Learco Guerra was born on the 14 of October 1902 in Bagnolo San Vito, Italy.
After a short attempt to be a football player, Guerra turned to road cycling and became professional in 1928. He was among the top riders of the era both in the peloton of the Grand Tours and the one-day classics. He earned the nickname “Locomotiva Umana” [ Human Locomotive].
Guerra attended the Tour de France twice (1930 and 1933), he finished second in both occasions. He also won a total of 7 Tour de France stages.
He earned much more success at the Giro d’Italia. In 1931 he became the first wearer of the maglia rosa after winning the first stage and leading the general classification. (Note: some cycling websites are referring to Francesco Camusso as the very first rider in maglia rosa. He was the winner of the race in 1931, but the jersey was awarded since the very first stage, which was won by Guerra.)
Guerra was in good form, he won 4 stages that year (however, he lost the pink jersey to Alfredo Binda on the third day), but had to give up the race after 8 stages.
He was more successful at the Giro d’Italia in 1934. He won 10 stages and the general classification. (he has a total of 31 stage victories at the Giro d’Italia between 1930 and 1937). 1934 was a good year for him: he also won Giro di Lombardia and several other Italian one-day races.
Learco Guerra was World Champion (1931) and a two-time monument winner because, before his victory at the Giro di Lombardia, he also won Milano -Sanremo (1933).
Learco Guerra’s professional teams
1928–1935 Maino–Dunlop
1936–1939 Legnano–Wolsit
1940 Dei/Legnano
1941–1944 Dei
After his retirement, he was working as team manager Among his protegees were Federico Bahamontes, Rik Van Looy, Charly Gaul and Hugo Koblet.
Learco Guerra died on the 7th of February in 1963.