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Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia is one of the most prominent annual cycling tournaments in the world, widely referred to as the May Feast by Italians. The professional long-distance competition is held over three weeks in May-June each year, attended by almost a million spectators, and watched on TV by millions more. It has gradually grown in popularity year after year, becoming a mobile town of sorts. It employs around 2000 staff members.

All Italian and many foreign medias cover this event. It is one of the three Grand Tours, the other two being the Vuelta a Espana and the Tour de France. Its establishment is associated with the Gazzetta dello Sport periodical, founded in 1896. It originally aimed to replicate the Tour de France. The competition was intended to popularise the Gazzetta, just as the Tour was intended to popularise a French newspaper. The Gazzetta acquired its trademark pink colour three years later, matched by the cyclists' jerseys today. The Gazzetta informed of the first edition of the Giro d'Italia in 1909. It commenced in Milan on May 13 that year. The course had a length of 2448 km, and there were 127 racers, of which just 49 made it back to Milan. The winner was Luigi Ganna, who received a cash award in the amount of 5.325 Lire.

The first to don the trademark pink uniform was Learco Guerra, who won the 19th edition of the competition. The Mountain Grand Prize was inaugurated in 1933. The notion of qualification points was implemented in 1966. The leader in terms of points wears a purple jersey, and the winner of the Intergiro, a face-off held on a daily basis, wears a blue jersey.

Some highlights of the tournament include the 1925 competition, when the first female cyclist joined the race. She competed with the men, causing a scandal, but triumphantly arrived back to Milan, successfully completing the course. Alfredo Binda won the tournament next year, as well as the next three ones. Race organizers refused to let him participate from then on, as his superior ability had rendered him somewhat of a monopolist racer. Therefore he did not take part in 1930, which mattered little to him, as he got a cash award in the same amount he would have gotten if he had won.

The 1923 edition was the first one ever to be filmed. It was very impressive, even though this was still the silent film age. The first Giro was broadcast live in 1953, and the event has enjoyed a productive relationship with the media since then. Data for the most recent edition indicates a 33% share of TV audience. The tournament received frequent radio coverage as well.

The 88th edition of the Giro was held from May 7 to May 29, 2005. It featured a tough competition between Ivan Basso, Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli, all world-famous cyclists. Native racer Paolo "The Falcon" Savoldelli finally emerged as the winner. He also won the 2002 tournament. In 2005 he impressed with high downhill speed, and his descent down the final slope helped him overtake the leading group. He also won the 17th round of the Tour de France in 2005.

Another Italian holds the honor of highest number of wins. In the history of the Giro Felice Gimondi won third place four times, second place twice, and first place three times.