costante girardengo won the first four stages of the 1921 giro d'italia and was leader after the fourth day. during the fifth stage, girardengo was involved in a crash, and when gaetano belloni saw this, he attacked. girardengo chased for before quitting. belloni was then the new leader after stage 5's conclusion. after the fifth stage, giovanni brunero was the only rider close to belloni. brunero attacked during the race's seventh stage to win the day and take the overall lead by fifty-two seconds, which proved enough to last until the race's conclusion in milan. the 1922 giro d'italia saw some controversy amongst the general classification contenders. in the race's first stage, giovanni brunero received an illegal wheel change – brunero took a wheel from his teammate alfredo sivocci – which he was penalized 25 minutes for. costante girardengo and gaetono belloni, along with their respective teams maino and bianchi, wanted brunero to be expelled from the giro for the incident. both the bianchi and maino squads eventually withdrew from the giro due to their outrage with the organizer's decision to only give brunero a 25-minute penalty. brunero went on to win the giro d'italia, the second one of his career.