GIRO D’ITALIA : 100 Year Anniversary
The 2009 centenary race will pay homage to the 1909 first race by including the original eight cities that traced the original route. The first Giro d’Italia took place from the 13th to 20th of May 1909 and was composed of 8 stages with a total distance of 1,520 miles. At the start of the first “Corsa Rosa”, there were 127 riders, (all Italian except for 4 French riders) and only 49 of them finished the race.
Only in 1914 did the general ranking begin to be based upon on the total time added up on all stages. The leader of the general ranking in the Giro d’Italia wears a pink jersey since (maglia rosa) 1931 because the pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport are pink. The Giro d’Italia has since been organized every year, except for the two periods of World Wars: from 1915 till 1918 and from 1940 till 1945.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Giro d’Italia the event will finish this year in Rome on Sunday, May 31st. The time trial course starts and finishes on the Via dei Fori Imperiali and will pass such historical sites as the Porta Pia, the Piazza del Popolo, the Piazza Venezia and the Colosseo.
May 19, 2009
Posted in: Italy