Giro Prizes + Classifications

As well as daily podium ceremonies for the stage winner and to award the jerseys there are several other prizes awarded each day.

Now I enjoy pro cycling and like to follow the news but I’ve had to research the extra prizes and ceremonies on offer because they’re not obvious. But if you want to know your team classification from your Superteam or your Fuga from your Fairplay, read on.

Traguardo Volanti
The “flying sprint” or the intermediate sprint point earns points for the points competition and the distinctive jersey but it also has its own prize. The first five riders get 5,4,3,2 and 1 points and there’s a daily prize for the highest tally so far in the race plus a final award in Milan when the race ends.

Azzurri d’Italia
Literally the “blues of Italy”, it is a reference to the national colour worn by sports teams. The association behind the national team offers a prize whereby the first three riders on each stage win points: 4, 2 and 1 points and at the end of the race they win a trophy and a cash prize.

Premio della Fuga
The “breakaway prize”, fuga shares its roots with the English word fugitive and points are awarded per kilometre for riders in a breakaway. The escape has to last at least five kilometres, it must be reported on race radio and only counts if the move has fewer than 10 riders. The distance spent away is added up and the winner is the one with the greatest number of kilometres spent on the attack. There’s a daily prize and a final award for the whole race. If you see a breakaway about to be caught and one of the riders attacks to ride solo for another minute or more then it’s not in vain, it’s to secure this prize.

Combatitivity Prize
Unlike the Tour de France which uses a jury to pick the most spritely rider of the day, this award is measured via points awarded at the finish line, for intermediate sprints and for crossing mountain passes first. Again there’s a ceremony and cash prize each day with a final award on the last day for the whole race.

Team prize
Based on the time of the best three riders each stage and again an award once the race finishes.

Superteam
Points are awarded for the top-20 riders each day, 20 for first down to one point for twentieth. The team with the most points on the day wins the Superteam prize and the scores are added up again for a final award too.

Fairplay Prize
Teams get points for bad behaviour, ranging from 0.5 points for a fine to 2,000 points for a positive doping case. The squad with the least points on the day wins a prize and the same again after the three weeks.

Summary
Still confused? Yes, there are a lot of prizes. It reminds me of the police in Italy where you have many overlapping forces: state police, provincial police, municipal police, local police, carabinieri and others too.

Having all these prizes allows for extra sponsors and more chances for local dignitaries to meet and greet the riders in a podium ceremony. But whilst we might find it hard to know what is what, the focus remains very much on the stage winner and the wearer of the maglia rosa.

7 thoughts on “Giro Prizes + Classifications”

  1. Interesting…thanks for these distinctions. Since I watch all racing online (no TV), the feeds cut off before the podium presentations in most cases. I imagine all these awards take quite some time when the riders really wanna be hitting the showers, grabbing some good grub and crashing on their masseur’s tables:)

    In Phinney’s case, I’d think he’d like to crawl into the closest hole, and take Farrar and Hushovd with him!

    On a high note, congrats to Cav for winning a fantastic sprint in front of Delilah and Peta! Having started his sprint @ 150 meters, he really dug deep against Goss for this one! Kudos to Team SKY’s fast pace line and esp Geraint Thomas for a fast 500-meter lead-out and smooth delivery of Cav to the line!

  2. Interesting read. Bravissimo. I think commentators should popularize Premio della Fuga for the glory of the last man caught by peloton. Right now as long as we admire cyclists he looks like a nut.

  3. I think the idea of the Premio della Fuga is fantastic, because it makes official what we all know – riders like Jeremy Roy are badass.
    All of these prizes are confusing and I had no idea they existed, but if it helps riders get more money and gives them a sense of achievement, or something extra to add to their palmares, it’s awesome.

  4. Wouldn’t there be times when several teams would have zero fair play points at the end of the stage?

    Or do they break the “fair play” rules every day?

  5. Very interesting (and I guess difficult) research.
    …so the combativity prize in the Giro is what the “combined classification” used to be in the Tour and Vuelta. The “combined jersey” (made of patches of the maillot jaune, the maillot vert, the maillot à pois, and the maillot rouge) was very attractive and was never won by your average Joe: it was famously worn by Hinault and Lemod all through the 1986 Tour de France. They should think of reviving it.

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