Giro prizes: More than just the pink jersey

The final rest day of the Giro is upon us, with 15 days of racing behind the peloton, and the battles for the big prizes are all clearly established. Pink, blue, red, white — the jerseys of the Giro are the main prizes, the battles we talk about every day, but there are a number of other, more obscure competitions too.

Here’s a look at the prizes nobody talks about, and where the prize pot of 1,377,210 euros goes. You can view full standings here.

Traguardo Volante (sponsored by Autostrade per l’Italia)

The easiest competition for viewers at home to work out is the sprint competition. The “TV” symbols marked on stage profiles are intermediate sprints (two per stage).

The spiritual successor of the old Intergiro prize awards 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points to the first six riders over the intermediate sprint line, along with 500 to 100 euros on a sliding scale. Add them up at the end of the race and the top five get 8,000 euros down to 1,000 euros. The sponsor is self-explanatory — it builds the autostrade (motorways) of Italy. Androni Giocattoli’s Marco Bandiera won last year.

Standings
1. Maarten Tjallingii, LottoNL – Jumbo, 43 points
2. Daniel Oss, BMC Racing, 40 points
3. Matteo Trentin, Etixx – Quick-Step, 32 points

Azzurri d’Italia

This competition takes its name from Italy’s traditional sporting color blue (the color of the House of Savoia, one of the world’s oldest royal families) and is awarded by the National Association of Olympic Athletes. It’s a basic competition, with 4, 2 and 1 points going to the top three on each stage. Add them up in Torino and the winner gets 5,000 euros. Astana’s Mikel Landa won last year, though the red jersey wearer often takes it.

Gran Premio Fuga (sponsored by Pinarello)

Translate the name and this one is obvious — the breakaway prize. This awards the rider who has spent the most kilometers out on the attack, as long as the move lasts longer than 5km and is made up of a group of less than 10 riders.

Five thousand euros is on offer here too, an extra incentive to make a hopeless break last as long as possible. Marco Bandiera of Androni Giocattoli – Venezuela won this last year too, and we all know who Pinarello is.

Standings
1. Maarten Tjallingii, LottoNL – Jumbo, 355km
2. Daniel Oss, BMC Racing, 333km
3. Nicola Boem, Bardiani – CSF, 225km

Premio della Combattività

Now we’re getting to the more convoluted competitions. This is a measure of a rider’s aggression and hands out points on categorized climbs, intermediate sprints, and stage finishes.

A daily prize of 300 euros is up for grabs, with the points leader after three weeks winning 4,000 euros. Formerly sponsored by shoe maker PittaRosso, the prize is often won by a climber, while BMC’s Philippe Gilbert won last year.

The Premio Energy, a competition which saw riders timed over the last 3km, has been discontinued this year.

Standings
1. Giacomo Nizzolo, Trek – Segafredo, 27 points
2. Maarten Tjallingii, LottoNL – Jumbo, 24 points
3. Giulio Ciccone, Bardiamo – CSF, 22 points

Winning Team (sponsored by Bio Presto)

This is the equivalent to the standard team prize we see in other races. The times of each team’s first three finishers are added up each day to give the daily winner.

The top three teams take 500 euros, 300 euros, and 100 euros back to the bus each day, with 5,000 euros down to 1,000 euros given out to the top five teams at the end of the race. Predictably, Astana won this last year. Bio Presto makes washing machine detergent — you might have spotted the company’s inflatable bottles at the side of the road.

Standings
1. Astana, 182:23:30
2. Movistar, +4:40
3. Cannondale, +19:05

Super Team (sponsored by Selle Italia)

An additional team competition, Super Team sees the top 20 riders on each stage awarded points on a sliding scale from 25 to 1, with the top five in intermediate sprints taking 8 to 1 points.

These scores are then added up by team, with 500 euros, 300 euros, and 100 euros given to the top three each day. The final prize sees the top five win 5,000 euros to 1,000 euros. Astana won this title last year too. Saddlemaker Selle Italia is an institution of Italian cycling.

Standings
1. LottoNL – Jumbo, 346 points
2. Etixx – Quick-Step, 320 points
3. Lotto – Soudal, 251 points

Fair Play (sponsored by NamedSport)

The Fair Play prize sees teams receive point penalties based on a variety of offenses, from taking team car tows to doping infractions. A positive test will cost a team 2,000 points, though you’d imagine they would have greater worries at that point.

The three teams with the fewest points at the end of the Giro win 5,000 euros, 3,000 euros, and 1,000. NamedSport, the main sponsor of Milano-Sanremo, makes sport supplements. Nippon – Vini Fantini won last year with a total of zero points. This year Katusha is at the bottom, thanks to Alexey Tsatevich’s antics.

Standings
1. 9 teams, 0 points
22. Katusha , 826 points

Trofeo Bonacossa

This prize is named after Alberto Bonacossa, who owned the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport from 1929 to 1953, and is awarded by a jury of journalists for the “greatest exploit” of the Giro. BMC’s Philippe Gilbert won last year, while Leopard – Trek was awarded the prize in 2010 after Wouter Weylandt’s tragic death.

Trofeo Vincenzo Torriani

Established in 1996 after the death of Torriani, the man who organized the race from 1949 to 1989, this prize is awarded to the winner of the stage which includes the Cima Coppi (the Giro’s highest mountain). Astana’s Fabio Aru won last year after taking victory on stage 20 to Sestriere. This year, the winner of stage 19 will receive the prize.

Casa 3 ‘Cyclist of the heart’

Each day, the Italian public votes for the “most generous and combative” rider, who wins a 3 Italia smartphone and gets to wear a green number the next day. Unsurprisingly, Vincenzo Nibali has amassed quite the phone collection this May.

The main prizes of the Giro are well-known but here’s a look at what riders can win.

Stage wins (sponsored by 3 Italia)

A total prize pot of 578,340 euros is on offer here, as the top 20 riders on each stage get a cash prize, from 11,010 euros for the winner down to 276 euros for finishing 10th-20th.

Maglia Rosa (sponsored by Enel)

289,170 euros gets shared among the Giro’s top 20 overall finishers. The race winner, clad in pink, takes home 115,688 euros, while second and third-placed riders get 58,412 euros and 28,801 euros. Finishing 10th-20th earns riders 2,863 euros. Each day’s pink jersey wearer takes 1,000 euros. This year the electricity and gas distributor Enel took over sponsorship from biscuit maker Balocco.

The 54-centimeter tall, 18-carat gold trophy is known as the Trofeo Senza Fine (Endless Trophy). It has been awarded since the year 2000 and it stays with the Giro winner for a year.

Maglia Rossa Passione (sponsored by Algida)

Each day the points classification leader, wearing the red jersey, gets 500 euros, while the top three point scorers each day get 800 euros, 500 euros, and 200 euros. Only the top five in this competition are given prizes — 10,000 euros down to 3,000 euros. Algida is an ice cream brand.

Maglia Azzurra (sponsored by Banca Mediolanum)

The blue jersey of the mountains classification leader gets 500 euros each day. Seven hundred euros, 400 euros, and 200 euros go to the top point-scorers each day, and at the end of the race the top five are awarded 5,000 euros to 1,000 euros. Banca Mediolanum is a Milan-based bank.

Maglia Bianca (sponsored by EuroSpin)

The white best young rider jersey sees 500 euros given out to the daily leader, while the final classification sees the top five given 10,000 euros down to 2,000 euros. Supermarket Euro Spin inherited the sponsorship from fruitsellers Fratelli Orsero.