Gastone Nencini (; 1 March 1930 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

who won the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

and the

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

Giro d'Italia. Nicknamed ''Il Leone del Mugello'', "The Lion of

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Flo ...

" (from his birthplace

Barberino di Mugello 240px, Villa di Cafaggiolo. Barberino di Mugello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about north of Florence. Barberino di Mugello borders the following municipalities: Ca ...

, near

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

), Nencini was a powerful all-rounder, particularly strong in the mountains. He was an amateur painter and a chain smoker. He was a gifted descender. "The only reason to follow Nencini downhill would be if you had a death wish", said the French rider

Raphaël Géminiani Raphaël Géminiani (born Clermont-Ferrand; born 12 June 1925) is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-FerrandColin, Jacques ( ...

. It was in trying to follow Nencini down a mountain on Stage 14 of the 1960 Tour de France that

Roger Rivière Roger Rivière (23 February 1936, Saint-Étienne – 1 April 1976, Saint-Galmier) was a French track and road bicycle racer. He raced as a professional from 1957 to 1960. Rivière, a time trialist, all-around talent on the road, and a three-ti ...

missed a bend, crashed over a wall and broke his spine.

Downhill race

Nencini's downhill race with

Henry Anglade Henry Anglade (6 July 1933 – 10 November 2022) was a French cyclist. In 1959 he was closest to winning the Tour de France, when he won a stage and finished second, 4:01 behind Federico Bahamontes. In 1960 he wore the yellow jersey for two days ...

has become part of the legend of cycling. Anglade was a proud rider and Nencini one of the fastest down hills. They met at a col in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

during the Giro d'Italia. The weather was bad and a snowstorm had forced 57 riders to abandon that day. Anglade said: :I couldn't tolerate the idea that Nencini was the best descender of the peloton. I said to him, call the blackboard man, we'll do the descent together and whoever comes second pays for the aperitifs this evening. So he called the '' ardoisier'' and asked him to follow us. The road was of compressed earth. We attacked the drop flat out. I let Nencini take the lead so that I could see how he negotiated the bends before attacking him. In the end I dropped as though I was alone. At the bottom, I had taken 32 seconds out of him, written on the blackboard. I was really tickled. I had beaten Nencini. The next time I saw him was that evening in the hotel I was staying at. He had just bought me an apéritif!Coup de Pédales, Belgium, undated cutting

Memory

Stèle Gastone Nencini au passo della Futa

At the Futa pass, on the mountains over his native

, a monument is placed to his memory: a big bronze bas-relief portrait of him racing and the inscription saying: "A Gastone Nencini. Il comune di Barberino, gli sportivi, i compagni di tante battaglie ricordano il campione mugellano" (translated from Italian: "To Gastone Nencini. The administration of Barberino, the sportsmen, the comrades of many battles remember the Mugello-born champion"). Gastone Nencini with wife 1957

Career achievements

;1955 :3rd Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

::1st Stages 9 & 12 ;1956 :1st

Tre Valli Varesine The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which c ...

:1st Stage 22

;1957 :1st Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia :1st Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria :

::1st

::1st Stages 10 & 18 :3rd

Giro del Lazio The Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. From 2005 to 2008, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing ...

;1958 :1st Circuit of Omegna :1st Circuit of Lokeren :5th Overall

::1st Stage 19 :5th Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stage 10 & 18 ;1959 :1st Stage 9 Giro d'Italia ;1960 :1st Jersey yellow

Overall

:1st Grand Prix de Nice :1st Circuit of Montélimar :2nd Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 5 & 10 :3rd

Milano–Torino Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ev ...

;1961 :1st Circuit of Acireale :2nd

Trofeo Matteotti Trofeo Matteotti is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Pescara, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which ...

;1962 :2nd

Giro dell'Appennino The Giro dell'Appennino is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Famous riders like Fausto Coppi, Francesco Moser, Felice Gimond ...

;1964 :2nd

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until ...

:3rd Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

Grand Tour results timeline

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nencini, Gastone 1930 births 1980 deaths People from Barberino di Mugello Italian male cyclists Tour de France winners Italian Tour de France stage winners Giro d'Italia winners Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners Doping cases in cycling Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Florence Cyclists from Tuscany

Downhill race

Memory

Career achievements

Grand Tour results timeline

See also

Notes and references