Luigi Ganna

Luigi Ganna (1 December 1883 – 2 October 1957) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. He was the overall winner of the first Giro d'Italia, held in 1909, as well as the first Italian winner of the classic Milan–San Remo earlier that year. Further highlights in his career were his fifth place in the 1908 Tour de France and several podium places in Italian classic races. In 1908, he set a new Italian hour record, which he held for six years.

He was born in Induno Olona, near Varese, in Lombardy. Before becoming a professional cyclist, he worked as a bricklayer, commuting up to 100 km to work by bike. In 1913, he started the Ganna Cycling team where he rode for the final three years of his career. His company sponsored the team until 1953 when they could no longer meet obligations and Nivea–Fuchs took over.

Major results Sources:

1905 3rd Giro di Lombardia 1906 3rd Giro di Lombardia 3rd Giro del Piemonte 1907 2nd Overall Giro di Sicilia 1st 2 Stages 3rd Giro di Lombardia 4th Milan–San Remo 1908 2nd Milan–San Remo 2nd Giro di Lombardia 3rd Roma–Napoli–Roma 5th Tour de France 1909 1st Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 4, 5 & 7 1st Milan-San Remo 3rd Giro dell'Emilia 6th Giro di Lombardia 1910 1st Giro dell'Emilia 2nd Giro di Lombardia 2nd Italian National Road Race Championships 2nd Roma–Napoli–Roma 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 5, 7 & 10 1911 3rd Milan–San Remo 1913 3rd Roma–Napoli–Roma 1st Stage 1 5th Giro d'Italia 1914 6th Milan–San Remo