Luigi Ganna (1 December 1883 – 2 October 1957) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. He was the overall winner of the first Giro d'Italia, held in 1909, as well as the first Italian winner of the classic Milan–San Remo earlier that year. Further highlights in his career were his fifth place in the 1908 Tour de France and several podium places in Italian classic races.[1] In 1908, he set a new Italian hour record, which he held for six years.
He was born in Induno Olona, near Varese, in Lombardy. Before becoming a professional cyclist, he worked as a bricklayer, commuting up to 100 km to work by bike.[1]
In 1912, he started a bike brand named Ganna which was still around in 2012.[2][3] In 1913, he started the Ganna Cycling team where he rode for the final three years of his career.[4] His company sponsored the team until 1953 when they could no longer meet obligations and Nivea–Fuchs took over.[5]
Major results
- 1905
- 3rd Giro di Lombardia
- 1906
- 3rd Giro di Lombardia
- 3rd Giro del Piemonte
- 1907
- 2nd Overall Giro di Sicilia
- 1st 2 Stages
- 3rd Giro di Lombardia
- 4th Milan–San Remo
- 1908
- 2nd Milan–San Remo
- 2nd Giro di Lombardia
- 3rd Roma–Napoli–Roma
- 5th Tour de France
- 1909
- 1st Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 4, 5 & 7
- 1st Milan-San Remo
- 3rd Giro dell'Emilia
- 6th Giro di Lombardia
- 1910
- 1st Giro dell'Emilia
- 2nd Giro di Lombardia
- 2nd Italian National Road Race Championships
- 2nd Roma–Napoli–Roma
- 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 5, 7 & 10
- 1911
- 3rd Milan–San Remo
- 1913
- 3rd Roma–Napoli–Roma
- 1st Stage 1
- 5th Giro d'Italia
- 1914
- 6th Milan–San Remo
References
- ^ a b c "Luigi Ganna". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ "The Nicolis Museum celebrates the 140th birthday of Luigi Ganna, the first winner of the Giro d'Italia. - Museo Nicolis". museonicolis.com. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "Ganna - Choose your way". www.robertopizzato.com/. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "LUIGI GANNA - GRANDE SPORTIVO ED IMPRENDITORE LOMBARDO" [LUIGI GANNA - GREAT SPORTSMAN AND ENTREPRENEUR FROM LOMBARDY]. consiglio.regione.lombardia.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "list of cycling team sponsors, old and new". www.bikeraceinfo.com. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "Luigi Ganna". FirstCycling.com. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "Luigi Ganna". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
Bibliography
- Gregori, Claudio (2009). Luigi Ganna – Il romanzo del vincitore del primo Giro d'Italia del 1909 [Luigi Ganna – The romance of the winner of the first Giro d'Italia in 1909] (in Italian). Cassina de' Pecchi (Milan), Italy: Edizioni Roberto Vallardi. ISBN 978-88-95684-23-9.
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