CONTENTS

Introduction

  1  ‘Necessity’, the Mother of Invention. Origins of the Giro d’Italia

  2  An Evolving Race Makes its Mark (1909–13)

  3  1914: The Toughest Bike Race in History?

  4  Costante Girardengo and the Giro’s First Golden Age (1919–25)

  5  The Despotic Reign of Alfredo Binda (1925–33)

  6  Gino Bartali Dominance is Challenged by Fausto Coppi (1934–40)

  7  Fausto Coppi Takes on All Comers (1946–53)

  8  A Race for All Shapes, Sizes and Nationalities (1954–66)

  9  Eddy Merckx Rewrites the Record Books (1967–76)

10  Nothing and Nobody Can Outfox ‘the Badger’ (1977–86)

11  Stephen Roche Survives ‘Civil War’ to Win the Tour and Giro (1987–91)

12  ‘Big Mig’ and the Rise of Marco Pantani (1992–8)

13  Pantani Expulsion Heralds Dark Days (1999–2007)

14  Still Crazy After All These Years. The Modern-Day Giro (2008–15)

15  Giro d’Italia – Bringing Up the Century

Appendix

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Index