| Cinelli Out Sprints Bartali for the Victory
The 34th edition of the Giro di Lombardia was held on October 23, 1938.
The race left Milan under a cloudy sky and with a chilly wind.
After a few kms defending champion Aldo Bini (Bianchi) and Olimpio Bizzi (Frejus) were involved in a crash and lose 3'00”, while Gino Bartali (Legnano) had his teammates set the pace.
Race Status:
In Inverigo (37 km / 232 km), the delay of the two had increased to 4'00”.
The peloton faced the Madonna del Ghisallo (103 km / 232 km), led by Gino Bartali and Mario Vicini (Lygie) in a small group with Giovanni Destefanis (Isolati), Enrico Mollo (Frejus), Salvatore Crippa (Wolst), Diego Marabelli (Bianchi) and Michele Benente (U.S. Canelli), the tough climb started.
A hundred meters from the summit, the fight for the KoM prize broke out. Surprisingly Bartali was followed closely by Mollo, Marabelli at 9", De Stefanis, Crippa, and Benente at 22", Ruggero Balli (Bianchi) at 43".
On the descent the two leaders did not try to move away, and multiple riders rejoined the front of the race.
In Como (128 km / 232 km), there are twenty riders in the lead group, while the delay of Bini and Bizzi grew to 6'00”.
The leading group remained compact on the San Fermo della Battaglia climb (134 km / 232 km). Behind the leaders a motivated Bizzi reduced his gap to 3'15".
On the climb in Marchirolo (160 km / 232 km), the leading group had Vicini and Magni pass the summit with a 20 second gap.
The group reorganized on the descent and prepared to face the Brinzio (180 km / 232 km). No one tried to attack and Crippa passed first at the summit ahead of all the other breakaway chasing in single file.
In Varese (190 km / 232 km), there was a lead group of 17, but the pace slowed in the large group. Another seven riders returned to the front of the race.
After a fast pace into the finish in Milan, Mollo suffered a puncture less than 2 km from the entrance to the velodrome. There were now 23 riders who would sprint for the victory at the Vigorelli velodrome.
Gotti entered the velodrome first, followed by Vicini, Bartali and Cinelli. On the final lap Bartali launched the sprint and jumped past everyone. He entered the final turn first with Cinelli on his wheel. Cinelli was suffering but did not give up. He managed to come out of Bartali’s slipstream, flank him on the right, as they flew down final straight side by side.
In the last 70 meters Cino Cinelli overtook Gino Bartali and in the last three meters, he won by a half wheel. The prestigious Giro di Lombardia victory went to Cinelli.
GdL October 23, 1938 |
232 Km, Milan-Milan (Vigorelli Velodrome) |
1.
Cino CINELLI (Ita) 6h38'00" |
2.
Gino Bartali (Ita) |
3.
Osvaldo Bailo (Ita) |
Starters: 101 / Finishers: 60 Average Speed: 34.974 km/h |
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Lomb 1937
Lomb 1939
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