1953 Giro d'Italia

The peloton riding through St. Peter's Square during the tenth stage of the race.

Sixteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1953 edition of the Giro d'Italia.[6] Like the Tour de France the teams were nation based for the first time at the Giro,[7] with each national team being sponsored by an Italian brand.[8] Each team sent a squad of seven riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 112 cyclists.[6][9] From the riders that began the race, 72 made it to the finish in Milan.[8] In total there were 35 foreign riders that started the race.[9]

The teams entering the race were:[6]

The "Big Three" of Gino Bartali (Bartali), Fausto Coppi (Bianchi), and Fiorenzo Magni (Ganna) were expected to dominate the general classification.[9] A La Liberté writer felt that young riders Giancarlo Astrua (Atala), Nino Defilippis (Legnano), Pasquale Fornara (Bottecchia), and climber Bruno Monti (Arbos) would be exciting to watch throughout the race to see their potential.[9][7] French rider and Swiss riders were thought to be very strong, while Spanish riders Bernardo Ruiz and Michel Gual were thought to be their country's best riders.[9][10] Swiss rider and former Giro winner Hugo Koblet (Cilo) was regarded as being in sensational form entering the Giro, coming off a win at the Tour de Romandie.[7][8] Taking that into account with his good health, the media felt Koblet could be the one to challenge Coppi best.[7][8][10]

A notable absence from the race was Bianchi rider Loretto Petrucci who had won the previous two Milan–San Remo, who was not brought to the race because of his young age according to his team; however, he had previously raced in 1951 and 1952.[7] A La Sentinelle writer believed that Petrucci's omission from the race was due to Petrucci's desire to race for victories and not for the team leader Coppi.[7]

On 26 March, the route was announced to be from 12 May to 28 May.[11] It was later rumored on 30 March, that the race may include the Olympic stadium.[12] The full route was later unveiled on 9 April 1953, with a changed finale on the 2 June.[13][14][15][16] The race route featured 20 days of racing spread across 22 days as 20 May in Pisa and 27 May in San Pellegrino were set aside as rest days.[9]

Stage characteristics and results[8]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	12 May	Milan to Abano Terme	263 km (163 mi)		Plain stage	Wim Van Est (NED)
2	13 May	Abano Terme to Rimini	278 km (173 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Pasquale Fornara (ITA)
3	14 May	Rimini to San Benedetto del Tronto	182 km (113 mi)		Plain stage	Albino Crespi (ITA)
4	15 May	San Benedetto del Tronto to Roccaraso	171 km (106 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
5	16 May	Roccaraso to Naples	149 km (93 mi)		Plain stage	Ettore Milano (ITA)
6	17 May	Naples to Rome	285 km (177 mi)		Plain stage	Giuseppe Minardi (ITA)
7	18 May	Rome to Grosseto	178 km (111 mi)		Plain stage	Giovanni Corrieri (ITA)
8		Grosseto to Follonica	48 km (30 mi)		Individual time trial	Hugo Koblet (SUI)
9	19 May	Follonica to Pisa	114 km (71 mi)		Plain stage	Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
	20 May	Rest day
10	21 May	Pisa to Modena	189 km (117 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
11	22 May	Modena to Modena	30 km (19 mi)		Team time trial	Bianchi
12	23 May	Modena to Genoa	278 km (173 mi)		Plain stage	Giorgio Albani (ITA)
13	24 May	Genoa to Bordighera	256 km (159 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Oreste Conte (ITA)
14	25 May	Bordighera to Turin	242 km (150 mi)		Plain stage	Pietro Giudici (ITA)
15	26 May	Turin to San Pellegrino Terme	232 km (144 mi)		Plain stage	Nino Assirelli (ITA)
	27 May	Rest day
16	28 May	San Pellegrino Terme to Riva del Garda	279 km (173 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
17	29 May	Riva del Garda to Vicenza	166 km (103 mi)		Plain stage	Bruno Monti (ITA)
18	30 May	Vicenza to Auronzo di Cadore	186 km (116 mi)		Plain stage	Bruno Monti (ITA)
19	31 May	Auronzo di Cadore to Bolzano	164 km (102 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
20	1 June	Bolzano to Bormio	125 km (78 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Fausto Coppi (ITA)
21	2 June	Bormio to Milan	220 km (137 mi)		Plain stage	Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
	Total		4,035.5 km (2,508 mi)

The race started outside the Piazza del Duomo in Milan.[17] Ferdinand Kubler withdrew from the race early on due to disputes.[17]

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.[18] Time bonuses were awarded to the stage winner and the first riders to summit categorized climbs.[9] Riders were allowed to have teammates and team cars help to following accidents and punctures.[9] "Strollers" in years past were punished with small fines, but in this edition of the race they were punished by time adjustments and repeat offenses may lead to disqualification from the race.[9] The winner of the race received 1 million lire, while the remainder of the podium received 450,000 lire each.[10]

Two additional jerseys were in use. The green jersey was given to the best foreign cyclist in the general classification; at the end of the Giro it was worn by Swiss Hugo Koblet. The white jersey was given to the best cyclist riding with a licence for independents; this was won by Angelo Conterno.[19] The winner of each classification earned 500,000 lire.[10]

The mountains classification leader was not identified by a special jersey. The climbs all awarded three points to the first rider and one point to the second rider to cross the summit. There was one category for mountains which awarded five points down to one point for the first riders to cross the summit.[20] The winner of the mountains classification was given 400,000 lire.[10] Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time. The team winning team received 2.5 million lire.[10]

Each day leading the general classification earned the rider and his team 100,000 lira, while the independent rider and foreign rider earned 25,000 lira each day for leading their respective classifications.[10][21]

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Best foreign rider	Best independent rider	Mountains classification	Team classification
1	Wim Van Est	Wim Van Est	Wim Van Est	Alfo Ferrari	not awarded	Locomotief
2	Pasquale Fornara	Guido De Santi	Hugo Koblet	Elio Brasola	Pasquale Fornara	Levriere
3	Albino Crespi
4	Fausto Coppi	Pasquale Fornara	Louison Bobet			Bianchi & Francia
5	Ettore Milano
6	Giuseppe Minardi	Guido De Santi	Hugo Koblet
7	Giovanni Corrieri	Giovanni Corrieri		Arrigo Padovan
8	Hugo Koblet	Hugo Koblet		Elio Brasola		Bartali
9	Rik Van Steenbergen
10	Fiorenzo Magni					Bianchi
11	Bianchi					Bartali
12	Giorgio Albani
13	Oreste Conte
14	Pietro Giudici			Angelo Conterno
15	Nino Assirelli					Bottecchia
16	Fiorenzo Magni					Ganna
17	Bruno Monti
18	Bruno Monti
19	Fausto Coppi
20	Fausto Coppi	Fausto Coppi
21	Fiorenzo Magni
Final		Fausto Coppi	Hugo Koblet	Angelo Conterno	Pasquale Fornara	Ganna