1914 And All That
The race would feature not only the hardest percorso in the history of cycling but also the longest lone escape, the slowest speeds, and some of the most apocalyptic weather conditions. The shortest stage, the fifth from Avellino to Bari, would travel 328 kilometres, while the winner two days later, one Luigi Lucotti, would triumph in a shade under 19 and a half hours. Of the 81 starters, only eight would make it back to Milan. For all that it was an exercise in masochism, the new Giro suited the bike manufacturers perfectly well. A Giro finish had always been concrete evidence of the durability of both man and machine and so six trade teams threw their hats in. Biggest among them was Bianchi, Italy’s favourite, with no less than eight starters. Meanwhile Gatti’s Atala broke the bank in charging Petit-Breton with repeating the trick across the Alps. He would be assisted by their secret weapon, a super-strong young rider from (of all places) Brixton. Freddie Grubb, a teetotal vegetarian who’d won silver at the Stockholm Olympics, signed on as Britain’s first ever grand tour rider. Poor, naive Grubb had not the faintest idea of the chicanery implicit in ‘continental’ racing, nor of the fate which lay in store for him… The isolati, clad here in plain white jerseys, were the professional sport’s underclass. Known as ‘the pariahs of cycling’, they fell broadly into two types. Some were contracted to teams but had failed to earn selection for the Giro, while others were genuine independents, riding for bread, board and glory. The final group making up the pack, the so called aspiranti, was composed of Italy’s great unwashed. While the 35 team riders were supported in much the same way today’s Coffee? Cognac? Strychnine? © Olycom
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