First run in 1909 by a newspaper that printed on pink paper and wanted to sell more copies (1909)
La Gazzetta dello Sport; Luigi Ganna won the first edition
General knowledge · Sport
The Giro d'Italia
First held 1909
Sport — Grand Tour cycling
Italy's three-week stage race and one of cycling's three Grand Tours, first run in 1909 and organised from the start by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which wanted to sell more copies. The leader wears a pink jersey, the maglia rosa, because the Gazzetta prints on pink paper, and the overall winner lifts the Trofeo Senza Fine, the endless trophy. Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx share the record of five victories each.
How to spot them
- ▸A pink leader's jersey, taken from the colour of a newspaper's pages
- ▸The Cima Coppi, the highest point of the race, worth extra mountain points
- ▸The Trofeo Senza Fine, a spiral trophy engraved with every winner's name
- ▸Usually run in May, three weeks, three thousand-odd kilometres
Key facts
The leader's pink jersey was introduced in 1931, first worn by Learco Guerra (1931)
The maglia rosa; the colour comes from the organising paper's newsprint
Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx each won it five times
The record; Binda was once paid to stay away so the race would be less predictable
The highest point of each edition is named after a rider who died in 1960
The Cima Coppi, honouring Fausto Coppi, designated since 1965
Chris Froome in 2018 and Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020 are the only British winners
Froome's win came after a 80 km solo attack over the Colle delle Finestre
Tadej Pogačar won it on his debut in 2024 by almost ten minutes, then won the Tour de France the same year (2024)
The first rider to do the double since Marco Pantani in 1998
Jonas Vingegaard won the 109th edition in 2026, completing the set of all three Grand Tours (2026)
The first Danish winner; he took five stages, including Blockhaus
Quick-fire facts
- •First run in 1909 and organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport; Luigi Ganna won
- •The pink leader's jersey, the maglia rosa, dates from 1931 and takes its colour from the newspaper's pink pages
- •The overall trophy is the Trofeo Senza Fine, the 'endless trophy', a spiral engraved with every winner
- •Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx share the record with five wins each
- •Other jerseys: cyclamen for points, blue for the mountains, white for the best young rider
- •The Cima Coppi, named for Fausto Coppi since 1965, marks the highest altitude reached in each edition
- •Only two British riders have won: Chris Froome in 2018 and Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020
- •Tadej Pogačar won the Giro and the Tour de France in the same year, 2024, the first to do so since Marco Pantani in 1998
- •Simon Yates won in 2025, seven years after losing the race in the final week of the 2018 edition
- •Jonas Vingegaard won the 2026 edition, the 109th, becoming the first Dane to win and completing the Grand Tour set
Drill it — 8 cards
1 / 8new card
Sources
- Giro d'Italia / RCS Sport — Vingegaard, a giant in Pink
- Herbie Sykes — Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d'Italia