The Maglia Nera was a black

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

awarded as a symbolic prize in cycling competition at the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

, given to the last man to finish the race. It was allocated between 1946 and 1951. The competition for the jersey came from the time Italian soccer star Giuseppe Ticozzelli who competed in the

1926 Giro d'Italia The 1926 Giro d'Italia was the 14th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a Grand Tour organized and sponsored by the newspaper ''La Gazzetta dello Sport''. The race began on 15 May in Milan with a stage that stretched to Turin, finishing back in Mi ...

as an independent while wearing his black jersey of the football team he played for (Casale). He completed three stages and would often take rest breaks for food, he had to drop out of the race after being run over by a car. There was real competition to win this particular jersey. Especially noted are the struggles between Sante Carollo and Luigi Malabrocca, to see who could waste the most time. Each tried to lose more time than the other by hiding in bars, barns, and behind hedges, or even by puncturing their own wheels. In 1948 the honor was awarded to the Tuscan

Aldo Bini Aldo Bini (30 July 1915 – 16 June 1993) was an Italian road bicycle racer. He won several one-day races, as well as four stages of Giro d'Italia in 1936–1937. He placed second at the 1936 World Championships and 48th in the 1938 Tour de Fra ...

, who according to some journalists and fans of the time, stubbornly continued the race until the end, despite a broken right hand suffered in a mass crash, and the suffering that especially in the mountain stages forced him to get off the bike and push it uphill. The special ability of the black jersey was, in addition to not being "discovered", to reach the finish directly within the maximum time. The term "maglia nera" was later used in other contexts to indicate the bottom club in a league, often giving it a negative connotation. In 2008 a similar "black number" was introduced, won by Markus Eichler of Team Milram.

Winners

References

;Footnotes ;Citations ;Bibliography * {{Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia nera Italian sports trophies and awards Ironic and humorous awards

Winners

See also

References