Italo Zilioli (born 24 September 1941) is an Italian former professional cyclist. Born in Turin, he won 58 races as a professional, including the 1966 Züri-Metzgete. He also totaled 5 stage wins at the Giro d'Italia; however, he never won the major tour of his country. He finished the Giro in the top 5 on six occasions and made the podium four times, finishing 2nd in 1964, 1965 and 1966, and finishing 3rd in 1969 as a member of Filotex. During the 1970 Tour de France he won stage 2 and took over the Yellow jersey, which caused a minor controversy as it angered his teammate Eddy Merckx, who was anticipated to wear the jersey for the majority of the race and repeat as champion. Zilioli held the jersey for three stages before relinquishing it to Merckx. Zilioli lives in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont) and is responsible for the stage starts for Giro d'Italia. Career achievements Major results 1959 1st Road race, National Junior Road Championships 1963 1st Giro del Veneto 1st Giro dell'Appennino 1st Tre Valli Varesine 1st Giro dell'Emilia 2nd Gran Piemonte 5th Giro di Lombardia 6th Overall Tour de Suisse 1st Stage 1 1964 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni 1st Coppa Sabatini 1st Giro del Veneto 1st GP Monaco 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia 2nd Milano–Torino 2nd Giro di Campania 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 3rd Overall Tour de Suisse 3rd Genoa–Nice 5th Giro di Lombardia 8th Trofeo Laigueglia 9th Giro di Romagna 10th Tre Valli Varesine 1965 1st Nice–Mont Agel 1st Caen (with Franco Balmamion) 1st Giro del Ticino 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 18 2nd Coppa Placci 2nd Giro del Veneto 2nd Giro delle Tre Provincie 2nd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 3rd Overall Paris–Nice 4th Tre Valli Varesine 1966 1st Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 1st Züri-Metzgete 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2nd Giro del Lazio 2nd Tre Valli Varesine 2nd Giro dell'Appennino 3rd Coppa Placci 3rd GP Montelupo 3rd GP Valsassina 6th Road race, UCI World Road Championships 7th Giro di Lombardia 7th Giro di Romagna 1967 5th Trofeo Laigueglia 7th Overall Paris–Nice 1968 1st Giro di Campania 2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 3 2nd Overall Giro di Sardegna 4th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 5 1969 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 19 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 3rd Giro della