[CR]Re: M. Del Rio? Shared the 1956 Giro d'Italia green-jersey???

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme)

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 08:35:05 -0800 (PST)
From: "Brett Horton" <bretthorton@thehortoncollection.com>
To: aldoross4@siscom.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Re: M. Del Rio? Shared the 1956 Giro d'Italia green-jersey???

The UCI encyclopedia lists Italian Aurelio Del Rio as winning the "Stelvio" trophy at the 1956 Giro.

The Sandro Picchi book (Giro stats) has the last entry for Del Rio, rider #88, at Stage 16: Lecco-Sondrio on June 5th. On that stage Del Rio finished with the pack and was awarded 39th place on the stage, along with 41 other riders. The next day, June 6th, was a rest day.

No idea if he dropped out on the rest day or before/during Stage 17 as his name disappears at Stage 17, on June 8th, not to be seen again.

The death march on the Bondone, where Charly Gaul rode into Giro lore, was Stage 18.

I scanned for information in the newpapers and periodicals of the day but found no mention of Del Rio. Not surprising as he was a 3rd year pro that had only won four pro races, all pretty small. As it turned out, 1956 was Del Rio's last year as a pro. No clue how or why a second tier domestique like Del Rio would end up on any "All-Time" list of riders unless every pro who ever rode was on the list.

His career stats: Per the UCI encyclopedia Aurelio Del Rio - born 28 June 1927

1954 - Atala 1st Coppa Boero 1st (Third stage) Tour des Pouilles & Luciana 4th Trophy Matteotti

1955 - Atala 1st Bagnonlo Cremasco 1st Ponzano Magra 3rd Coppa Martini del Turchino 17th Milan-San Remo 52nd Giro d'Italia

1956 - Ignis Trophy dello Stelvio - Giro d'Italia

I would love to see any information anyone else may have. The reporting, at least the details, from Italian races during this time leaves a lot to be desired. I am constantly finding reporting conflicts.

Brett Horton San Francisco, California

<<Aldo Ross wrote: Looks like "Cycling Hall of Fame" has come across some confusing information about the mountains prize in the 1956 Giro d'Italia. Anyone have any magazines or books which might help clear things up? There was a rider named "Aurelio Del Rio" in the '56 Giro, riding for Ignis/Varesem, but he doesn't appear on any lists of the finishers. <snip> >>

.