1912 Giro d'Italia
Overview of the stages: route clockwise from Milan, down to Pescara, over to Rome, and up to Bergamo
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| Race details | ||||||||||
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| Dates | 19 May – 4 June | |||||||||
| Stages | 9 | |||||||||
| Distance | 2,439.6 km (1,516 mi) | |||||||||
| Winning time | 100h 02' 57" | |||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||
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| Winner | Atala-Dunlop | |
| Second | Peugeot | |
| Third | Gerbi |
The 1912 Giro d'Italia was the 4th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a cycling race set up and sponsored by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The race began on 19 May in Milan with a stage that stretched 398.8 km (248 mi) to Padua. The race was composed of nine stages that covered a total distance of 2,733.6 km (1,699 mi). The race came to a close in Bergamo on 4 June after a 235 km (146 mi) stage. The race was won by the Atala-Dunlop team that finished with Carlo Galetti, Eberardo Pavesi, and Giovanni Micheletto. Second and third respectively were Peugeot and Gerbi.
The calculation of the general classification changed from the previous editions of the race, shifting to a team-based event, with each team only allowed four riders. Points were awarded to teams based upon winning the stage, having multiple riders in the top four places in each stage, and finishing the stage with a minimum of three riders. A total of fourteen teams participated, with 56 riders registering and 54 officially starting the race.
Micheletto won the opening stage of the race to give Atala-Dunlop the first lead in the race. Despite two consecutive stage wins by Legnano riders, Atala-Dunlop still retained the lead going into the fourth stage. The fourth leg was held in rainy conditions that caused some rivers to overflow on the course and riders to take the wrong roads for extensive distances; this led to the cancellation of the stage and addition of a ninth leg that drew some of its route from the Giro di Lombardia. An Atala-Dunlop rider won the fifth stage, but the team lost the lead to Peugeot for one stage. Following the stage, Atala-Dunlop regained the lead and held that to the race's finish in Bergamo.
Outside the yearly changes in the route, race length, and number of stages, the biggest change to the how the general classification was to be calculated. The organizers chose to make the general classification centered around teams rather than individuals like the race was contested in the first three years of its existence. They chose to only allow teams of four riders to compete in the race, making this the first Giro d'Italia to not contain any independent riders. Each team was required to have three riders finish each stage in order to remain in the race. The general classification was still determined by a point system: four points went to the team that the stage winner came from, if a team got two riders in the top four placings on a stage they got two points, and if a team completed the stage with the minimum three riders, they earned one point.
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