The Giro di Lombardia might have run up until 1942 – and Milan-San Remo until one year later – but for five years during the Second World War, the Giro d’Italia was not contested. Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943, but the devastating Italian Campaign was fought until 2nd May 1945, four days after the execution of the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on the banks of Lake Como.

Italy was left ravaged by the war and the Paris Peace Treaties had yet to be signed when La Gazzetta dello Sport, the chief sponsors of the Giro d’Italia, pushed for a reinstation of the national race in 1946. While the Tour de France wouldn’t resume until a year later, the Vuelta a España had run its fifth edition in 1945 – following breaks brought about by the Spanish Civil War and World War Two. The Giro organisers now wanted to help boost the national regeneration by holding their race.