchelli: des candidats serieux mais Merckx voudra obtenir sa 6e victoire" [Moser and Baronchelli: serious candidates but Merckx will want to achieve his 6th victory] (PDF). La Liberté (in French). 20 May 1975. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2020 – via RERO.
  10. ^ "Merckx : un record de victoires au Giro?" [Merckx: A record of victories at the Giro?] (PDF). L'Express (in French). 21 May 1976. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2020 – via RERO.
  11. ^ a b c d "1976". Giro d'Italia. La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  12. ^ van den Akker, Pieter (2023). Giro d'Italia rules and statistics. p. 9. ISBN 979-8863173719.
  13. ^ "1976 Giro d'Italia by BikeRaceInfo". www.bikeraceinfo.com. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  14. ^ "1976 Giro d'Italia". BikeRaceInfo.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  16. ^ Diego Nart (20 May 2011). "Quel 9 giugno del 1976 Gimondi sul Gardeccia costruisce la sua rosa". Alto Adige. Elemedia S.p.A. Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  17. ^ "1975". Giro d'Italia. La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Clasificaciones Officiales" [Official Classifications] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 13 June 1976. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  19. ^ a b c "Giro-cifre" [Tour-digits] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 13 June 1976. p. 16. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g "La classifica finale" [The final classification] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 13 June 1976. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-09. Retrieved 27 May 2012.