History of the Giro d'Italia

Alfredo Binda won five editions of the race over a period of nine years, before Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi consistently asserted their superiority in the Giro d'Italia.

Spanish rider Miguel Induráin won two consecutive Giros d'Italia, in 1992 and 1993, with his victories being followed by wins by Evgeni Berzin, Tony Rominger, and Pavel Tonkov.

The next ten editions of the race were won by Italian riders, including the likes of Marco Pantani, Paolo Savoldelli, and Gilberto Simoni.

Contador originally won the 2011 Giro d'Italia, but after a positive drug test result was found, his victory was stripped and given to Michele Scarponi.

[15] Carlo Oriani — who had just gotten out of serving the Italian military in the Italo-Turkish War — won the event by six points over the second-place finisher, Eberardo Pavesi.

[30] The event witnessed Alfredo Binda win twelve stages and lead the race from start to finish en route to his second overall victory.

[38] After Alfredo Binda abandoned the race because of injuries sustained from being hit by a police motorcycle, Guerra's biggest competitor was Francesco Camusso.

[41] The organizers of the race included the first uphill individual time trial in the Giro's history, which travelled 20 km (12 mi) up to the summit of Monte Terminillo.

[42][45][46] Bartali came to the 1940 Giro d'Italia with a strong Legnano team and high ambitions to win the overall crown; however his hopes were derailed when he crashed in the race's second stage and lost time.

[47] Coppi donned the general classification leader's pink jersey after attacking on the Abetone in the race's eleventh stage and managed to keep the lead all the way to the event's finish in Milan.

[54] After the ninth stage of the 1949 edition, Fausto Coppi was close to ten minutes behind the race leader Adolfo Leoni in the general classification.

[55][56] Coppi came into the 1950 Giro d'Italia as the favorite to win the general classification; however, bad luck struck as he broke his pelvis in the race's ninth day.

[66] Eventual winner Carlo Clerici attacked during the sixth leg and gained enough of a time advantage over the rest of the peloton and win the Giro d'Italia.

[77] During the eighteenth stage, Gaul stopped to urinate which led his fierce rival Louison Bobet to initiate an attack with Gastone Nencini and Miguel Poblet.

[85] Anquetil retained a twenty-eight second lead that proved to be enough to last to the race's finish, making him the first French winner of the Giro d'Italia.

[5][85][86] Arnaldo Pambianco captured his lone Giro victory after his efforts in a breakaway on the 1961 edition's fourteenth stage gave him the race lead.

[5][93][94] Despite the best attempts of Franco Balmamion and Italo Zilioli, Anquetil managed to keep his lead until the race's conclusion to win his second Giro d'Italia.

[3][96] During the 1967 edition's twentieth stage, Felice Gimondi attacked on the slopes of the Tonale and race leader Anquetil was not able to match his move.

[100] Belgian Eddy Merckx won his first Giro d'Italia after winning the twelfth stage's finish atop the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and also regaining the race lead.

[106] Felice Gimondi lost substantial time early on in the race to put him out of contention, while fellow Italian and teammate Gianni Motta tested positive for banned substances and was dismissed from the Giro.

[112][113] Merckx success continued on into the season as he won the Tour de France and the men's road race at the World Championships and became the first rider to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling – which consists of winning two Grand Tours and the men's road race at the World Championships in one calendar year.

[139] Roche's success would not stop there during the 1987 season, he would go on to win the Tour de France and the men's road race at the World Championships to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling.

[154] The 1994 Giro d'Italia saw Russian Evgeni Berzin gain the overall lead after winning the fourth stage, featuring a summit finish on Campitello Matese.

[156] The 1996 Giro d'Italia celebrated the centenary of the founding of La Gazzetta dello Sport by holding the first three stages in the Greek capital of Athens.

[157] Eventual winner Pavel Tonkov first gained the race lead after the mountainous thirteenth stage that ended in Prato Nevoso.

[157] Tonkov lost his slim lead to the Spaniard Abraham Olano for a two-stage period, before regaining it after stage 21, which contained five climbs of high severity.

[186] Di Luca was not seriously challenged after taking the race lead in stage 12, and comfortably won the Giro in Milan with a two-minute gap over Schleck in second.

[195] Basso fended off attacks and performed adequately in the final time trial to secure his second Giro d'Italia victory.

[200] On 6 February 2012 the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided that Contador should lose his 2010 Tour de France title and his results since that race, which included his Giro victory in May 2011, and receive a two-year ban.

The 2021 edition was won by Egan Bernal who dominated the race for the most part with only underdog and career long Domestique Damiano Caruso finishing inside +2:00 of him.