Learco Guerra

Learco Guerra

Personal information
Full name	Learco Guerra
Nickname	Human Locomotive
Born	(1902-10-14)October 14, 1902 Bagnolo San Vito, Italy
Died	February 7, 1963(1963-02-07) (aged 60) Milan, Italy
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)
1928–1935	Maino
1936–1939	Legnano
1940	Dei/Legnano
1941–1944	Dei
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 7 individual stages (1930, 1933) Giro d'Italia General Classification (1934) 31 individual stages (1930-1937) One-day races and Classics World Road Race Championship (1931) National Road Race Championship (1930-1934) Milan–San Remo (1933) Giro di Lombardia (1934)

Learco Guerra

Medal record
Representing  Italy
Road bicycle racing
World Championships
	1931 Copenhagen	Elite Men's Road Race
	1930 Liège	Elite Men's Road Race
	1934 Leipzig	Elite Men's Road Race

Learco Guerra (October 14, 1902 - February 7, 1963) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1934 Giro d'Italia.

Laearco Guerra, born in San Nicolò Po, a frazione of Bagnolo San Vito in Lombardy, gained the nickname of "Human Locomotive" for his enduring quality in plain stages. After mediocre attempts to play football, Guerra became a professional cyclist in 1928, at 26. The following year he became Italian champion, racing as an independent or semi-professional.

In 1930 he won his first Italian National Road Race Championships, the first of five straight wins. That same year he came second in the Tour de France after Italy's leader, Alfredo Binda, proved in poor form. The race was won by the Frenchman, André Leducq. In 1931 Guerra won four stages of the Giro d'Italia but not the final victory. The same year he won the world cycling championship.

In 1933 Guerra was again second in the Tour de France, and he won the Milan–San Remo. In 1934 came his greatest success, 10 stages of the Giro d'Italia and the general classification. He was also second in the world championship.

Guerra set a record of victories in a single year that was beaten only in the 1970s. His fame was exploited by the Fascist government, which profited from his heroic status.

After retirement, he worked as a team manager for riders such as Hugo Koblet and Charly Gaul.

Affected by Parkinson's disease, he died in Milan in 1963.

Career achievements

Major results

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937
Giro	-	-	4	WD	1	WD	WD	WD
Tour	2	-	WD	2	-	-	-	-
Vuelta	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

WD = Withdrew

External links

• Learco Guerra profile at Cycling Archives
• Official Tour de France results for Learco Guerra

UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race
1927: Binda 1928–29: Ronsse 1930: Binda 1931: Guerra 1932: Binda 1933: Speicher 1934: Kaers 1935: Aerts 1936: Magne 1937: Meulenberg 1938: Kint 1946: Knecht 1947: Middelkamp 1948: Schotte 1949: Van Steenbergen 1950: Schotte 1951: Kübler 1952: Müller 1953: Coppi 1954: Bobet 1955: Ockers 1956–57: Van Steenbergen 1958: Baldini 1959: Darrigade 1960–61: Van Looy 1962: Stablinski 1963: Beheyt 1964: Janssen 1965: Simpson 1966: Altig 1967: Merckx 1968: Adorni 1969: Ottenbros 1970: Monseré 1971: Merckx 1972: Basso 1973: Gimondi 1974: Merckx 1975: Kuiper 1976: Maertens 1977: Moser 1978: Knetemann 1979: Raas 1980: Hinault 1981: Maertens 1982: Saronni 1983: LeMond 1984: Criquielion 1985: Zoetemelk 1986: Argentin 1987: Roche 1988: Fondriest 1989: LeMond 1990: Dhaenens 1991–92: Bugno 1993: Armstrong 1994: Leblanc 1995: Olano 1996: Museeuw 1997: Brochard 1998: Camenzind 1999: Freire 2000: Vainšteins 2001: Freire 2002: Cipollini 2003: Astarloa 2004: Freire 2005: Boonen 2006–07: Bettini 2008: Ballan 2009: Evans 2010: Hushovd 2011: Cavendish 2012: Gilbert 2013: Costa 2014: Kwiatkowski 2015–16: Sagan