The Giro d’Italia – and those warrior riders and driven individuals who wage war with the roads and topography of the Italian peninsular – has a rich associated literature but a number of publications stand out and warrant special mention and thanks.
The ‘Bible’ – and now the starting point for all writers on the race – is Bill and Carol McGann’s monumental The Story of the Giro d’Italia which offers up the final statistical word in terms of classification winners, results and timings on any given day over the last 99 editions of the race. That is no small matter when trying to piece together what actually happened in the early decades when much of the race took place away from the public gaze and record-keeping was sometimes sketchy. A comparatively recent discovery – to me anyway – was Dino Buzzati’s The Giro d’Italia: Coppi versus Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy, one of the most lyrical sporting books imaginable. So much more than an account of that well-documented sporting rivalry, it provides an extraordinary technicolor snapshot of what the Giro was actually like over 70 years ago. Herbie Sykes’s splendid and all-encompassing Maglia Rosa was also inspirational in the way it portrays the race.
The welcome invitation to write Corsa Rosa came from Charlotte Atyeo at Bloomsbury for which heartfelt thanks. Charlotte also edited the book with a sure hand, sharing my enthusiasm for the Giro and ensuring I didn’t linger too long in any one era, no matter how tempting. On the occasion of the Giro’s 100th edition the broad sweep was paramount. A big thanks also to Holly Jarrald and Richard Collins for their very considerable assistance.
Finally, a big thanks to my wife Mary, not least for accepting the loss of our spare bedroom for over a year as it became inundated with maps of Italy, old Giro route books and programmes and various dusty tomes and magazines.