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1981 Giro d'Italia
Race details
Dates	13 May – 7 June 1981
Stages	22 + Prologue, including one split stage
Distance	3,895.6 km (2,421 mi)
Winning time	104h 50' 36"
Results
	Winner
	Second
	Third
	Points
	Mountains
	Youth
	Team
	Team points
	← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Giro d'Italia was the 64th running of the Giro. It started in Brescia, on 13 May, with a 6.6 km (4.1 mi) prologue and concluded in Verona, on 7 June, with a 42 km (26.1 mi) individual time trial. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 22-stage race, that was won by Italian Giovanni Battaglin of the Inoxpran team. The second and third places were taken by Swede Tommy Prim and Italian Giuseppe Saronni, respectively.^[1]

Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Gis Gelati-Campagnolo's Saronni won the points classification, Claudio Bortolotto of Santini-Selle Italia won the mountains classification, and Hoonved-Bottecchia's Giuseppe Faraca completed the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing eleventh overall. Bianchi-Piaggio finishing as the winners of the team classification, ranking each of the twenty teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time. In addition, Bianchi-Piaggio won the team points classification.

Teams

A total of thirteen teams were invited to participate in the 1981 Giro d'Italia.^[2] Each team sent a squad of nine riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists.^[2]^[3] From the riders that began this edition, 104 made it to the finish in Verona.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The teams entering the race were:

Bianchi-Piaggio
Cilo-Aufina
Famcucine–Campagnolo
Gemeaz Cusin-Zor-Helios
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo

Hoonved-Bottecchia
Inoxpran
Kotter's-G.B.C.
Magniflex-Olmo

Safir-Galli-Maillard
Sammontana-Benotto
Santini-Selle Italia
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli

Route and stages

The route for the 1981 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani on 21 February 1981.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] Covering a total of 3,895.6 km (2,420.6 mi), it included four time trials (three individual and one for teams), and ten stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points.^[3] Two of these ten stages had summit finishes: stage 17, to Borno; and stage 20, to Tre Cime di Lavaredo.^[10] The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 129.4 km (80 mi) shorter and contained one more time trial. In addition, this race contained one more set of split stages.

Stage characteristics and winners^[3]^[7]^[10]^[11]
Stage	Date	Course	Distance		Winner
P	13 May	Trieste	6.6 km (4 mi)	Individual time trial	Knut Knudsen (NOR)
1a	14 May	Trieste to Bibione	100 km (62 mi)	Plain stage	Guido Bontempi (ITA)
1b	14 May	Lignano Sabbiadoro to Bibione	15 km (9 mi)	Team time trial	Hoonved-Bottecchia
2	15 May	Bibione to Ferrara	211 km (131 mi)	Plain stage	Paolo Rosola (ITA)
3	16 May	Bologna to Recanati	255 km (158 mi)	Plain stage	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
	17 May	Rest day
4	18 May	Recanati to Lanciano	214 km (133 mi)	Plain stage	Mario Beccia (ITA)
5	19 May	Marina di San Vito to Rodi Garganico	180 km (112 mi)	Plain stage	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
6	20 May	Rodi Garganico to Bari	225 km (140 mi)	Plain stage	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
7	21 May	Bari to Potenza	143 km (89 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Palmiro Masciarelli (ITA)
8	22 May	Sala Consilina to Cosenza	202 km (126 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Moreno Argentin (ITA)
9	23 May	Cosenza to Reggio Calabria	231 km (144 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Serge Parsani (ITA)
	24 May	Rest day
10	25 May	Rome to Cascia	166 km (103 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)
11	26 May	Cascia to Arezzo	199 km (124 mi)	Plain stage	Giovanni Renosto (ITA)
12	27 May	Arezzo to Livorno Montenero	224 km (139 mi)	Plain stage	Moreno Argentin (ITA)
13	28 May	Empoli to Montecatini Terme	35 km (22 mi)	Individual time trial	Knut Knudsen (NOR)
14	29 May	Montecatini Terme to Salsomaggiore Terme	224 km (139 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Francesco Moser (ITA)
15	30 May	Salsomaggiore Terme to Pavia	198 km (123 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Daniel Gisiger (SUI)
16	31 May	Milan to Mantua	178 km (111 mi)	Plain stage	Claudio Torelli (ITA)
17	1 June	Mantua to Borno	215 km (134 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Benedetto Patellaro (ITA)
18	2 June	Borno to Dimaro	127 km (79 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Miguel María Lasa (ESP)
	3 June	Rest day
19	4 June	Dimaro to San Vigilio di Marebbe	208 km (129 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Giovanni Battaglin (ITA)
20	5 June	San Vigilio di Marebbe to Tre Cime di Lavaredo	100 km (62 mi)	Stage with mountain(s)	Beat Breu (SUI)
21	6 June	Auronzo di Cadore to Arzignano	197 km (122 mi)	Plain stage	Pierino Gavazzi (ITA)
22	7 June	Soave to Verona	42 km (26 mi)	Individual time trial	Knut Knudsen (NOR)
	Total		3,895.6 km (2,421 mi)

Classification leadership

Three different jerseys were worn during the 1981 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. The time bonuses for the 1981 Giro were thirty seconds for first, twenty seconds for second, and ten seconds for third place on the stage.^[12]^[13] This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.^[14]

For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.^[14] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.^[10] The first rider to cross the Tre Cime di Lavaredo was Swiss rider Beat Breu. The white jersey was worn by the leader of young rider classification, a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but considering only neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).^[14]

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.^[14] There was another team classification that awarded points to each team based on their riding's finishing position in every stage.^[14] The team with the highest total of points was the leader of the classification.^[14]

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Classification leadership by stage
Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification	Team classification
P	Knut Knudsen	Knut Knudsen	Knut Knudsen	not awarded	?	not awarded
1a	Guido Bontempi	Guido Bontempi	Giovanni Mantovani			not awarded
1b	Hoonved-Bottecchia	Francesco Moser				Hoonved-Bottecchia
2	Paolo Rosola	Gregor Braun				Famcucine-Campagnolo
3	Giuseppe Saronni	Francesco Moser				Famcucine-Campagnolo
4	Mario Beccia					Hoonved-Bottecchia
5	Giuseppe Saronni		Giuseppe Saronni			Famcucine-Campagnolo
6	Giuseppe Saronni	Giuseppe Saronni
7	Palmiro Masciarelli			Beat Breu
8	Moreno Argentin			Bruno Wolfer
9	Serge Parsani			Claudio Bortolotto
10	Gianbattista Baronchelli				Giuseppe Faraca	Bianchi-Piaggio
11	Giovanni Renosto
12	Moreno Argentin
13	Knut Knudsen	Roberto Visentini
14	Francesco Moser	Silvano Contini
15	Daniel Gisiger
16	Claudio Torelli
17	Benedetto Patellaro
18	Miguel María Lasa
19	Giovanni Battaglin
20	Beat Breu	Giovanni Battaglin
21	Pierino Gavazzi
22	Knut Knudsen
Final		Giovanni Battaglin	Giuseppe Saronni	Claudio Bortolotto	Giuseppe Faraca	Bianchi-Piaggio

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification^[3]^[15]		Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification^[3]^[15]
	Denotes the winner of the Points classification^[3]^[15]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[3]^[15]
Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Giovanni Battaglin (ITA)	Inoxpran	104h 50' 36"
2	Tommy Prim (SWE)	Bianchi-Piaggio	+ 38"
3	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)	Gis Gelati-Campagnolo	+ 50"
4	Silvano Contini (ITA)	Bianchi-Piaggio	+ 1' 59"
5	Josef Fuchs (SUI)	Cilo-Aufina	+ 2' 19"
6	Roberto Visentini (ITA)	Sammontana-Benotto	+ 5' 37"
7	Alfio Vandi (ITA)	Selle San Marco-Gabrielli	+ 9' 32"
8	Beat Breu (SUI)	Cilo-Aufina	+ 10' 02"
9	Claudio Bortolotto (ITA)	Santini-Selle Italia	+ 10' 12"
10	Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)	Bianchi-Piaggio	+ 12' 01"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–5)^[3]^[15]
	Rider	Team	Points
1	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)	Gis Gelati-Campagnolo	215
2	Tommy Prim (SWE)	Bianchi-Piaggio	133
3	Giovanni Mantovani (ITA)	Hoonved-Bottecchia	127
4	Francesco Moser (ITA)	Famcucine-Campagnolo	117
5	Silvano Contini (ITA)	Bianchi-Piaggio	112

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)^[3]^[15]
	Rider	Team	Points
1	Claudio Bortolotto (ITA)	Santini-Selle Italia	510
2	Beat Breu (SUI)	Cilo-Aufina	500
3	Benedetto Patellaro (ITA)	Hoonved-Bottecchia	290
4	Giovanni Battaglin (ITA)	Inoxpran	265
5	Leonardo Natale (ITA)	Magniflex-Olmo	180
6	Josef Fuchs (SUI)	Cilo-Aufina	150
7	Mario Noris (ITA)	Magniflex-Olmo	125
8	Guillermo De La Pena (ESP)	Gemeaz Cusin-Zor-Helios	120
8	Francesco Moser (ITA)	Famcucine-Campagnolo	120
10	Alfio Vandi (ITA)	Selle San Marco-Gabrielli	115

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–5)^[3]^[15]
	Rider	Team	Time
1	Giuseppe Faraca (ITA)	Hoonved-Bottecchia	105h 05' 30"
2	Alberto Minetti (ITA)	Famcucine-Campagnolo	+ 23' 51"
3	George Mount (USA)	Sammontana-Benotto	+ 25' 46"
4	Moreno Argentin (ITA)	Sammontana-Benotto	+ 46' 12"
5	Maurizio Piovani (ITA)	Gis Gelati-Campagnolo	+ 46' 40"

Traguardi Fiat classification

Final traguardi fiat classification (1–5)^[15]
	Rider	Team	Points
1	Paolo Rosola (ITA)	Magniflex-Olmo	128
2	Dante Morandi (ITA)	Famcucine-Campagnolo	70
3	Giovanni Renosto (ITA)	Magniflex-Olmo	48
4	Benny Schepmans (BEL)	Safir-Galli-Maillard	33
5	Alessio Antonini (ITA)	Santini-Selle Italia	32

Team classification

Final team classification (1–3)^[3]^[15]
	Team	Time
1	Bianchi-Piaggio	313h 55' 08"
2	Cilo-Aufina	+ 25' 01"
3	Inoxpran	+ 44' 32"

Team points classification

Final team points classification (1–3)^[15]
	Team	Points
1	Bianchi-Piaggio	189
2	Famcucine-Campagnolo	137
3	Hoonved-Bottecchia	129

Aftermath

With his Giro victory, Battaglin completed the Vuelta–Giro double, the second rider to achieve the feat (Eddy Merckx was the first in 1973).^[16] Only 48 days separated the Vuelta's start on 21 April from the Giro's end on 7 June.^[16]

References

Citations

^ "Battaglin: Despues de la <<Vuelta>>... El <<Giro>>" [Battaglin: After the <<Vuelta>>... the <<Giro>>] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 8 June 1981. p. 30. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Centotrenta al via" [One hundred and thirty at the start] (PDF). Stampa Sera (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 13 May 1981. p. 13. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Bill and Carol McGann. "1981 Giro d'Italia". Bike Race Info. Dog Ear Publishing. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
^ "La dernière chance de Franceso Moser" (PDF). La Liberté. 13 May 1981.
^ "Le Tour cycliste d'Italie débute ce jour par le prologue" (PDF). L'Impartial. 13 May 1981.
^ Maurizio Caravella (21 February 1981). "Giro, oggi la presentazione" [Tour, Today the Presentation] (PDF). Stampa Sera (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 31. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b Gian Paolo Ormezzano (22 February 1981). "Il Giro con abbuoni chiama Saronni" [The Giro with rebates called Saronni] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 21. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ Gino Sala (22 February 1981). "Una corsa dal finale tremendo" [A ride from the tremendous final] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ "Presentado El Giro – 81" [Presenting the Tour – 81] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. EFE. 22 February 1981. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Le tappe e le montagne" [The stages and the mountains] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). PCI. 22 February 1981. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ "Un'avventura di 3873 km" [An Adventure of 3873 km] (PDF). Stampa Sera (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. 13 May 1981. p. 28. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ Javier (13 May 1981). "Un <<Giro>> Que <<Fila Prim>>" [A <<Tour>> That <<Fila Prim>>] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo S.A. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ Gian Paolo Ormezzano (13 May 1981). "Trieste offre al Giro la prima maglia rosa" [Trieste offers the Tour's first pink jersey] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 23. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Laura Weislo (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Gian Paolo Ormezzano (8 June 1981). "Giro: i protagonisti divisi da tre secondi" [Tour: the protagonists divided by three seconds] (PDF). La Stampa (in Italian). Editrice La Stampa. p. 12. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b Barry Ryan (11 May 2020). "The Smoking Kangaroo: John Trevorrow and the 1981 Giro d'Italia". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.