Just like the Tour de France, the Giro has seen it’s fair share of controversy with regular changes to the record books due to doping offences. Riders like Ricco, Basso, Sella and Di Luca have brought shame on their home race but more recent editions of the Corsa Rosa are being remembered for the right reasons.
With jerseys up for grabs for GC, mountains, sprints (points) and riders under 26, there are many intriguing battles taking place over the course of the three weeks.
| Year | GC | Points | KOM | Best young rider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Richard Carapaz | Pascal Ackermann | Giulio Ciccone | Miguel Ángel López |
| 2018 | Chris Froome | Elia Viviani | Chris Froome | Miguel Ángel López |
| 2017 | Tom Dumoulin | Fernando Gaviria | Mikel Landa | Bob Jungels |
| 2016 | Vincenzo Nibali | Giacomo Nizzolo | Mikel Nieve | Bob Jungels |
| 2015 | Alberto Contador | Giacomo Nizzolo | Giovanni Visconti | Fabio Aru |
| 2014 | Nairo Quintana | Nacer Bouhanni | Julian Arredondo | Nairo Quintana |
| 2013 | Vincenzo Nibali | Mark Cavendish | Stefano Pirazzi | Carlos Betancur |
| 2012 | Ryder Hesjedal | Joaquím Rodríguez | Matteo Rabottini | Rigoberto Urán |
| 2011 | Michele Scarponi | Michele Scarponi | Stefano Garzelli | Roman Kreuziger |
| 2010 | Ivan Basso | Cadel Evans | Matthew Lloyd | Richie Porte |
| 2009 | Denis Mensjov | Stefano Garzelli | Kevin Seeldraeyers | |
| 2008 | Alberto Contador | Daniele Bennati | Riccardo Riccò | |
| 2007 | Danilo Di Luca | Alessandro Petacchi | Leonardo Piepoli | Andy Schleck |
| 2006 | Ivan Basso | Paolo Bettini | Juan Manuel Gárate | n/a |
| 2005 | Paolo Savoldelli | Paolo Bettini | José Rujano | n/a |
| 2004 | Damiano Cunego | Alessandro Petacchi | Fabian Wegmann | n/a |
| 2003 | Gilberto Simoni | Gilberto Simoni | Freddy González | n/a |
| 2002 | Paolo Savoldelli | Mario Cipollini | Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio | n/a |
| 2001 | Gilberto Simoni | Massimo Strazzer | Freddy González | n/a |
| 2000 | Stefano Garzelli | Dmitri Konysjev | Francesco Casagrande | n/a |
Record holders in the Giro d’Italia
Three riders have won the Giro d’Italia five times. Namely Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi from Italy and Eddy Merckx, the Cannibal, from Belgium.
Mario Cipollini took by far the most stage wins: 42.
Merckx’s closet has the most pink jerseys – he wore the Maglia Rosa on 77 occasions. Alberto Contador is next in line, with 22 jerseys, 2 jerseys ahead of Vincenzo Nibali.
Giro-Tour double
Most current riders admit it is too difficult to pull off the Giro-Tour double. Those who did manage the double are Fausto Coppi (twice), Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx (thrice), Bernard Hinault (twice), Stephen Roche, Miguel Indurain (twice) and Marco Pantani.