Giro d’Italia – the Race for the Pink Jersey

Everything about one of the three determining races of road cycling in the world.

The Giro d’Italia (Italian Tour) is one of the most prestigious events of cycling. Early in the 20th century when the race was first organised, it was supposed to help La Gazzetta dello Sport (an Italian newspaper) to better sales numbers. Except for the two world wars, the great race was held annually ever since. Most participants are UCI (International Cycling Union) Pro Teams, although the organizer has the right to invite other teams as well. Since the organizers didn’t have the funds to finance the race they had to figure out a way to raise it. Some of the money came from banks, even rival newspapers. It became a hot topic in the gambling news of the time, that the amount that covered the prizes was given by a casino in Italy.

What’s behind the Pink Jersey?

The famous pink jersey of the Giro d’Italia is the identification of the general classification. After the first few years the organisers settled for a time system to determine who the overall winner of the competition will be. All stage results are added together, taking into account time bonuses for high finishes and intermediate sprints, as well as time penalties for breaking the rules. The reason for the jersey being pink is the same as for the Tour de France’s yellow jersey, which is also awarded to the leader of the general classification . Both races were founded to increase sales of national newspapers. L’Auto the French paper that Tour de France was launched for, was printed on yellow paper. The Giro jersey’s pink color is honouring the pink paper that La Gazetto dello Sport was printed on.

The structure of the race

The overall champion is the winner of the general classification but there are three others the competitors can race for. Each have their own jerseys given to the leaders. Many online sportsbooks in the EU offer the chance to bet on these separately. If a cyclist is leading more than one of these he wears the jersey of the most prestigious one. In the mountain classification points are given to the first two finishers of each significant climb. The one with the highest number of points in the end wins. The young rider classification’s jersey is always on the cyclist under 25 in the lead. The winner of the team classification is the team that has the best results viewing the best three scores per team. Finally after certain parts of the race called sprints points are given to the first one who reaches them, the cyclist with the highest sum wins the point classification.

The Giro d’Italia is three weeks long and has two extra rest days. A stage is a part of the route covered in a day. Mass-start stages, individual time trials and team time trials are the types of stages used in this particular race. Mostly there are mass-start stages, where the whole peloton starts together. In order to avoid dangerous mass sprints all members of a group finish get the same score as the leader. The time trials are simply races against the clock. The riders are given delayed start times in these competitions, which makes it less enjoyable for the public since it is not obvious who is leading the race. They often mention mountain stages as well, which stands for the steep climbs in the Alps and the Dolomites included in the route.

Giro d’Italia is also famous among those who enjoy sportsbetting. Whenever May comes the online sportbooks around the world are filled with odds of this magnificent race. Although the competition is based in Europe, luckily the US gambling laws allow even American gambling sites to take bets on it. For the 2015 race Alberto Contador seems to be the favourite among online internet bettors. Contador is a spanish professional cyclist, one of the six who had won all three Grand Tours of road cycling. He first won the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espagña in 2008, after his previous victory at the Tour de France in 2007. After his crash in Catalunya last month he reassured his follower on twitter that he is fine and has no serious injuries. „Thanks to all for your messages.I’m pained and bruised but fortunately,nothing broken.“