1979 Giro d'Italia

Thirteen of the fourteen teams invited to the 1979 Giro d'Italia participated in the race.^[3] Kas were forced to decline their invitation, in favor of racing the Vuelta a España, by the Spanish Federation which wanted the "best Hispanic" peloton to be competing in Vuelta that year.^[4] In total 12 countries were represented, 84 riders were from Italy, while the remaining 66 riders came from: Belgium (15), Switzerland (12), France (8), Denmark (3), Australia (2), Germany (1), Great Britain (1), the Netherlands (1), Norway (1), South Africa (1), and Sweden (1).^[5] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists.^[3]

Of those starting, 43 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time.^[6] The average age of riders was 26.42 years,^[7] ranging from 20–year–old Orlando Maini (Mobilificio San Giacomo) to 34–year–old Renato Laghi (CBM Fast-Gaggia).^[8] The team with the youngest average rider age was Sapa Assicurazioni (23), while the oldest was Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV (30).^[9] From the riders that began this edition, 111 made it to the finish in Milan.^[10]

The teams entering the race were:^[3][11]

The starting peloton did include the 1978 winner, Johan De Muynck. Successful French rider Bernard Hinault did not enter the race.^[12][13]

The route was unveiled on 22 March 1979.^[14][15] Covering a total of 3,301 km (2,051 mi), it included five individual time trials, and nine stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points.^[10][16] The organizers chose to include two rest days. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 309 km (192 mi) shorter and contained one more time trial. In addition, this race contained one less stage.

More information Stage, Date ...

Stage results^[17]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	17 May	Florence to Florence	8 km (5 mi)		Individual time trial	Francesco Moser (ITA)
1	18 May	Florence to Perugia	156 km (97 mi)		Plain stage	Mario Beccia (ITA)
2	19 May	Perugia to Castel Gandolfo	204 km (127 mi)		Plain stage	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
3	20 May	Caserta to Naples	31 km (19 mi)		Individual time trial	Francesco Moser (ITA)
4	21 May	Caserta to Potenza	210 km (130 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Claudio Bortolotto (ITA)
5	22 May	Potenza to Vieste	223 km (139 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
6	23 May	Vieste to Chieti	260 km (162 mi)		Plain stage	Bruno Wolfer (SUI)
7	24 May	Chieti to Pesaro	252 km (157 mi)		Plain stage	Alan Van Heerden (RSA)
8	25 May	Rimini to City of San Marino (San Marino)	28 km (17 mi)		Individual time trial	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
9	26 May	City of San Marino (San Marino) to Pistoia	248 km (154 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
10	27 May	Lerici to Portovenere	25 km (16 mi)		Individual time trial	Knut Knudsen (NOR)
11	28 May	La Spezia to Voghera	212 km (132 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Bernt Johansson (SWE)
12	29 May	Alessandria to Saint-Vincent	204 km (127 mi)		Plain stage	Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL)
13	30 May	Aosta to Meda	229 km (142 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Dino Porrini (ITA)
14	31 May	Meda to Bosco Chiesanuova	212 km (132 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Bernt Johansson (SWE)
15	1 June	Verona to Treviso	121 km (75 mi)		Plain stage	Giuseppe Martinelli (ITA)
16	2 June	Treviso to Pieve di Cadore	195 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Roberto Ceruti (ITA)
	3 June	Rest day
17	4 June	Pieve di Cadore to Trento	194 km (121 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Francesco Moser (ITA)
18	5 June	Trento to Barzio	245 km (152 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Amilcare Sgalbazzi (ITA)
19	6 June	Cesano Maderno to Milan	44 km (27 mi)		Individual time trial	Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
	Total		3,301 km (2,051 mi)

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There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1979 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. The general classification was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage.^[18] The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Giro.^[18] The rider leading the classification wore a pink jersey to signify the classification's leadership.^[18]

The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing in the top positions in a stage finish, with first place getting the most points, and lower placings getting successively fewer points.^[18] The rider leading this classification wore a purple (or cyclamen) jersey.^[18]

The mountains classification was the third classification and its leader was denoted by the green jersey. 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. Most stages of the race included one or more categorized climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs.^[18] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Passo Pordoi, which was first crossed by Italian rider Leonardo Natale.

The fourth classification, the young rider classification, was decided the same way as the general classification, but exclusive to neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).^[18] The leader of the classification wore a white jersey.^[19] In addition, the rider had to be aged 24 and younger.^[20]

The team classification, awarded no jersey to its leaders. In 1979, the rules of this team classification changed: it was no longer based on points, but based on time.^[21]

There were other minor classifications within the race, including the Campionato delle Regioni classification. The leader wore a blue jersey with colored vertical stripes ("maglia azzurra con banda tricolore verticale").^[22]

The FIAT classification, created in the 1976 edition,^[23] was used again, but this year the winner received a Fiat Ritmo.^[23] For this classification, there was one intermediate sprint per stage, and the first three riders scored points.^[24]

More information Stage, Winner ...

Classification leadership by stage^[25]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification	Campionato delle Regioni	FIAT	Team classification
P	Francesco Moser	Francesco Moser	Francesco Moser	not awarded	Roberto Visentini	not awarded	not awarded	Bianchi-Faema
1	Mario Beccia		Knut Knudsen			?	?
2	Roger De Vlaeminck		Francesco Moser
3	Francesco Moser				Silvano Contini
4	Claudio Bortolotto			Mario Beccia				Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV
5	Giuseppe Saronni						Angelo Tosoni
6	Bruno Wolfer		Giuseppe Saronni					Bianchi-Faema
7	Alan Van Heerden					Paolo Rosola
8	Giuseppe Saronni	Giuseppe Saronni
9	Roger De Vlaeminck			Claudio Bortolotto		?
10	Knut Knudsen
11	Bernt Johansson			Roger De Vlaeminck
12	Roger De Vlaeminck
13	Dino Porrini			Claudio Bortolotto
14	Bernt Johansson			Bernt Johansson		Giuseppe Martinelli	Cesare Cipollini
15	Giuseppe Martinelli		Francesco Moser				Angelo Tosoni
16	Roberto Ceruti		Giuseppe Saronni			?
17	Francesco Moser		Francesco Moser	Claudio Bortolotto				Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV
18	Amilcare Sgalbazzi					Paolo Rosola
19	Giuseppe Saronni		Giuseppe Saronni
Final		Giuseppe Saronni	Giuseppe Saronni	Claudio Bortolotto	Silvano Contini	Paolo Rosola	Angelo Tosoni	Sanson Gelati-Luxor TV

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There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1979.^[29]