Brits at the Giro d’Italia: the 30 men to have flown the British flag at the Corsa Rosa
After two years without a Brit at the Giro d’Italia, three men will be flying the flag at the 100thedition of the Corsa Rosa.
Team Sky’s co-leader Geraint Thomas returns to the race for the first time since 2012, while rising stars Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) and Hugh Carthy (Cannondale-Drapac) are making their Giro d’Italia debutants.
Yates and Carthy are the 29th and 30th British riders to take on the Italian Grand Tour since Vin Denson opened the British account with a stage win at his debut Giro d’Italia in 1966.
So which other Brits have written their names into the 100-edition history of the Giro d’Italia? Let’s take a closer look…
As the nation’s footballers were preparing to write their names into the sporting history record books ahead of the 1966 World Cup, Vin Denson was writing his own chapter in British sporting legend.
The Chester-born rider, making his Giro debut with the Ford-France team of Jacques Anquetil, took advantage of a lull in the GC battle to seize his own opportunity on stage nine of the race.
Bolting clear of his two breakaway companions on the final climb, Denson claimed the first ever British stage win in the race, before finishing 40th overall – the first Brit to finish the Giro too.
He went on to race twice more, not finishing in 1967 before coming in 87th overall the following year – his final year as a professional.
Former British Best All-Rounder Peter Hill raced the 1967 Giro d’Italia as a team-mate of Eddy Merckx on the Peugeot team, but did not finish the race.
Phil Edwards (1976-1980)
The first man to ride the Giro d’Italia as British champion, Phil Edwards made his Giro debut in 1976 – the only Brit to ride the Corsa Rosa in the 1970s.
After finishing 69th overall in his debut race, Edwards went on to race the next four editions of the Giro too – including his 1978 appearance as British champion.
The 1978 edition also saw his best stage result – second into Latina behind Italian Enrico Paolini – while he was 42nd overall in 1979, his best GC result.
A former top-20 finisher at the Tour de France, and Clasica San Sebastian runner-up in 1981, Graham Jones raced his first-and-only Giro d’Italia in 1983 and finished 26th overall.
After winning the Chrono des Nations in 1983, Dave Akam was handed a professional contract with Francesco Moser’s Gis-Gelati team and made his Giro debut the following year.
He became a key domestique to Moser in that race, and featured regularly on the front of the bunch as the Italian legend sealed his first – and only – Giro d’Italia victory.
Akam himself finished 137th overall – including a top-20 spot on the final stage time trial to prove his form – but remains the last Brit to have finished the Giro on the same team as the maglia rosa.
He started the race again the following year, but crashed out on stage nine and retired just a couple of years later having been plagued by illness throughout his pro career.
Robert Millar (1987)
While Ireland’s Stephen Roche took the headlines at the 1987 Giro d’Italia – going against team orders as he claimed the maglia rosa, the first part of his Triple Crown success, Britain’s Robert Millar was writing his own historic chapter.
Millar first pulled on the green King of the Mountains jersey after stage two, and did not relinquish it again for the rest of the race.
He also went on to win the penultimate stage, on a summit finish in Pila, to become only the second Brit to win a Giro stage after Denson – a victory which propelled him to second overall behind Roche.
As well as being the first British rider to win one of the race’s secondary classifications, Millar’s second place remains the best British GC result at the Giro d’Italia.
Sean Yates (1987, 1989, 1992)
British hard man and former national champion Sean Yates is better known for his Tour de France exploits, where he both won a stage and briefly wore the yellow jersey despite his usual work as a domestique.
He also raced the Giro d’Italia three times, however, in 1987, 1989 and 1992 – the latter, including fourth place in Imola, was the only one he finished (in 87th place) and Yates carried that form into the nationals, where he claimed his only British champion’s jersey.
Wayne Bennington (1990)
Wayne Bennington was a team-mate of Robert Millar and Greg LeMond at Z, and raced his only Giro d’Italia for the latter in 1990 – finishing 63rd.
Harry Lodge (1992)
The 1992 Giro d’Italia was the first to feature three Brits and Harry Lodge – racing the Corsa Rosa for the first and only time, was the best placed overall in 48th place.
Malcolm Elliott (1992)
Three-time Vuelta a Espana stage winner Malcolm Elliot raced his only Giro d’Italia in 1992, finishing it in 115th place, before leaving Europe to race in America.
Max Sciandri (2000-2002)
Born in Derby, Max Sciandri raced as an Italian national until 1995, when he took British citizenship to compete at the 1996 Olympics (where he won a bronze medal in the road race).
As an Italian national, Sciandri raced the 1991, 1992 and 1994 Giros, winning a stage at each one.
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