2009 Giro d'Italia
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Giro d'Italia was the 92nd running of the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

, one of cycling's Grand Tours
Grand Tour (cycling)
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...

. It was held from 9 to 31 May 2009, and marked the 100th year since the first edition of the race. Starting in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 and finishing in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, 22 teams competed over 21 stages.

The Giro was raced on a unique path through Italy, taking the peloton
Peloton
The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...

 to some historic cities and towns in Italian cycling. Though the route lacked any well-known, storied climbs, the many intermediate and mountain stages in the second and third weeks of the race proved deceptively difficult. The 10th and the 16th stages were both called the race's queen stage, as both contained multiple difficult mountain climbs.

Riders protested during the ninth stage, a criterium
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....

 in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. This protest was nominally about the overall safety conditions of the stage, and was sparked by life-threatening injuries sustained by Pedro Horrillo
Pedro Horrillo
Pedro Horrillo Muñoz is a retired Spanish racing cyclist who rode for in the UCI ProTour from 2005 to 2009....

 the day before. In the protest, riders declined to contest the stage except for a final sprint finish, a decision that proved controversial with race organizers and fans.

Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

 won the race, having taken the lead in a long time trial in stage 12, and defended vigorously against attacks by his closest challenger, Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

, during the mountain stages of the final week. Di Luca came in second, 41 seconds behind the winner, and won the mauve jersey as points classification winner. Subsequent to the Giro, both he and third-place finisher Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....

 became embroiled in doping scandals, were given bans, and had their results stripped.

Teams

Twenty-two teams were announced for the Giro. These included fifteen ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

 teams, and seven Professional Continental teams. Three ProTour teams did not wish to participate, and were thus not invited: , , and . Conversely, the organizers of the race originally declined to invite , but changed this decision on 23 April, inviting them as the Giro's 22nd and final team. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Giro began with a peloton
Peloton
The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...

 of 198 cyclists.

The 22 teams that took part in the race were:

Race previews and favorites

The Astana team did not include 2008 race champion Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...

, who chose not to defend his championship, but did include Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...

, a seven-time winner of the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

, who had recently returned from retirement. Though his appearance was put in doubt after he crashed out of stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León
2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León
The 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León, the 24th running of the race, started on March 23 in Paredes de Nava, and concluded on March 27 in Valladolid. It was won by Levi Leipheimer.-Stage 1 - March 23, 2009: Paredes de Nava - Baltanás, 168.3km:...

 and broke his collarbone, Armstrong announced on 16 April that he would start the Giro despite undergoing surgery for his injury. star Cadel Evans
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans is an Australian professional racing cyclist and winner of the 2011 Tour de France. Early in his career, Evans was a champion mountain biker, winning the World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placing seventh in the men's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in...

 was originally announced to be taking part in the Giro, but he publicly announced shortly afterward that he would not ride it, and accused RCS Sport (the organizers of the race) of using his name to promote the event. Contador and Evans both chose to focus on the Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

 later in the season.

Many riders were named as contenders, including Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

, Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...

, Armstrong, Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam . His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the...

, Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

, Gilberto Simoni
Gilberto Simoni
Gilberto Simoni is an Italian ex-professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race...

, Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

, Marzio Bruseghin
Marzio Bruseghin
Marzio Bruseghin is an Italian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His best achievement is winning the 2006 Italian time-trial championship, as well as winning two time trial stages in the Giro d'Italia...

, and Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

. Before his collarbone injury, Armstrong was considered an overall favorite, and it was also noted that three time trials, including the insertion of an unusually long time trial mid-race, might favor him. Pre-race analysis noted that Armstrong, when on his best form, would be a rider very likely to gain from having such a long race against the clock included in the Giro.

Former winner Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

 named Leipheimer as the favorite, as did some American media outlets. Armstrong considered Basso to be the favorite when speaking about the Giro in December 2008. Other news outlets also referred to Basso as the pre-race favorite.

Only a small number of stages were expected to end in a sprint, barring a successful breakaway. Sprinters in the event included Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

, Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

, Allan Davis
Allan Davis
Allan Howard Davis is an Australian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Davis resides in Bundaberg, Queensland and in Spain. Known for his sprinting ability, he started competitive cycling at the age of 10, and turned professional in 2002...

, Filippo Pozzato
Filippo Pozzato
Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato is an Italian road racing cyclist with UCI ProTour Team Katusha.-Career:...

, Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter (cyclist)
Robert Hunter is a South African professional road cyclist, for UCI ProTour team . He became in 2001 the first South African to compete in the Tour de France. In 2006 he rode for the Phonak Hearing Systems team on the UCI ProTour, but after their disbandment he signed for UCI Continental Circuits...

, Robert Förster
Robert Förster
Robert Förster is a German professional road racing cyclist, specialising in bunch sprints, currently riding for .He turned professional in 2001, initially riding for Team Nürnberger...

, Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar is an American professional road racing cyclist since 2003.-Cycling career:Farrar started racing at 13, and rode for in 2003, in 2004, and in 2006 and 2007. In April 2006 he crashed near the finish of the Circuit de la Sarthe and broke his collarbone and missed most of the season...

, Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo is an Argentine professional road racing cyclist and former track cyclist on . He is the brother of Lucas Sebastian Haedo...

, and Oscar Gatto
Oscar Gatto
Oscar Gatto is an Italian racing cyclist with UCI Professional Continental team .- Palmarès :* 2007 - Gerolsteiner* 2008 - Gerolsteiner* 2009 - ISD-Neri** 1st, Stage 3, Giro di Sardegna...

.

Route and stages

The first Giro d'Italia
1909 Giro d'Italia
The 1909 Giro d'Italia of cycling was the first ever Giro, organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport . The race started in Milan on 13 May 1909, and finished in the same city on 30 May, after 8 stages...

 was held in 1909, and the 2009 route was designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary, though interruptions due to World War I and World War II meant this was only the 92nd race. Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, which had for years been the city in which the Giro concluded, was the site of a ten-lap criterium
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....

 on the same circuit that began the first Giro d'Italia. Every city that hosted a stage start or finish in the first Giro was visited in 2009 with the exception of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, although Arenzano
Arenzano
Arenzano is a coastal town and comune in the province of Genoa, Liguria, Italy. , it has a population of 11,568. This varies a lot during the holiday seasons, since it is a reasonably popular holiday resort for Italians....

 (in the province of Genoa
Province of Genoa
The Province of Genoa is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Genoa.It has an area of 1,838 km², and a total population of about 900,000...

) hosted the finish to stage 11. The 11th stage also went over the Passo del Turchino
Passo del Turchino
The Passo del Turchino is a mountain pass located between the cities of Masone and Mele in the Italian region Liguria. It is known for its annual appearance in the classic one-day cycling race Milan – San Remo, and occasionally in other races....

, a climb used every year in the classic
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...

 cycling race Milan – San Remo.

The tenth stage was planned to mimic stage 17 of the 1949 Giro d'Italia
1949 Giro d'Italia
The 1949 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 21 May to 12 June 1949, consisting of 21 stages. It was won by Fausto Coppi.Coppi won the overall by way of the memorable 17th stage , during which he escaped from the group and climbed alone the Maddalena Pass, the Col de Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the...

, which was won by Italian cycling legend Fausto Coppi
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...

 en route to the overall victory. That route originally included the Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard
Col d'Izoard is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France.It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the south. There are forbidding and barren scree slopes...

, a climb in France which has been featured in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 numerous times. Race organizers were forced to alter this stage to cover only the Italian side of the Alps rather than also visit France, as there were concerns over the availability of radio communication in the area. The roads also stood the risk of landslides. It was subsequently made longer than first planned, with an additional, shorter climb added. Stages 10 and 16, the latter of which went over Monte Petrano and two other first-category climbs, were both called the race's queen stage.

The route received a small amount of criticism for failing to include any well-known and especially difficult climbs such as the Passo del Mortirolo
Passo del Mortirolo
The Mortirolo Pass is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Italy. Also known as Passo di Foppa, it connects Mazzo di Valtellina and Val Camonica...

 or Monte Zoncolan
Monte Zoncolan
Monte Zoncolan is a mountain in the Carnic Alps, located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. It is one of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, having been used in the Giro d'Italia four times and the Giro Donne once...

, instead including stages featuring multiple climbs with lesser ascents. Race director Angelo Zomegnan responded to the criticism by saying, "I won't follow the philosophy that the selection of climbs has to be determined by their names."

The 21 stages of the 2009 Giro d'Italia were divided into five categories: one team time trial
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

, seven flat stages, four intermediate stages, seven mountain stages and two individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

s. The type of stage together with the average speed of the winner decided how much time each cyclist would be allowed to finish that stage before being eliminated from the race.
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1 9 May Lido (Venice) 20.5 km (13 mi)
Team time trial
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

2 10 May Jesolo
Jesolo
thumb|250px|Location of Jesolo in the province of Venice.Jesolo is a town and comune in the province of Venice, Italy.-Geography:...

 to Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

156 km (97 mi)
Flat stage
3 11 May Grado
Grado, Italy
Grado is a town and comune in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located on a peninsula of the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste....

 to Valdobbiadene
Valdobbiadene
Valdobbiadene is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. Valdobbiadene is a picturesque wine growing area. Just below the Alpine areas of Veneto, it provides a climate for cool varieties of grape. This area is the home of ProseccoConegliano-Valdobbiadene a dry sparkling white wine....

198 km (123 mi)
Flat stage
4 12 May Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

 to San Martino di Castrozza
San Martino di Castrozza
San Martino di Castrozza is a mountain resort in the Primiero valley in the Trentino province in Italy. The western part, with 428 inhabitants, is in the comune of Siror, the eastern, with 135, in Tonadico.- History :...

162 km (101 mi)
Mountain stage
5 13 May San Martino di Castrozza to Alpe di Siusi
Seiser Alm
Seiser Alm, is the largest high altitude Alpine meadow in Europe. Located in Italy's South Tyrol province in the Dolomites mountain range, it is a major tourist attraction, known for skiing and hiking....

125 km (78 mi)
Mountain stage
6 14 May Brixen
Brixen
Brixen is the name of two cities in the Alps:*Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy*Brixen im Thale, Tyrol, AustriaBrixen may also refer to:*Bishopric of Brixen, the former north-Italian state....

 to Mayrhofen
Mayrhofen
- Twin towns : Chur, Switzerland Bad Tölz, Germany Bad Homburg, Germany Terracina, Italy Cabourg, France Bad Mondorf, Luxembourg- Transport :Mayrhofen has one railway station, which is located next to the Zillertaler Bundestrasse. The station is a terminus for all Train services operated by the...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

248 km (154 mi)
Intermediate stage
7 15 May Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

, Austria, to Chiavenna
244 km (152 mi)
Intermediate stage
8 16 May Morbegno
Morbegno
Morbegno is a little town in the low Valtellina Valley in Italy, on the left side of the Adda river. It is part of the province of Sondrio of Lombardy. In 2007, Morbegno started a project to become a leader in sustainability, by involving the population in a participatory design process,...

 to Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

209 km (130 mi)
Intermediate stage
9 17 May Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 circuit race
165 km (103 mi)
Flat stage
18 May Rest day
10 19 May Cuneo
Cuneo
Cuneo is a city and comune in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the third largest of Italy’s provinces by area...

 to Pinerolo
Pinerolo
Pinerolo is a town and comune in north-western Italy, 40 kilometres southwest of Turin on the river Chisone.-History:In the Middle Ages, the town of Pinerolo was one of the main crossroads in Italy, and was therefore one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. Its military importance...

262 km (163 mi)
Mountain stage Empty
11 20 May Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 to Arenzano
Arenzano
Arenzano is a coastal town and comune in the province of Genoa, Liguria, Italy. , it has a population of 11,568. This varies a lot during the holiday seasons, since it is a reasonably popular holiday resort for Italians....

214 km (133 mi)
Flat stage
12 21 May Sestri Levante
Sestri Levante
Sestri Levante is a town and comune in Liguria, Italy. Lying on the Mediterranean Sea, it is approximately 56 kilometers south of Genoa and is set on a promontory. While nearby Portofino and the Cinque Terre are probably the most well known tourist destinations on the Italian Riviera, Sestri...

 to Riomaggiore
60.6 km (38 mi)
Individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

13 22 May Lido di Camaiore
Camaiore
Camaiore is a town and comune of 31,503 inhabitants within the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. It stretches from the Alps to the east, to the plains and the coast of Versilia to the west.-Morphology:...

 to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

176 km (109 mi)
Flat stage
14 23 May Campi Bisenzio
Campi Bisenzio
Campi Bisenzio is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 10 km northwest of Florence.-History:...

 to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

172 km (107 mi)
Mountain stage
15 24 May Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...

 to Faenza
Faenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....

161 km (100 mi)
Intermediate stage
16 25 May Pergola
Pergola, Italy
Pergola is a comune in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche.The Gilt Bronzes of Cartoceto di Pergola were discovered in the communal territory in 1946. They are now exposed in a specific museum at Pergola....

 to Monte Petrano
Cagli
Cagli is a town and comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, central Italy. It c. 30 km south of Urbino.-History:Cagli occupies the site of an ancient village on the Via Flaminia, which seems to have borne the name Cale, 24 miles north of Helvillum and 18 miles southwest of Forum...

237 km (147 mi)
Mountain stage
26 May Rest day
17 27 May Chieti
Chieti
Chieti is a city and comune in Central Italy, 200 km northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region...

 to Blockhaus
Majella National Park
The Majella National Park is a national park located in the provinces of Chieti, Pescara and L'Aquila, in the region Abruzzo, Italy....

83 km (52 mi)
Mountain stage Empty
18 28 May Sulmona
Sulmona
thumb|150px|Celestine V's hermitage and the remains of the Shrine of Hercules Curinus.thumb|150px|Palazzo SS. Annunziata and Museo Civicothumb|150px|Church of SS...

 to Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...

182 km (113 mi)
Flat stage
19 29 May Avellino
Avellino
Avellino is a town and comune, capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains 42 km north-east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.-History:Before the Roman conquest, the...

 to Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

164 km (102 mi)
Mountain stage
20 30 May Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 to Anagni
Anagni
Anagni is an ancient town and comune in Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical center in Ciociaria.-Geography:...

203 km (126 mi)
Flat stage
21 31 May Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

14.4 km (9 mi)
Individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

Total 3456.5 km (2,148 mi)

Race overview

The Giro began with a team time trial
Team time trial
A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

 in Lido, a barrier island
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

 in the city of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. The starting order of the teams was decided by a random draw. , the first team to take the course, won the stage, giving their star sprinter Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

 the first pink jersey as leader of the race. Cavendish was defeated in a sprint finish the following day by Italian Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

, who was riding for the team. Petacchi became the next wearer of the pink jersey, after he won the Stage 3 sprint into Valdobbiadene
Valdobbiadene
Valdobbiadene is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. Valdobbiadene is a picturesque wine growing area. Just below the Alpine areas of Veneto, it provides a climate for cool varieties of grape. This area is the home of ProseccoConegliano-Valdobbiadene a dry sparkling white wine....

. Cavendish went on to win three mass-start stages, but 's success was not limited to Cavendish's victories nor the team time trial, as Edvald Boasson Hagen
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Edvald Boasson Hagen is a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist riding for the UCI ProTour team . He is the Norwegian Time Trial Champion and also considered as one of the biggest rising talents in the sport, being ranked as no...

 and Kanstantsin Siutsou
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Kanstantsin Sivtsov is a Belarusian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam team . He will ride for Team Sky in 2012.-Palmares:2004...

 also took stage wins.

The first two high mountain stages of the Giro revealed the men who would battle for the overall race title. Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

 of took the win in Stage 4, and put himself just 2 seconds off the pink jersey. The next day, he claimed the jersey, when he was second to stage winner Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

 at Alpe di Siusi
Seiser Alm
Seiser Alm, is the largest high altitude Alpine meadow in Europe. Located in Italy's South Tyrol province in the Dolomites mountain range, it is a major tourist attraction, known for skiing and hiking....

 as an elite group of favorites emerged including Menchov, Di Luca, and others who had performed well on the climb and were in high places in the overall standings.

Menchov was fifth after Alpe di Siusi, but rose to second before stage 12, the very long and hilly individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

 in Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. "The Five Lands" is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore...

. There, he claimed a convincing victory; only Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...

 finished within a minute of Menchov's winning time. Di Luca was nearly two minutes slower than him, finished sixth on the stage, and fell to second overall, with Menchov assuming the race lead. Di Luca tried repeatedly to shed Menchov during the remaining mountain stages to make up the time difference, which was never more than a minute. The two riders were involved in sprints for time bonuses at the finish line in stages 16 and 17, as well as an intermediate sprint in stage 20. Menchov was consistently quicker than Di Luca in these sprints. With his superior time-trial skills providing the difference in the final stage, the Russian was able to emerge as Giro champion, despite a dramatic fall in the final kilometre before the finish line.

Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

 was the winner of the mountains classification
Mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia
The mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...

, gaining points for consistent high placings on the summit stage finishes, as well as a brief breakaway on the mountainous stage 10. The points classification was won by Di Luca, after he finished in the top ten in eight of the road stages. The youth classification
Young rider classification in the Giro d'Italia
Since 1976, The Giro d'Italia has had a young rider classification. The leader in this classification wears the maglia bianca . The classification is determined by the best overall time, but only young cyclists were in the competition....

 was won by Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .- Major results :200720082009...

, who remained consistent after Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Löfkvist is a Swedish professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTour . He became the youngest Swedish professional road bicycle racer when he started his professional bicycling career in at the age of 19 in 2004...

 lost nearly 25 minutes on stage 16. Lövkvist had, for one day earlier in the race, led not just the youth but also the general classification.

Controversy arose during the ten-lap Milan criterium
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....

 of the ninth stage, when the riders staged a protest over what they viewed as unsafe riding conditions in that stage and those that preceded it. The most visible cause for the protest was Rabobank rider Pedro Horrillo
Pedro Horrillo
Pedro Horrillo Muñoz is a retired Spanish racing cyclist who rode for in the UCI ProTour from 2005 to 2009....

's accident during the eighth stage; Horrillo sustained numerous fractures and head injuries after tumbling over a barricade on the roadside while descending the Culmine di San Pietro. Horrillo fell more than 60 m (196.9 ft), and nearly died as a result of his injuries. After spending five weeks in hospitals in both Italy and his native Spain, Horrillo eventually recovered, though the day on the Culmine di San Pietro was his last as a professional cyclist, as he retired before the 2010 season began.

The protest at first only involved the criterium being neutralized – that is, the race director agreed that each rider would receive the same finishing time as the stage winner regardless of when they actually crossed the line. After the riders rode a lap of the course, they decided instead not to contest the stage at all, riding the first six circuits 20 km/h (12.4 mph) slower than previous stages. After four laps, they stopped altogether as race leader Di Luca addressed the unhappy crowd to explain their actions. The times for the stage did not count, and there was no aggressive riding until a final sprint finish. Along with Di Luca, Lance Armstrong was considered the principal voice speaking for the peloton on this day. Although the protest was referred to by some as "unanimous," cyclists such as Filippo Pozzato
Filippo Pozzato
Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato is an Italian road racing cyclist with UCI ProTour Team Katusha.-Career:...

, who was himself bearing injuries sustained in a crash that would later force him to leave the race, said the riders had been too hasty in their decision, and that it should have been made conclusively before the stage began. Armstrong apologized to the fans for the effect the protest had on what was supposed to be a grand spectacle, but also contended that it was the correct decision for the peloton to make.
Success in stages was limited to a few teams. Though there were nearly as many stages (21) as teams in the event (22), only eight teams ultimately came away with stage victories. Six different riders won multiple stages – Cavendish, Petacchi, Menchov, Di Luca, Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

, and Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...

. Teammates of Sastre, Scarponi and Cavendish were also stage winners; Sastre's provided the winners to stages 14 (Simon Gerrans
Simon Gerrans
Simon Gerrans is an Australian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for the British UCI ProTour team, .-Biography:Gerrans was born in Melbourne, Victoria and grew up in Mansfield, Victoria....

) and 21 (Ignatas Konovalovas
Ignatas Konovalovas
Ignatas Konovalovas is an Lithuanian road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .Konovalovas finished third in European U19 Team Pursuit Championship in 2003, European U23 Team Pursuit Championship in...

), and Scarponi's teammate Leonardo Bertagnolli
Leonardo Bertagnolli
Leonardo Bertagnolli is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam . He signed for , a new team in the 2009 season, though he rode for in the 2009 Giro d'Italia...

 was the winner of stage 15. The only teams to be single stage winners were with Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....

 in stage 17, and with classics specialist Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Gilbert is a classics specialist...

 three days later in a stage thought to resemble a classic
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...

. Pellizotti was also the third-place overall finisher. With wins for Quick Step's Seeldraeyers in the youth classification, Garzelli of Acqua & Sapone in the climbers' competition, and in the Trofeo Fast Team ranking, 11 teams – half of the total entries – won significant prizes during the race.

Aftermath

About two months after the event concluded, on 22 July, it was announced that second place overall finisher and points classification winner Di Luca had given two positive tests for continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA, an erythropoietin
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...

 derivative) on 20 May and 28 May, before the Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. "The Five Lands" is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore...

 time trial and the Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

 stage in the race's final week. He was provisionally suspended with immediate effect by the Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

 (UCI), cycling's governing body
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...

. It was announced on 8 August that the analyses of the B-samples from those controls confirmed the initial results, making it likely that Di Luca will be stripped of some or all of his results from the race. fired him on 13 August. Di Luca at first maintained his innocence and claimed a conspiracy against him by the labs handling the tests. A period of legal maneuvering between Di Luca and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) followed. CONI officials asked their anti-doping tribunal (TNA) to suspend Di Luca for three years – while two years is a customary ban for a doping positive, CONI prosecutors sought a third year for recidivism, stemming from Di Luca's previous doping incident two years earlier. He was given a two-year suspension, retroactive to July 2009, and indicated that he would appeal it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...

. In October 2010, Di Luca was reinstated to active status by CONI, due to his cooperation with several ongoing doping investigations, though his results were indeed stricken from the record. On January 10, 2011, he signed with and indicated that he would return to the Giro in 2011
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of the single state.The route was...

 to support Katusha team leader Joaquim Rodríguez
Joaquim Rodríguez
Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He has been competing since 2001, and currently rides for the UCI ProTour team .- Palmarès :2001...

.

Five days before the start of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
2010 Giro d'Italia
The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country...

, 2009 podium finisher Pellizotti was identified as a rider of interest to the UCI's biological passport
Biological passport
An athlete biological passport is an individual, electronic record for professional athletes, in which profiles of biological markers of doping and results of doping tests are collated over a period of time...

 program due to irregular blood values. He was removed from his team's start list for the Giro and provisionally suspended. The UCI asked that CONI open disciplinary proceedings against him, which had no resolution until after the 2010 season finished. TNA cleared him on October 21 and declared him free to race, at which time the Liquigas team intended to re-sign him. The UCI decided in January 2011 to appeal his case to the CAS. The hearing was held in March, and Pellizotti asked for a quick resolution, with plans to return with in the 2011 Tirreno–Adriatico
2011 Tirreno–Adriatico
The 2011 Tirreno–Adriatico was the 46th running of the Tirreno–Adriatico cycling stage race, often known as the Race of two seas. It started on 9 March in Marina di Carrara and ended on 15 March in San Benedetto del Tronto and consisted of seven stages, including a team time trial to begin the race...

 if he were cleared. The court reached its decision after five days, upholding the UCI's appeal, handing Pellizotti a two-year ban, and stripping all his results from this Giro and the 2009 Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

. Consequently, Pellizotti has said he is quitting the sport.

Classification leadership

In the 2009 Giro d'Italia, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification
General Classification
The general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...

, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a pink jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Giro d'Italia, and the winner is considered the winner of the Giro.

Additionally, there was a points classification
Points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning intermediate sprints. The points classification is the top prize for many cycling sprinters and therefore is often known as the Sprint Classification;...

, which awarded a mauve jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. The stage win awarded 25 points, second place awarded 20 points, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point fewer per place down the line, to a single point for 15th. In addition, points could be won in intermediate sprints.

There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized as either first, second, or third category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The highest point in the Giro (called the Cima Coppi), which in 2009 was Sestrière in stage 10, afforded more points than the other first-category climbs.

The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, which awarded a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1984 were eligible.

There were also two classifications for teams. The first was the Trofeo Fast Team. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The Trofeo Super Team was a team points classification, with the top 20 placed riders on each stage earning points (20 for first place, 19 for second place and so on, down to a single point for 20th) for their team.

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.
Stage Winner General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia
The mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...


Young rider classification
Young rider classification in the Giro d'Italia
Since 1976, The Giro d'Italia has had a young rider classification. The leader in this classification wears the maglia bianca . The classification is determined by the best overall time, but only young cyclists were in the competition....


1 Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

no award no award Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

2 Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

David García
David García (cyclist)
David García Dapena is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer.During the 2010 Vuelta a España he tested positive for EPO. A later sample also tested positive for HES. The Spanish Cycling Federation subsequently banned him for 2 years, effective October 6, 2010, and declared his results...

3 Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi
Alessandro Petacchi is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for .A specialist sprinter, Petacchi has won 51 grand tour stages with wins of the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 2004, the Vuelta a España in 2005 and the Tour de France in 2010.In 2007 Alessandro was banned from cycling...

Mauro Facci
Mauro Facci
Mauro Facci is an Italian professional road bicycle racer.- Victories :20042005-Notes and references:...

Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar is an American professional road racing cyclist since 2003.-Cycling career:Farrar started racing at 13, and rode for in 2003, in 2004, and in 2006 and 2007. In April 2006 he crashed near the finish of the Circuit de la Sarthe and broke his collarbone and missed most of the season...

4 Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Löfkvist is a Swedish professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTour . He became the youngest Swedish professional road bicycle racer when he started his professional bicycling career in at the age of 19 in 2004...

Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Lövkvist
Thomas Löfkvist is a Swedish professional road bicycle racer riding for the UCI ProTour . He became the youngest Swedish professional road bicycle racer when he started his professional bicycling career in at the age of 19 in 2004...

5 Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

6 Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...

Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

7 Edvald Boasson Hagen
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Edvald Boasson Hagen is a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist riding for the UCI ProTour team . He is the Norwegian Time Trial Champion and also considered as one of the biggest rising talents in the sport, being ranked as no...

8 Kanstantsin Siutsou
Kanstantsin Siutsou
Kanstantsin Sivtsov is a Belarusian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam team . He will ride for Team Sky in 2012.-Palmares:2004...

9 Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

10 Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

11 Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

12 Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

13 Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...

14 Simon Gerrans
Simon Gerrans
Simon Gerrans is an Australian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for the British UCI ProTour team, .-Biography:Gerrans was born in Melbourne, Victoria and grew up in Mansfield, Victoria....

15 Leonardo Bertagnolli
Leonardo Bertagnolli
Leonardo Bertagnolli is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam . He signed for , a new team in the 2009 season, though he rode for in the 2009 Giro d'Italia...

16 Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .- Major results :200720082009...

17 Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti
Franco Pellizotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently suspended from the sport....

18 Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...

19 Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

20 Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Gilbert is a classics specialist...

21 Ignatas Konovalovas
Ignatas Konovalovas
Ignatas Konovalovas is an Lithuanian road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .Konovalovas finished third in European U19 Team Pursuit Championship in 2003, European U23 Team Pursuit Championship in...

Final Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...


Denis Menchov
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Kevin Seeldraeyers is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam .- Major results :200720082009...


Final standings

Legend
  
  
Denotes the winner of the General classification   
  
Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification
Mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia
The mountains classification in the Giro d'Italia is a secondary classification. In this classification, points are awarded to the leading riders over designated climbs. Most climbs are sorted into one of three scales based on difficulty and its position on that day's stage...

  
  
Denotes the winner of the Points classification   
  
Denotes the winner of the Young rider classification
Young rider classification in the Giro d'Italia
Since 1976, The Giro d'Italia has had a young rider classification. The leader in this classification wears the maglia bianca . The classification is determined by the best overall time, but only young cyclists were in the competition....


General classification

Rider Team Time
1
86h 03' 11"
2 Empty
3 + 3' 46"
4 + 3' 59"
5 + 5' 28"
6
+ 8' 43"
7 + 10' 01"
8 Empty
9 + 11' 28"
10 + 12' 50"


Mountains classification

Rider Team Points
1
61
2 Empty
3
41
4 40
5 Empty
6 30
7 24
8 24
9 15
10 14

Points classification

Rider Team Points
1
144
2 Empty
3 Empty
4
133
5 104
6 103
7 86
8 82
9 74
10 70


Young rider classification

Rider Team Time
1
86h 19' 26"
2 + 2' 55"
3 + 17' 03"
4 + 31' 45"
5 + 34' 37"
6 + 58' 41"
7 + 59' 06"
8 + 1h 26' 10"
9 + 1h 41' 55"
10 + 1h 44' 09"

Trofeo Fast Team classification

Team Time
1 257h 48' 40"
2 + 24' 15"
3 + 27' 17"
4 + 32' 21"
5 + 58' 58"
6 + 1h 10' 52"
7 + 1h 16' 23"
8 + 1h 18' 52"
9 + 1h 51' 45"
10 + 1h 53' 34"


Trofeo Super Team classification

Team Points
1 400
2 314
3 302
4 273
5 269
6 262
7 228
8 228
9 220
10 199


Minor classifications

Other less well-known classifications, whose leaders did not receive a special jersey, were awarded during the Giro. These awards were based on points earned throughout the three weeks of the tour. Each mass-start stage had one intermediate sprint, the Traguardo Volante, or T.V. The T.V. gave bonus seconds towards the general classification, points towards the regular points classification, and also points towards the T.V. classification. This award was known in previous years as the "Intergiro" and the "Expo Milano 2015" classification. It was won by Italian Giovanni Visconti
Giovanni Visconti (cyclist)
Giovanni Visconti is an Italian professional road racing cyclist for UCI Professional Continental team . Visconti won the Italian National Championship road race on 1 July 2007, beating Paolo Bossoni and Davide Rebellin at the end in a sprint. At 12 km to go, Rebellin made his move...

, of .

Other awards included the Combativity classification, which was a compilation of points gained for position on crossing intermediate sprints, mountain passes and stage finishes. Mountains classification winner Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli
Stefano Garzelli is an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The high point of his career to date was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-way competition with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande.-Career:He started out as being a domestique for Marco Pantani but...

 won this award. The Azzurri d'Italia classification was based on finishing order, but points were only awarded for the top three finishers in each stage. It was won, like the closely associated points classification, by Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca
Danilo Di Luca is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rode for numerous UCI Professional Continental teams throughout his career including Liquigas-Bianchi and . He holds victories in the Giro di Lombardia in 2001, the 2005 UCI ProTour and won both the Giro d'Italia and the spring...

. Additionally, the Trofeo Fuga Cervelo rewarded riders who took part in a breakaway at the head of the field, each rider in an escape of ten or fewer riders getting one point for each kilometre that the group stayed clear. 's Mauro Facci
Mauro Facci
Mauro Facci is an Italian professional road bicycle racer.- Victories :20042005-Notes and references:...

 was first in this competition. Teams were given penalty points for minor technical infringements. and were most successful in avoiding penalties, and so shared leadership of the Fair Play classification.

World Rankings points

The Giro was one of 24 events throughout the season that contributed points towards the 2009 UCI World Ranking
2009 UCI World Ranking
The 2009 UCI World Ranking is the first edition of the ranking system launched by the International Cycling Union , replacing the rankings previously part of the UCI ProTour. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 20 January, and consists of 13 stage races and 11 one-day...

. Points were awarded to the top 20 finishers overall, and to the top five finishers in each stage.

Points earned in the Giro d'Italia
Name Team Points
218
186
138
124
86
85
79
56
54

Top ten of the individual standings after the Giro d'Italia
Rank Prev. Name Team Points
1 218
2 205
3 197
4 194
5 188
6 188
7 188
8 187
9 170
10 169


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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