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1930 Giro d'Italia 18th edition: May 17 - June 8 Results, stages with running GC, photos and history

1929 Giro | 1931 Giro | Giro d'Italia Database | 1930 Giro Quick Facts | 1930 Giro d'Italia Final GC | Stage results with running GC | Teams | The Story of the 1930 Giro d'Italia |

1930 Giro Quick Facts:

3907 km raced at an average speed of 26.88 km/hr

115 starters and 67 classified finishers

15 stages

The Giro organization decided that Alfredo Binda, through his dominant riding, was suffocating the Giro. Binda was paid by the Giro, in agreement with his sponsor Legnano, to take a pass on the 1930 edition. Binda then entered and failed to finish the Tour de France.

Luigi Marchisio took the lead in the third stage and held it to the end, becoming, at 21 years, 1 month and 13 days, the second-youngest ever Giro winner. Fausto Coppi, who won in 1940 at 20 years, 8 months and 18 days, remains the youngest winner.

1930 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification:

Luigi Marchisio (Legnano): 11hr 11min 55sec Luigi Giacobbe (Maino) @ 52sec Allegro Grandi (Bianchi) @ 1min 49sec Ambrogio Morelli (Gloria) @ 11min 12sec Antonio Pesenti (Dei-Pirelli) @ 16min 1sec Antonio Negrini (Maino) @ 17min 48sec Felice Gremo (Legnano) @ 22min 28sec Aristide Cavallini (Dei-Pirelli) @ 23min 58sec Learco Guerra (Maino) @ 26min 10sec Amerigo Cacioni (independent) @ 37min 11sec Domenico Piemontesi (Bianchi) @ 38min 11sec Carlo Moretti @ 49min 28sec Michele Orecchia (Gloria) @ 54min 25sec Augusto Zanzi (independent) @ 1hr 4min 17sec Michele Mara (Bianchi) @ 1hr 14min 11sec Pietro Fossati (Maino) @ 1hr 15min 33sec Fabio Battesini (Maino) @ 1hr 15min 41sec Leonida Frascarelli (Legnano) @ 1hr 16min 13sec Angelo Lalle (independent) @ 1hr 24min 59sec Tullio D'Achille (independent) @ 1hr 38min 45sec Armando Gori (independent) @ 1hr 47min 38sec Angelo Rinaldi (Maino) @ 1hr 52min 56sec Oreste Cignoli (independent) @ 1hr 56min 31sec Carlo Romanatti (independent) @ 1hr 57min 53sec Aleardo Simoni (independent) @ 2hr 3min 8sec Albino Binda (Legnano) @ 2hr 7min 27sec Giovanni La Rocca (independent) @ 2hr 38min 1sec Alfonso Ambrogio Crippa (Bianchi) @ 2hr 50min 14sec Alfredo Dinale (Legnano) @ 2hr 57min 22sec Amilcare Galloni @ 2hr 59min 20sec Carlo Rovida (independent) @ 3hr 12min 55sec Natale Nobile @ 3hr 13min 18sec Umberto Cardinali @ 3hr 14min 18sec Raffaele Perna @ 3hr 18min 17sec Mario Lavazza @ 3hr 25min 46sec Roberto Lorenzetti @ 3hr 27min 17sec Alfredo Carniselli @ 3hr 44min 38sec Adolfo Martelli @ 3hr 45min 12sec Domenico Puleo @ 3hr 52min 8sec Mario Semprini @ 4hr 12min 31sec Enea Dalfiume @ 4hr 30min 32sec Carlo Polo @ 4hr 41min 4sec Mario Bianchi @ 4hr 48min 51sec Pierino Ferioli (Gloria) @ 4hr 49min 24sec Arnaldo Bergami @ 5hr 10min 41sec Salvatore Praticò @ 5hr 26min 48sec Francesco De Fano @ 5hr 37min 28sec Severio Rossi @ 6hr 2min 33sec Roccardo Terreni @ 6hr 6min 32sec Giovanni Pizzarelli @ 6hr 35min 42sec Giuseppe Martorana @ 6hr 50min 15sec Luigi Cecilli @ 6hr 58min 52sec Giacomo Fassio @ 7hr 39min 59sec Luigi Ugaglia @ 7hr 42min 29sec Antonio Ferrazzano @ 8hr 22min 37sec Vincenzo Agazzi @ 8hr 59min 9sec Antonio Viani @ 9hr 19min 45sec Leonardo Mariantoni @ 9hr 37min 10sec Nicola Ranieri @ 9hr 39min 51sec Gildo Lievore @ 10hr 6min 24sec Arnaldo Fincato @ 11hr 22min 49sec Umberto Reina @ 11hr 24min 16sec Gaetano Riva @ 11hr 51min 8sec Ottavio Dominici @ 11hr 53min 57sec Bruno Fontana @ 13hr 59min 20sec Alberto Mongiano @ 16hr 45min 40sec Giovanni Carnielli @ 19hr 19min 32sec

Team Classification:

Bianchi Legnano Maino Gloria

1930 Giro stage results with running GC:

Stage 1: Saturday, May 17, Messina - Catania, 167 km

Ascent: Cantoniera Mandrazzi (1,100m)

Michele Mara: 6hr 32min 15sec Marco Giuntelli s.t. Antonio Negrini s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Giuseppe Pancera s.t. Giovanni Proserpio s.t. Angelo Lalle s.t. Allegro Grandi s.t. Augusto Zanzi s.t.

Stage 2: Sunday, May 18, Catania - Palermo, 258 km

Ascents: Adernò (562m), Enna (948m)

Leonida Frascarelli: 12hr 5min 51sec Antonio Negrini s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Allegro Grandi s.t. Tullio D'Achille s.t. Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Angelo Lalle s.t. Pietro Mori s.t. Felice Gremo s.t.

GC after Stage 2:

Antonio Negrini: 18hr 38min 10sec Luigi Marchisio s.t. Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Angelo Lalle s.t. Felice Gremo s.t. Allegro Grandi s.t. Ambrogio Morelli @ 1min 39sec Marco Giuntelli @ 1min 43sec Giuseppe Pancera s.t. Amerigo Cacioni @ hmin 48sec

Stage 3: Tuesday, May 20, Palermo - Messina, 257 km

Luigi Marchisio: 10hr 0min 54sec Learco Guerra @ 9sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 16sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 22sec Antonio Pesenti @ 30sec Francesco Camusso @ 56sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 1min 16sec Alfonso Crippa s.t. Augusto Zanzi s.t. Felice Gremo @ 1min 55sec

GC after Stage 3:

Luigi Marchisio: 28hr 37min 4sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 2min 22sec Felice Gremo @ 3min 53sec Antonio Negrini @ 4min 26sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 4min 53sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 8sec Marco Giuntelli @ 5min 47sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 6min 4sec Giuseppe Pancera @ 6min 11sec Pietro Mori @ 10min 22sec

Stage 4: Thursday, May 22, Reggio Calabria - Catanzaro, 173 km

Luigi Marchisio: 6hr 55min 31sec Raffaele Di Paco @ 27sec Francesco Camusso @ 34sec Michele Mara @ 1min 8sec Allegro Grandi s.t. Antonio Pesenti s.t. Luigi Giacobbe @ 1min 31sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 2min 41sec Learco Guerra @ 2min 43sec Carlo Moretti, Roberto Lorenzetti, Augusto Zanzi, Ambrogio Morelli given same time and place.

GC after Stage 4:

Luigi Marchisio: 35hr 31min 55sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 4min 33sec Allegro Grandi @ 7min 23sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 18sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 9min 25sec Antonio Negrini @ 9min 40sec Marco Giuntelli @ 10min 56sec Felice Gremo @ 10min 58sec Antonio Pesenti @ 13min 2sec Learco Guerra @ 14min 12sec

Stage 5: Friday, May 23, Catanzaro - Cosenza, 119 km

Ascent: Acquabona (1,050m)

Domenico Piemontesi: 4hr 43min 52sec Francesco Camusso s.t. Learco Guerra @ 3min 47sec Luigi Marchisio @ 3min 52sec Michele Mara @ 3min 53sec Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Antonio Pesenti s.t. Michele Orecchia s.t. Aristide Cavallini @ 3min 57sec Felice Gremo @ 4min 1sec

GC after Stage 5:

Luigi Marchisio: 40hr 19min 39sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 4min 36sec Allegro Grandi @ 8min 11sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 34sec Felice Gremo @ 11min 9sec Marco Giuntelli @ 11min 29sec Antonio Negrini @ 12min 53sec Antonio Pesenti @ 13min 5sec Learco Guerra @ 14min 7sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 15min 2sec

Stage 6: Sunday, May 25, Cosenza - Salerno, 293 km

Ascents: Le Teste (1,030m), Passo Cervaro (778m)

Allegro Grandi: 11hr 39min 3sec Raffaele Di Paco @ 5sec Felice Gremo @ 9sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 13sec Domenico Piemontesi @ 2min 42sec Michele Mara @ 4min 15sec Antonio Negrini @ 4min 16sec Luigi Marchisio, Antonio Pesenti, Carlo Moretti, Marco Giuntelli, Ambrogio Morelli, Amerigo Cacioni all at smae time and place.

GC after Stage 6:

Luigi Marchisio: 52hr 2min 58sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 33sec Allegro Grandi @ 2min 55sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 2sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 34sec Marco Giuntelli @ 11min 29sec Antonio Negrini @ 12min 53sec Antonio Pesenti @ 13min 5sec Domenico Piemontesi @ 14min 27sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 15min 2sec

Stage 7: Tuesday, May 27, Salerno - Napoli, 180 km

Raffaele Di Paco: 5hr 54min 0sec Learco Guerra s.t. Leonida Frascarelli s.t. Antonio Negrini s.t. Michele Mara s.t. Francesco Camusso s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Carlo Rovida s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Alfredo Dinale s.t.

GC after Stage 7:

Luigi Marchisio: 57hr 56min 38sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 48sec Allegro Grandi @ 2min 55sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 2sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 8min 34sec Antonio Negrini @ 12min 53sec Antonio Pesenti @ 13min 5sec Domenico Piemontesi @ 14min 42sec Amrigo Cacioni @ 15min 2sec Aristide Cavallini @ 18min 35sec

Stage 8: Wednesday, May 28, Napoli - Roma, 247 km

Ascent: Rocca di Papi (640m)

Learco Guerra: 9hr 31min 17sec Antonio Negrini s.t. Raffaele Di Paco s.t. Leonida Frascarelli s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Francesco Camusso s.t. Allegro Grandi s.t. Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Antonio Pesenti @ 8sec Armando Gori @ 10sec

GC after Stage 8:

Luigi Marchisio: 67hr 28min 15sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 48sec Allegro Grandi @ 2min 55sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 15sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 10min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 12min 53sec Antonio Pesenti @ 13min 13sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 16min 56sec Aristide Cavallini @ 19min 2sec Learco Guerra @ 19min 18sec

Stage 9: Friday, May 30, Roma - Teramo, 203 km

Ascent: Selle di Corno (990m), Cappannelle (1,283m)

Michele Mara: 7hr 2min 17sec Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Felice Gremo s.t. Learco Guerra @ 1min 43sec Aristide Cavallini s.t. Allegro Grandi @ 2min 52sec Antonio Pesenti @ 4min 52sec Antonio Negrini @ 5min 5sec

GC after Stage 9:

Luigi Marchisio: 74hr 30min 32sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 19sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 9min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Antonio Pesenti @ 18min 18sec Aristide Cavallini @ 20min 45sec Learco Guerra @ 21min 4sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 23min 15sec

Stage 10: Saturday, May 31, Teramo - Ancona, 180 km

Ascent: Croce di Casale (731m)

Michele Mara: 7hr 12min 17sec Alfredo Dinale s.t. Domenico Piemontesi s.t. Learco Guerra s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Tullio D'Achille s.t. Leonida Frascarelli s.t. Raffaele Di Paco s.t. Albino Binda s.t.

GC after Stage 10:

Luigi Marchisio: 81hr 42min 49sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 19sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 9min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Antonio Pesenti @ 18min 18sec Aristide Cavallini @ 20min 45sec Learco Guerra @ 21min 4sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 23min 15sec

Stage 11: Monday, June 2, Ancona - Forlì, 182 km

Ascent: San Marino (645m)

Learco Guerra: 5hr 38min 45sec Alfredo Dinale s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Domenico Piemontesi s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Antonio Negrini s.t. Leonida Frascarelli s.t. Giovanni Pizzarelli s.t. Fabio Battesini s.t. Pierino Ferioli s.t.

GC after Stage 11:

Luigi Marchisio: 87hr 21min 34sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 19sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 9min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Antonio Pesenti @ 20min 33sec Aristide Cavallini @ 20min 45sec Learco Guerra @ 21min 1sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 23min 15sec

Stage 12: Tuesday, June 3, Forlì - Rovigo, 188 km

Michele Mara: 5hr 57min 35sec Learco Guerra s.t. Luigi Marchisio s.t. Leonida Frascarelli s.t. Amborgio Morelli s.t. Fabio Battesini s.t. Giuseppe(?) Bianchini s.t. Albino Binda s.t. Amerigo Cacioni s.t. Francesco Camusso s.t.

GC after Stage 12:

Luigi Marchisio: 93hr 19min 9sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Felice Gremo @ 7min 19sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 9min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Antonio Pesenti @ 20min 33sec Aristide Cavallini @ 20min 45sec Learco Guerra @ 21min 1sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 23min 15sec

Stage 13: Thursday, June 5, Rovigo - Asiago, 151 km

Gallio (1,085m)

Antonio Pesenti: 5hr 17min 34sec Leonida Frascarelli @ 2min 32sec Luigi Marchisio s.t. Antonio Negrini s.t. Luigi Giacobbe s.t. Allegro Grandi s.t. Francesco Camusso s.t. Carlo Moretti s.t. Augusto Zanzi @ 3min 15sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 4min 43sec

GC after Stage 13:

Luigi Marchisio: 98hr 39min 15sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 11min 12sec Antonio Pesenti @ 16min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Felice Gremo @ 22min 28sec Aristide Cavallini @ 22min 58sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 31min 26sec Learco Guerra @ 36min 10sec

Stage 14: Friday, June 6, Asiago - Brescia, 177 km

Ascents: Vedsena (1,402m), Croce di Sommo (1,341m)

Leonida Frascarelli: 6hr 41min 0sec Domenico Piemontesi s.t. Raffaele Di Paco s.t. Carlo Rovida s.t. Francesco Camusso @ 1min 15sec Fabio Battesini @ 1min 35sec Learco Guerra s.t. Michele Mara s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Antonio Pesenti s.t.

GC after Stage 14:

Luigi Marchisio: 105hr 21min 50sec Luigi Giacobbe @ 52sec Allegro Grandi @ 5min 51sec Ambrogio Morelli @ 11min 12sec Antonio Pesenti @ 16min 1sec Antonio Negrini @ 17min 58sec Felice Gremo @ 22min 28sec Aristide Cavallini @ 23min 58sec Learco Guerra @ 36min 10sec Amerigo Cacioni @ 27min 10sec

15th and Final Stage: Sunday, June 8, Brescia - Milano

Ascents: Ghisallo (754m), Brinzio (508m)

Michele Mara: 9hr 50min 5sec Carlo Rovida s.t. Pierino Ferioli s.t. Learco Guerra s.t. Alfredo Dinale s.t. Fabio Battesini s.t. Antonio Pesenti s.t. Giovanni Pizzarelli s.t. Ambrogio Morelli s.t. Alfredo Carniselli s.t.

1930 Giro d'Italia Complete Final General Classification

Teams:

Bianchi-Pirelli

Dei-Pirelli

Gloria-Hutchinson

Legnano-Pirelli

Maino-Clément

Prina-Hutchinson

The Story of the 1930 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 or electronic. The Amazon link here will make either purchase easy.

The Giro organization decided that Binda was suffocating the Giro. So convinced were they that Binda was costing the Giro d’Italia the tension and excitement that was needed to inflame the sports fans, they decided that the race was better off without him. Emilio Bozzi, the owner of Binda’s sponsor Legnano, was approached with an offer of 22,500 lire, the amount of the first place prize, to keep Binda at home. Bozzi agreed to the scandalous offer and the 1930 Giro was run without Italy’s finest rider.

For years Tour boss Henri Desgrange had wanted the magnificent Italian to ride his race. But Binda had always demurred, preferring to concentrate on the Giro, which was the most valuable race for his Italian sponsor. With no Giro for Binda to race, Desgrange renewed his courtship. So desperate was Desgrange to get Binda, he did what he claimed he would never do, offer start money. Binda and Desgrange came to an agreement that was to remain secret. Thinking he had Gazzetta’s lire jangling in his pocket along with Desgrange’s francs, he headed off to France.

Legnano reaped a magnificent publicity windfall from the Binda non-entry, Binda’s absence being the big story when the race began. But that didn’t mean Legnano had no intention of winning this Giro. They brought a 21-year old neo-pro, Luigi Marchisio, along with Alfredo Binda’s brother Albino, Angelo Gremo and Leonida Frascarelli.

Dei Bicycles had Pancera and Antonio Pesenti, Bianchi brought Piemontesi and Negrini while the Maino team had young riders Di Paco, Guerra and Luigi Giacobbe.

The Giro wanted to spice up their race and having Binda take a May vacation was only part of their plan. Now that Girardengo was in the sunset of his career, the promoters were looking for a rider who would fire the public’s imagination and be a true rival to Binda. Sports are more exciting when the outcome is impossible to forecast. They were casting about for the “Anti-Binda” and they thought they had found their Lancelot (perhaps more correctly for Italy, their Orlando) in Learco Guerra. As we’ll see, Guerra needed a bit more time to mature before he could truly compete with Binda.

For the first time the Giro started in Sicily. Like the Giro’s other extended periods in southern Italy during this era, the Sicilian adventure was harassed by myriad organizational mishaps.

Starting in Messina, they scheduled three stages on the island, visiting Catania and Palermo before returning to Messina. The result of the Sicilian tour was a surprise. Twenty-one year old Luigi Marchisio was the leader by 2 minutes 22 seconds over Giacobbe.

When the peloton rode by Mount Etna, the almost always-active volcano was spewing ash into the air and Marchisio got a piece in his eye. He was forced to race the first half of the Giro with a bandage, but the injury didn’t deter the young rider from Piedmont.

Two days after Marchisio’s triumph in Messina, the race resumed on the mainland at Reggio Calabria on Italy’s toe. Again the young Marchisio astonished the tifosi by coming in alone in Catanzaro, beating Di Paco by a half-minute and Giacobbe by a minute and a half.

After the fourth stage the General Classification now stood thus:

1. Luigi Marchisio

2. Luigi Giacobbe @ 4 minutes 33 seconds

3. Allegro Grandi @ 7 minutes 23 seconds

4. Ambrogio Morelli @ 8 minutes 18 seconds

Giacobbe stole a march on Marchisio when he, Di Paco, Grandi and Gremo left several of the big guns over four minutes behind on the hilly run-in to Salerno. Now the Giro was a real race with only 33 seconds between the leader Marchisio and the persistent challenger Giacobbe, also young at just 23.

1930 Giro's major protagonists: Luigi Marchisio (left, in Legnano kit) and Luigi Giacobbe.

The eighth stage is remembered because it was the first Giro stage win for third-year pro Learco Guerra. Colombo called him the “Human Locomotive” because of his ability to power his bike at high speed over the flats, and the name stuck. Guerra was to become one of the winningest riders in cycling history and Binda’s second rival, after Girardengo, for Italy’s affection.

As the race continued northward, Marchisio and Giacobbe kept their hammerlock on the first two places, but Marchisio was unable to widen the gap any more than the 52 seconds he had managed to squeak out by the ninth stage. If Marchisio broke away—as he did in stage nine with Michele Mara, Morelli, Gremo and Guerra—Giacobbe was alert as a sheepdog and right there at Marchisio’s shoulder. Bianchi’s Allegro Grandi was the only other General Classification rider racing at the level of Marchisio and Giacobbe. The rest of the field was forced to scramble for the scraps the top three riders left to them.

Over the remaining six stages neither Giacobbe nor Marchisio could change the 52-second gap. When the race’s 67 survivors stormed into Milan on June 8, the two riders had given the fans a stirring and tension-filled three weeks.

Moreover, the youth of these top two riders and the exciting, spirited riding that Di Paco, Mara and Guerra brought to the race made Binda’s absence a non-issue. Once the race was underway Binda was largely unmissed.

At 21 years 1 month 13 days, Luigi Marchisio was the youngest Giro winner to date.

Marchisio, yet another of the era’s superb riders from Piedmont (Giacobbe was also from Piedmont), never again rose to the heights he attained in the 1930 Giro. One can’t help but think that he was too young to lead a Grand Tour from almost its beginning to its end. More than one brilliant young rider has been ruined by having raced too much too soon.

Luigi Marchisio, winner of the 1930 Giro d'Italia

Final 1930 Giro d’Italia General Classification:

1. Luigi Marchisio (Legnano-Pirelli) 115 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds

2. Luigi Giacobbe (Maino) @ 52 seconds

3. Allegro Grandi (Bianchi) @ 1 minute 49 seconds

4. Ambrogio Morelli (Gloria) @ 11 minutes 12 seconds

5. Antonio Pesenti (Dei) @ 16 minutes 1 second

Guerra’s 1930 season turned out to be a spectacular prelude to a magnificent career. In July he came in second in the Tour, winning three stages and holding the lead for seven days. He was second in the World Championships (to Binda) and third in the Tour of Lombardy.

The 1930 Giro was a banner race for another rider, Michele Mara. Mara was a sprinter and unable to contest for the General Classification because, like nearly his entire breed, he lost too much time in the mountains. But by the end of the race he won five stages, including the final one into Milan. It wasn’t just the 1930 Giro that was good for Mara. The entire year was his oyster. In addition to five Giro stages he won Milan–San Remo, Rome–Naples–Rome and the Tour of Lombardy.

And how did Binda’s trip to France turn out? The Tour had done away with trade teams, putting the riders in national teams instead. The Italian team sported Binda, Piemontesi, Pancera, Guerra, Belloni, Gremo, Frascarelli and Marco Giuntelli. It was a fine squad and only the French team was powerful enough to keep the Italians from taking the final Yellow Jersey in Paris.

The Italian team had acquitted itself well in the early stages with Learco Guerra taking the lead after stage two. Binda won two stages and was in third place when he crashed in stage seven, losing an hour and any chance of a high placing. He abandoned during stage ten, the second day in the Pyrenees.

Binda’s retirement from the Tour baffled contemporary Italian writers. There really seemed no reason for him to return home. He won stage nine going over the Aubisque and Tourmalet, finishing with French team riders Antonin Magne and eventual overall winner André Leducq. It was during this stage that Guerra lost his lead in the Tour, Binda and the Frenchmen having come in over thirteen minutes ahead.

Two days later, still in the Pyrenees, Binda led over the first major ascent of the day, the Portet d’Aspet. Clearly he was in fine shape but he quit that day and isn’t listed among the day’s classified finishers. Only later did he reveal that he was troubled that the Giro organization hadn’t paid him his non-start money. Presumably with Desgrange’s dough secure in his bank account, he went back to Italy to shake the Giro money tree.

The Tour start-money deal might have remained a secret forever, but in 1980, six years before his death, Binda spilled the beans. With no Giro, Binda’s real goal for the year had been the World Championship, and in the fall Binda again became Champion of the World.