1961 Giro d'Italia

The 1961 Giro d'Italia was the 44th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Turin, on 20 May, with a 115 km (71.5 mi) stage and concluded in Milan, on 11 June, with a 214 km (133.0 mi) leg. A total of 170 riders from 17 teams entered the 21-stage race, which was won by Italian Arnaldo Pambianco of the Fides team. The second and third places were taken by Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and Spaniard Antonio Suárez, respectively.^[1][2]

1961 Giro d'Italia

The race route for the 1961 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates	20 May - 11 June 1961
Stages	21
Distance	4,001 km (2,486 mi)
Winning time	111h 25' 28"
Results
Winner  Arnaldo Pambianco (ITA) (Fides)   Second  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (Helyett–Fynsec–Hutchinson)   Third  Antonio Suárez (ESP) (EMI)   Mountains  Vito Taccone (ITA) (Atala)   Team Faema
← 1960 1962 →

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1961 Giro d'Italia

A total of 17 teams were invited to participate in the 1961 Giro d'Italia.^[3] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 170 cyclists.^[3] Out of the 170 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 92 riders made it to the finish in Milan.^[4][5] Legnano initially threatened to not participate in the Giro.^[6]

The 17 teams that took part in the race were:^[3]

Atala Baratti Bianchi Carpano EMI Faema

Fides Helyett–Fynsec–Hutchinson Gazzola–Fiorelli Ghigi Ignis Legnano

Molteni Philco San Pelligrino Torpado VOV

Pre-race favorites

There was initial belief that Charly Gaul would not race the Giro.^[7]

Route and stages

Armando di Maria (left, Carpano) helping Gianni Ferlenghi (right, Gazzola–Fiorelli) dump a bucket of water on his head during the sixteenth stage of the race.

The route was revealed on 22 April 1961.^[8][9]

Stage characteristics and winners^[5]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	20 May	Turin to Turin	115 km (71 mi)		Plain stage	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
2	21 May	Turin to Sanremo	185 km (115 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
3	22 May	Sanremo to Genoa	149 km (93 mi)		Plain stage	Willy Schroeders (BEL)
4	23 May	Cagliari to Cagliari	118 km (73 mi)		Plain stage	Oreste Magni (ITA)
5	24 May	Marsala to Palermo	144 km (89 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Louis Proost (BEL)
	25 May	Rest day
6	26 May	Palermo to Milazzo	224 km (139 mi)		Plain stage	Nino Defilippis (ITA)
7	27 May	Reggio Calabria to Cosenza	221 km (137 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Antonio Suárez (ESP)
8	28 May	Cosenza to Taranto	237 km (147 mi)		Plain stage	Piet van Est (NED)
9	29 May	Castellana Grotte to Bari	53 km (33 mi)		Individual time trial	Jacques Anquetil (FRA)
10	30 May	Bari to Potenza	140 km (87 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Vito Taccone (ITA)
11	31 May	Potenza to Teano	252 km (157 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Pietro Chiodini (ITA)
12	1 June	Gaeta to Rome	149 km (93 mi)		Plain stage	Renato Giusti (ITA)
13	2 June	Mentana to Castelfidardo	279 km (173 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Rik Van Looy (BEL)
14	3 June	Ancona to Florence	250 km (155 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Silvano Ciampi (ITA)
15	4 June	Florence to Modena	178 km (111 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Rik Van Looy (BEL)
16	5 June	Modena to Vicenza	207 km (129 mi)		Plain stage	Adriano Zamboni (ITA)
17	6 June	Vicenza to Trieste	204 km (127 mi)		Plain stage	Rik Van Looy (BEL)
	7 June	Rest day
18	8 June	Trieste to Vittorio Veneto	161 km (100 mi)		Plain stage	Renato Giusti (ITA)
19	9 June	Vittorio Veneto to Trento	249 km (155 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Willy Schroeders (BEL)
20	10 June	Trento to Bormio	275 km (171 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Charly Gaul (LUX)
21	11 June	Bormio to Milan	214 km (133 mi)		Plain stage	Miguel Poblet (ESP)
	Total		4,004 km (2,488 mi)

Classification leadership

One jersey was worn during the 1961 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.^[10]

The mountains classification leader. The climbs were ranked in first and second categories. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. There were three categories of mountains. The first category awarded 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 points, the second distributed 40, 30, 20, and 10 points,^[11] and the third category gave 30, 20, and 10 points.^[12] 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.^[10]

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Mountains classification	Team classification
1	Miguel Poblet	Miguel Poblet	not awarded	Ignis
2	Miguel Poblet		Angelo Conterno
3	Willy Schroeders			Faema
4	Oreste Magni
5	Louis Proost
6	Nino Defilippis
7	Antonio Suárez	Antonio Suárez	Angelo Conterno & Edouard Delberghe
8	Piet van Est	Guillaume Van Tongerloo
9	Jacques Anquetil
10	Vito Taccone	Jacques Anquetil
11	Pietro Chiodini		Vito Taccone & Federico Bahamontes
12	Renato Giusti
13	Rik Van Looy
14	Silvano Ciampi	Arnaldo Pambianco	Vito Taccone
15	Rik Van Looy
16	Adriano Zamboni
17	Rik Van Looy
18	Renato Giusti
19	Willy Schroeders
20	Charly Gaul
21	Miguel Poblet
Final		Arnaldo Pambianco	Vito Taccone	Faema

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification[5]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[5][13][14]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Arnaldo Pambianco (ITA)	Fides	111h 25' 28"
2	Jacques Anquetil (FRA)	Helyett–Fynsec–Hutchinson	+ 3' 45"
3	Antonio Suárez (ESP)	EMI	+ 4' 17"
4	Charly Gaul (LUX)	Gazzola–Fiorelli	+ 4' 22"
5	Guido Carlesi (ITA)	Philco	+ 8' 08"
6	Hans Junkermann (GER)	Gazzola–Fiorelli	+ 12' 25"
7	Rik Van Looy (BEL)	Faema	+ 12' 38"
8	Guillaume Van Tongerloo (BEL)	Faema	+ 14' 18"
9	Carlo Brugnami (ITA)	Torpado	+ 16' 05"
10	Nino Defilippis (ITA)	Carpano	+ 16' 23"

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)^[5][14][15]

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Vito Taccone (ITA)	Atala	270
2	Gabriel Mas (ESP)	EMI	130
3	Imerio Massignan (ITA)	Legnano	120
4	Hans Junkermann (GER)	Gazzola–Fiorelli	70
	Jesús Galdeano (ESP)	EMI
	Angelo Conterno (ITA)	Baratti
7	Guido Carlesi (ITA)	Philco	50
	Rik Van Looy (BEL)	Faema
	Charly Gaul (LUX)	Gazzola–Fiorelli
10	Edouard Delberghe (FRA)	Helyett–Fynsec–Hutchinson	40
	Arnaldo Pambianco (ITA)	Fides

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)^[4][14]

Rank	Team	Points
1	Faema	4959
2	Torpado	1964
3	Ignis	1787
4	EMI	1591
5	Molteni	1326
6	Bianchi	1137
7	Baratti	1010
8	Helyett–Fynsec–Hutchinson	950
9	Fides	849
10	Atala	838