Eighty years ago, the Giro d'Italia first passed through Passo Rolle. The Vittorio Veneto-Merano race was underway. It was May 26, 1937. There were four stages to go. Gino Bartali wore the pink jersey. He had snatched it from Giovanni Valetti atop Terminillo, at the end of the time trial a few days earlier.
On the roads of Trentino and Alto Adige, Gino Bartali was the protagonist of an extraordinary one-two. He won the Merano stage.
Twenty-four hours later, he repeated that success in Gardone Riviera, extending his lead in the overall standings.
The final three finish lines of the 1937 Giro were won by Glauco Servadei in San Pellegrino Terme, Marco Cimatti in Como, and Aldo Bini in Milan. Bartali dominated that Giro.
He held a nearly nine-minute lead over Giovanni Valetti, who finished in second place. The third, Enrico Mollo, finished over seventeen minutes behind.
Having won his second Giro, Bartali would thrill the roads beyond the Alps the following year by winning the first of his two Tours de France. The final note from the 1937 Giro: the Grand Prix of the Mountains at Passo Rolle allowed Gino Bartali to bag valuable points for the climbers' classification, which, at the end of the Giro, saw him reach the top of the mountain in the lead. With a wide margin over all the others.