page_title: History of the Giro d'Italia
section_title: 1910–1953: Italian domination
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Giro d'Italia / 1910–1953: Italian domination
context_page_description: The Giro d'Italia is an annual stage race bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; however it is currently run by RCS Sport. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
  The first edition of the race was won by Italian Luigi Ganna who had the fewest total points at the end of the race; the same format was used for the next two years and also resulted in an Italian cyclist winning. The 1912 Giro saw the general classification contested by teams, which Atala-Dunlop won by ten points. The following year they reverted to the original system, before switching to the aggregate time model in 1914. 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.
context_section_description: During these years, and up until 1950, the winners of the Giro d'Italia were exclusively of Italian descent. The inaugural race was such a success that the organizers added two more stages and over 500 km (311 mi) to the race. In addition, the organizers restructured the point distribution to determine the overall leader; the stage winner would get one point for finishing first, second place got two points, and so on until the 51st and up finishers, who would just receive 51 points. The first non-Italian stage winner, Jean-Baptiste Dortignacq, came in the 1910 edition of the race; he won the second stage of the race. Carlo Galetti led from stage two until the finish. The 1911 Giro d'Italia was the first Giro to not have the start or finish of the race in Milan. The start and finish for the race was moved to the Italian capital Rome to celebrate Italy's 50th anniversary of unification. This race also saw the first foreign rider to lead the race, the Frenchmen Lucien Petit-Breton, as well as the first repeat winner of the race in Carlo Galetti.
  The 1912 Giro d'Italia saw some big changes to how the general classification was to be run; the race was to be centered around the team instead of the individual, meaning that the leader of the race would be a single team. Teams were allowed only four riders for each squad and were awarded points towards the general classification based on stage placings. The changes to the general classification were met with strong opposition from the start. Fourteen teams lined up at the start in Milan. Atala-Dunlop, which consisted of Luigi Ganna, Carlo Galetti, Eberardo Pavesi, and Giovanni Micheletto, led the race in all but one stage. Ganna was the only member of Atala-Dunlop that didn't finish the race, as he dropped out during the fifth stage. Galetti became the first three-time winner of the Giro d'Italia.
  The following year's race was the last Giro to be run with a points system. The race saw the first appearance of Costante Girardengo, who won the sixth stage, and would come to dominate the Giro in the future. 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. The 1914 Giro d'Italia saw the calculation of the general classification shift from a points system to a time based system. In the new system, every rider's finishing time for each stage is totaled together and the rider with the lowest total time is the overall leader. Out of the eighty-one riders entered the race only eight of them finished. The grueling race was won by Alfonso Calzolari, who won by almost two hours over the second-place finisher. A Giro was planned for 1915, but the plans were scrapped when Italy entered World War I.
  After the Great War ended, the race resumed in 1919. This edition of the race navigated through the ruined parts of Northern Italy, which made it hard for the organizers and riders. Costante Girardengo — the eventual winner — became the first rider to lead the Giro from start to finish. En route to winning overall, Girardengo won seven of the ten stages that composed the event. In addition, the Belgian Marcel Buysse became the first foreigner to finish on the podium; Buysse finished third overall, over an hour slower than Girardengo. The following year's Giro began with close to fifty riders and finished with ten. The first stage of the 1920 Giro d'Italia briefly went into Switzerland, which was the first time that the Giro had ever left its home country of Italy. Girardengo came into the race the favorite, but injuries sustained from crashing in the second stage forced him to withdraw. During the second stage, Gaetano Belloni capitalized on Girardengo's, race leader Giuseppe Olivieri's, Carlo Galetti's withdrawal to win the second stage and take the lead. Belloni, known by many as "the Eternal Second,  went on to win the Giro and proved he could win a race.
  Costante Girardengo won the first four stages of the 1921 Giro d'Italia and was leader after the fourth day. During the 
caption: Costante Girardengo was the first rider to lead a Giro d'Italia from start to finish.
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