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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian
GdI May 13 to June 07, 1981 |
3,895 Km |
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Finishers: 104 |
Average Speed: 37.150 km/h |
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Battaglin Completes a Grand Double
The 1981 Giro d'Italia was the 64th running of Italy’s Grand Race.
The Giro this year was a huge battle between 5 Italian stars, Francesco Moser, Roberto Visentini, Giuseppe Saronni, Giovanni Battaglin and Silvano Contini. Battaglin, who had just taken the victory in the Vuelta a Espana, used the finishing climb of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo on stage 20 to gain critical time and take the race lead with two stages to go.
The 1981 Giro had time bonuses for the first three on each stage. The bonuses were 30 seconds for first, 20 seconds for second, and 10 seconds for third place. The time bonuses would play a role in determining this year’s Giro winner.
Teams:
The thirteen teams entering the race were:
- Bianchi-Piaggio
- Gis Gelati-Campagnolo
- Cilo-Aufina
- Famcucine-Campagnolo
- Inoxpran
- Zor-Helios-Novostil
- Hoonved-Bottecchia
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- Magniflex-Olmo
- Kotter's-GBC
- Safir-Ludo-Galli
- Sammontana-Benotto
- Selle San Marco-Gabrielli
- Santini-Selle Italia
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Race Summary:
Stage 1b: Francesco Moser was the first race leader.
Stage 2: German Gregor Braun finish second on the stage and got a twenty second time bonus, he took the race lead by 16 seconds.
Stage 3: Moser finished second, got a twenty-second time bonus and took the race lead by 4 seconds.
Stage 6: Giuseppe Saronni won the stage and received a thirty-second time bonus. He got the race lead by 24 seconds.
Stage 10: Giovanni Battaglin won the stage and received a thirty second time bonus. He moved into third on the GC.
Stage 14: Silvano Contini got a twenty second time bonus and the race lead by 25 seconds.
Stage 19: During the initial stages of the 1981 Giro d'Italia the General Classification was close. After the finish of the nineteenth stage 208 km from Dimaro Val di Sole to San Vigilio di Marebbe, won by Battaglin (30 second time bonus), the top four in the GC were only 30 seconds apart:
| 1. Silvano Contini 96hr 53”03” |
| 2. Giovanni Battaglin +3” |
| 3. Tommy Prim +8” |
| 4. Giuseppe Saronni +30” |
| 5. Joseph Fuchs +1’55” |
Stage 20 (Cima Coppi): The first rider to cross the Tre Cime di Lavaredo was Swiss rider Beat Breu. Italian Giovanni Battaglin had a great ascent of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, finished third on the stage (10 second time bonus) and became the race leader by 50 seconds.
Stage 21: The next day Giuseppe Saronni sprinter to second place and got a twenty second time bonus. Saronni now trailed by 39” with one stage to the finish in Verona.
Stage 22: Battaglin cemented his Giro victory in the final stage with an excellent Individual Time Trial effort in Verona. The final test would be the 42 km ITT from Soave to Verona. The tight GC standing had strong riders against the clock Giuseppe Saronni trailing by +39” and Tommy Prim by +50". Race leader Battaglin left no doubt covering the 42 km in 53’14”, losing only 2” to Prim and beating Saronni by 1”. Giovanni Battaglin became the 1981 Giro d’Italia champion.
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) Giro/Vuelta winner 1981
POST-GIRO NOTES:
Giovanni Battaglin achieved a rare springtime “Double Victory” sweeping both the Vuelta a Espana (April 21 to May 10) and the Giro d’Italia (May 13 to June 7) in 1981. Remarkably, there were only 48 days from the Vuelta's start on April 21, 1981, to the Giro's end on June 7, 1981. With the double victory Battaglin matched the great Eddy Merckx’s 1973 springtime Vuelta/Giro double.
This was the peak of Battaglin's career. One year later, April of 1982, he suffered a terrible crash from which he never fully recovered.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Prologue Trieste, 6.6 km ITT |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
Stage 1a Trieste-Bibione, 100 km |
Guido Bontempi (Ita) |
Guido Bontempi (Ita) |
Stage 1b Lignano-Bibione, 15 km TTT |
HOONVED-BOTECCHIA |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Stage 2 Bibione-Ferrara, 211 km |
Paolo Rosola (Ita) |
Gregor Braun (Ger) |
Stage 3 Bologna-Recanati, 255 km |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Stage 4 Recanati-Lanciano, 214 km |
Mario Beccia (Ita) |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Stg 5 Marina di San Vito-Rd Garganico, 180 km |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Stage 6 Rodi Garganico-Bari, 225 km |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 7 Bari-Potenza, 143 km |
Palmiro Masciarelli (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 8 Sala Consilina-Cosenza, 202 km |
Moreno Argentin (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 9 Cosenza-Reggio di Calabria, 230 km |
Sergio Parsani (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 10 Rome-Cascia, 166 km |
Gianbattista Baronchelli (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 11 Cascia-Arezzo, 199 km |
Giovanni Renosto (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 12 Arezzo-Livorno Montenero, 224 km |
Moreno Argentin (Ita) |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Stage 13 Empoli-Montecatini, 35 km ITT |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
Roberto Visentini (Ita) |
Stg 14 Montecatini-Salsomaggiore, 224 km |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stage 15 Salsomaggiore-Pavia, 198 km |
Daniel Gisiger (Sui) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stage 16 Milan-Mantova, 173 km |
Claudio Torelli (Ita) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stage 17 Mantova-Borno, 215 km |
Benedetto Patellaro (Ita) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stage 18 Borno-Dimaro Val di Sole, 127 km |
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stg 19 Dimaro-San Vigilio di Marrebe, 208 km |
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Stg 20 San Vigilio.d.M.-T. Cm Lavaredo, 100 km |
Beat Breu (Sui) |
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) |
Stg 21 Auronzo di Cadore-Arzignano, 197 km |
Pierino Gavazzi (Ita) |
Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) |
Stage 22 Soave-Verona, 42 km ITT |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
 Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) |
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Mountain Classification |
 Claudio Bortolotto (Ita)
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Points Classification |
 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
General Classification:
Final General Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Giovanni BATTAGLIN (Ita)  |
Inoxpran |
104h50'36" |
2 |
Tommy Prim (Swe) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+38" |
3 |
Giuseppe Saronni (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+50" |
4 |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+2'59" |
5 |
Josef Fuchs (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+3'19" |
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" |
11 |
Giuseppe Faraca (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+13'54" |
12 |
Mario Beccia (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+15'31" |
13 |
Leonardo Natale (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+16'11" |
14 |
Dietrich Thurau (Ger) |
Kotter's-GBC |
+19'45" |
15 |
Antonio D'Alonzo (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+25'10" |
16 |
Eduardo Chozas (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+25'56" |
17 |
Jorgen Marcussen (Den) |
Inoxpran |
+26'38" |
18 |
Alessandro Pozzi (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+28'47" |
19 |
Erwin Lienhard (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+29'35" |
20 |
Luciano Loro (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+30'07" |
21 |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+31'24" |
22 |
Knut Knudsen (Nor) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+31'46" |
23 |
Alberto Minetti (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+37'45" |
24 |
Giancarlo Casiraghi (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+38'51" |
25 |
George Mount (USA) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+39'20" |
26 |
Gottfried 'Gody' Schmutz (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+39'53" |
27 |
Serge Demierre (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+40'08" |
28 |
Bruno Leali (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+41'03" |
29 |
Franco Conti (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+47'22" |
30 |
Riccardo Magrini (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+49'09" |
31 |
Sergio Parsani (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+49'27" |
32 |
Guillermo de la Pena (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+49'55" |
33 |
Alfredo Chinetti (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+50'11" |
34 |
Claudio Torelli (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+50'20" |
35 |
Roberto Ceruti (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+50'44" |
36 |
Palmiro Masciarelli (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+51'25" |
37 |
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+52'51" |
38 |
Glauco Santoni (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+53'41" |
39 |
Stefan Mutter (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+54'32" |
40 |
Amilcare Sgalbazzi (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+56'18" |
41 |
Pedro Munoz (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+58'17" |
42 |
Alfonso Dal Pian (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+58'41" |
43 |
Moreno Argentin (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+1h00'06" |
44 |
Per Bausager (Den) |
Inoxpran |
+1h00'26" |
45 |
Maurizio Piovani (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+1h00'34" |
46 |
Jean-Philippe Vandenbrande (Bel) |
Safir-Ludo-Galli |
+1h02'52" |
47 |
Leonardo Mazzantini (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+1h03'00" |
48 |
Valerio Lualdi (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+1h04'18" |
49 |
Bruno Wolfer (Sui) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+1h07'46" |
50 |
Silvano Cervato (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+1h08'21" |
51 |
Ennio Vanotti (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+1h08'27" |
52 |
Simone Fraccaro (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+1h08'51" |
53 |
Ueli Sutter (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+1h10'58" |
54 |
Luciano Borgognoni (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h12'17" |
55 |
Alessio Antonini (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+1h15'48" |
56 |
Pierangelo Bincoletto (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+1h18'41" |
57 |
Fulvio 'Tullio' Bertacco (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+1h20'34" |
58 |
Alf Segersall (Swe) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+1h23'39" |
59 |
Salvatore Maccali (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+1h23'41" |
60 |
Luciano Rui (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h26'22" |
61 |
Claudio Savini (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+1h26'24" |
62 |
Fiorenzo Aliverti (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h26'43" |
63 |
Enrico Maestrelli (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+1h26'51" |
64 |
Pierino Gavazzi (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+1h28'26" |
65 |
Giovanni Mantovani (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h33'11" |
66 |
Josef 'Fritz' Wehrli (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+1h33'57" |
67 |
Claudio Corti (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+1h34'31" |
68 |
Benedetto Patellaro (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h34'49" |
69 |
Giuliano Biatta (Ita) |
Inoxpran |
+1h34'58" |
70 |
Francesco Masi (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+1h35'20" |
71 |
Bertrand 'Willy' Vigouroux (Bel) |
Safir-Ludo-Galli |
+1h39'51" |
72 |
Walter Clivati (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+1h40'55" |
73 |
Giovanni Moro (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h41'51" |
74 |
Daniel Gisiger (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+1h42'21" |
75 |
Sergio Santimaria (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+1h44'21" |
76 |
Antonio Bevilacqua (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
+1h47'53" |
77 |
Luciano Rabottini (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+1h49'49" |
78 |
Corrado Donadio (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+1h55'04" |
79 |
Giuseppe Passuello (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+1h59'53" |
80 |
Fiorenzo Favero (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+2h00'32" |
81 |
John Trevorrow (Aus) |
Safir-Ludo-Galli |
+2h06'15" |
82 |
Gaetano Baronchelli (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+2h06'31" |
83 |
Piero Ghibaudo (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+2h10'59" |
84 |
Aldo Donadello (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
+2h11'45" |
85 |
Mario Noris (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+2h13'51" |
86 |
Giuseppe Martinelli (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+2h19'00" |
87 |
Raniero Gradi (Ita) |
Sammontana-Benotto |
+2h19'32" |
88 |
Giovanni Renosto (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+2h24'38" |
89 |
Flavio Miozzo (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
+2h25'49" |
90 |
Roy Schuiten (Ned) |
Kotter's-GBC |
+2h29'34" |
91 |
Leonardo Bevilacqua (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+2h29'45" |
92 |
Thierry Bolle (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
+2h30'17" |
93 |
Jose-Luis Lopez-Cerron (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+2h30'33" |
94 |
Jean-Marie Wampers (Bel) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+2h36'36" |
95 |
Tranquillo Andreetta (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
+2h39'13" |
96 |
Gianluigi Zuanel (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
+2h40'01" |
97 |
Benny Schepmans (Bel) |
Safir-Ludo-Galli |
+2h41'19" |
98 |
Willy Sprangers (Bel) |
Safir-Ludo-Galli |
+2h42'07" |
99 |
Rudi Weber (Ger) |
Kotter's-GBC |
+2h44'24" |
100 |
Hans-Peter Jackst (Ger) |
Kotter's-GBC |
+2h45'06" |
101 |
Dante Morandi (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
+2h49'40" |
102 |
Eugenio Herranz (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
+3h05'28" |
103 |
Paolo Rosola (Ita) |
Magniflex-Olmo |
+3h07'34" |
104 |
Stefan Schropfer (Ger) |
Kotter's-GBC |
+3h28'34" |
Final Mountains Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Claudio BORTOLOTTO (Ita) |
Santini-Selle Italia |
501 |
2 |
Beat Breu (Sui) |
Cilo-Aufina |
500 |
3 |
Benedetto Patellaro (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
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 |
8t |
Guillermo de la Pena (Spa) |
Zor-Helios-Novostil |
120 |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
10 |
Alfio Vandi (Ita) |
Selle San Marco-Gabrielli |
115 |
Final Points Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Giuseppe SARONNI (Ita) |
Gis Gelati-Campagnolo |
215 |
2 |
Tommy Prim (Swe) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
133 |
3 |
Giovanni Mantovani (Ita) |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
127 |
4 |
Francesco Moser (Ita) |
Famcucine-Campagnolo |
117 |
5 |
Silvano Contini (Ita) |
Bianchi-Piaggio |
112 |
Final Neo-Pro Classification |
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Tommy Prim (Swe)  |
Hoonved-Bottecchia-Herdal |
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" |
GdI 1982
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