bartali came to the 1940 giro d'italia with a strong legnano team and high ambitions to win the overall crown; however his hopes were derailed when he crashed in the race's second stage and lost time. fausto coppi was promoted to the new team leader after bartali's misfortunes. coppi donned the general classification leader's pink jersey after attacking on the abetone in the race's eleventh stage and managed to keep the lead all the way to the event's finish in milan. coppi became the youngest rider to ever win the giro at 20 years, 8 months and 25 days old, breaking the record that was held by luigi marchisio. world war ii brought the giro's annual running to a halt after the 1940 edition.