Compared to the Tour de France, there have been relatively few British riders taking part in the Giro d’Italia over the year. As of the 2020 season, the total number is just 36 riders.
Vin Denson was the first Brit to take part in 1966, he even won a stage too. Only 1 rider took part in any of the Giro d’Italia of the 1970s and finally in the 1980s a first jersey was won. Robert Millar won the mountains jersey and finished 2nd Overall in his only Giro d’Italia participation.
No-one came close to repeating that until Chris Froome won the pink jersey and the mountains jersey in 2018. Simon Yates also lit up that Giro with 3 stage wins. Mark Cavendish has been the only British sprinter to do well, winning 15 stages over the years and the points jersey in 2013.
Below is a run-down of all 36 riders, the years they’ve taken part, their best GC result and the odd interesting titbit.
British riders in the Giro d’Italia
1960s
Vin Denson (1966, 1968)
Best finish: 40th, 1966
Stage Wins: 1
Peter Hill (1967)
Best finish: DNF, 1967
1970s
Phil Edwards (1976-80)
Best finish: 42nd, 1979
1980s
Graham Jones (1983)
Best finish: 26th, 1983
David Akam (1984-85)
Best finish: 137th, 1984
Robert Millar (1987)
Best finish: 2nd, 1987
Overall Mountains Jersey: 1987
Stage Wins: 1
1990s
Wayne Bennington (1990)
Best finish: 63rd, 1990
Max Sciandri (1991-92, 1994, 2000-02)
Best finish: 58th, 2001
Stage Wins: 3
In 1990, 1991 & 1994 Max Sciandri raced as Italian
Sean Yates (1992)
Best finish: 87th, 1992
Harry Lodge (1992)
Best finish: 48th, 1992
Malcolm Elliott (1992)
Best finish: 115th, 1992
2000s
Matt Stephens (2000)
Best finish: DNF, 2000
Julian Winn (2003)
Best finish: 81st, 2003
Charly Wegelius (2003-10)
Best finish: 29th, 2010
Sir Bradley Wiggins (2003, 2005, 2008-10, 2013)
Best finish: 40th, 2010
Days in Pink 1
Stage Wins: 1
Steve Cummings (2007-08, 2010, 2013)
Best finish: 55th, 2010
Mark Cavendish (2008-09, 2011-13)
Best finish: 126th, 2013
Overall Points Jersey: 2013
Days in Pink: 4
Stage Wins: 15
David Millar (2008-2011, 2013)
Best finish: 94th, 2008
Days in Pink: 2
Stage Wins: 1
Geraint Thomas (2008, 2012, 2017, 2020)
Best finish: 80th, 2012
Chris Froome (2009-10, 2018)
Best finish: 1st, 2018
Overall Pink Jersey: 2018
Overall Mountains Jersey: 2018
Days in Pink: 3
Stage Wins: 2
Daniel Lloyd (2009-10)
Best finish: 103rd, 2010
Jeremy Hunt (2009, 2012)
Best finish: 145th, 2009
Ian Stannard (2009, 2012)
Best finish: 132nd, 2012
Ben Swift (2009, 2014, 2020)
Best finish: 113th, 2014
2010s
Adam Blythe (2010-11, 2013)
Best finish: 166th, 2013
Russell Downing (2011)
Best finish: 139th, 2011
Pete Kennaugh (2011-12)
Best finish: 86th, 2011
Alex Dowsett (2013, 2018, 2020)
Best finish: 120th, 2018
Stage Wins: 1
Adam Yates (2017)
Best finish: 9th, 2017
Hugh Carthy (2017-2019)
Best finish: 11th, 2019
Simon Yates (2018-2020)
Best finish: 8th, 2019
Days in Pink: 13
Stage Wins: 3
James Knox (2019-2020)
Best finish: DNF, 2019
Scott Davies (2019)
Best finish: 118th, 2019
Tao Geoghegan Hart (2019-2020)
Best finish: DNF, 2019
Jon Dibben (2020)
Best finish:
Matthew Holmes (2020)
Best finish:
