In the year when Giro d’Italia organizers decided to pay Alfredo Binda for not to participate the race, a 21-year-young neo-pro rider, Luigi Marchisio had the chance of his lifetime in the Legnano team.
And that’s it. This is pretty much his story, because besides winning the Giro d’Italia in 1930, he had very few other successes. He won the National Championship for independent riders two years erlier, which helped him to have a contract with Legnano, where also Alfredo Binda was riding.
In 1930, with the absence of Binda, the Giro-team of Legnano was built around the young Marchisio, and he managed to live up the expectations.
This was the first year when the race visited Sicily, and in the third stage Marchisio crossed the finish line first and took over the lead in the general classification. He also won the next stage and was able to keep his leading positiont until the end of the race.
Luigi Marchisio became the younges rider to date to win the Giro d’Italia.
Ten years later an even more younger rider, called Fausto Coppi broke his record. Coppi is still the youngest rider ever to win the Giro d’Italia.
By the way, introducing Sicily to the Italian grand tour didn’t go without strange incindents.
In the second stage, when the peloton was riding close to Mount Etna, Luigi Marchisio got hit in the eye by some volcanic rock.
This prompted him to wear a covering over his eyes for several days after the incident.
Marchisio returned to the Giro d’Italia also in next year. This was the edition when the maglia rosa was introduced to the race, and Marchisio, leading the general classification for three days, had the chance to wear it. He managed to finish the race third in the general classification.
Probably success came for Luigi Marchisio too early. After 1932, when he won the multiple-stage-race Barcelona-Madrid, he did not manage to earn further significant successes. He retired from professional cycling in 1936. He was only 27 years old.