Luigi Ganna Milan Winner First Giro d'Italia 1909 Poster

Luigi Ganna Milan Winner First Giro d'Italia 1909 Poster The eighth and final stage started in Turin, covered 206 km (128 mi), and finished in Milan in front of a crowd of more than 30,000. Ganna was amongst the leading group until he suffered a flat tyre. He managed to fight his way back until, with the leaders in sight, he had another puncture. The leading group pulled away until the race directors stopped them to let Ganna catch up. Escorted by mounted police, the riders then made their way into Milan's Arena Civica stadium for the finish. As the racers geared up for the sprint finish a police horse fell, causing a few riders to crash. Dario Beni avoided the incident and edged out Galetti for the stage win, with Ganna coming in third. Thus Ganna became the first winner of the Giro d'Italia. He and his team, Atala, also won the team classification.