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Winner of the 1960 Tour de France and the 1957 Giro d’Italia, Gastone Nencini is one of only two riders to finish all three Grand Tours in the top-10 in the same year. He accomplished this in 1957, by winning the Giro, and finishing 6th and 9th in the Giro and Vuelta, respectively. Additionally, he finished the Giro in the podium twice more (1955 – 3rd and 1960 – 2nd), along with another top-10 in the Tour (1958 – 5th). He was also the king of the mountains in the Giro and the Tour in 1955 and 1957. Quite the unforgettable GT career for one of the best Italian cyclists of all time.
The only other rider to finish all three Grand Tours (GTs) in the top-10 in the same year was Raphael Géminiani in 1955, just two years before Nencini. Alejandro Valverde was very close in 2016, finishing 3rd and 6th, in the Giro and Tour, but only 13th in the Vuelta.
Gastone Nencini has one of the most (if not the most) curious career facts ever: he won 4 stages in the Tour and 7 in the Giro throughout his career. These wins were obtained over three different years in the Tour, and four different years in the Giro. As previously mentioned, he won the general classification (GC) classification in the 1957 Giro and 1960 Tour. He won exactly zero stages in the 1957 Giro. And he won exactly zero stages in the 1960 Tour. Weird that stage wins in seven different GTs never overlapped with the GC wins in the other two.
His first important result came even before he turned pro, with a silver medal in the Amateur World Championships of 1953. The pro race that year was won by fellow Italian legend Fausto Coppi. In the Amateurs, Ricardo Filippi beat Nencini and future Belgian icon Rick Van Looy, who took home the bronze medal.
In 1955, the first glimpse of Nencini’s GT potential was unveiled with a 3rd place in the Giro, along with a stage win. A year later he won his first stage in the Tour, and what a stage that was: the finish in Paris. Curiously, Robbie McEwen would do the same in 1999.
As mentioned, 1957 was the year Nencini would finish all 3 GTs in the top-10. After winning the Giro he went to France to take the king of the mountain’s jersey, a stage win, and finish 5th overall in that year’s Tour. At the time all 3 GTs were contested within a 3-month period between late April (start of the Vuelta) and late July (end of the Tour) which makes this accomplishment even more mind-boggling.
The following year he would repeat that 5th place in both the Giro and the Tour. Ercole Baldini, 3rd the year before, won the Italian GT in 1958. Nencini still managed two stage wins in the Giro and one in the Tour. In 1959, though, the best he achieved was 10th and stage win in the Giro. This would have been a career highlights for many, but not for a rider of the Italian’s stature.
The disappointment of 1959 continued in the beginning of 1960, but for different reasons. Gastone Nencini missed out on a Giro win by a mere 28 seconds. Jacques Anquetil was the man who took home the pink jersey on this occasion. The Italian had beaten Bobet, a compatriot of Anquetil, in 1957, by 19 seconds. Three years later, he was beaten by a Frenchman by 28 seconds. Fate.
Gastone Nencini wouldn’t let this disappointment ruin his season, on the contrary. He shook it off supremely and went on to comfortably win the 1960 Tour, 5 minutes and 2 seconds in front of fellow Italian Graziano Battistini. His tour win was marked by the unfortunate accident of rival Roger Riviére, a French rider that, at the time of his accident, was 2nd in the GC, less than 2 minutes behind Nencini. During stage 14, on the descent of the Col de Perjuret, Riviére was trying to follow the Italian who was a notoriously good descender. On one of the bends the Frenchman lost control of his bike and hit the border wall of the road, which precipitated his fall down a ravine. He never regained full use of his limbs after the fall and never raced again.
The Italian was undoubtedly one of the best and purest stage racers of his time which meant he didn’t achieve many results outside of GTs, and most definitely not outside of Italy. His biggest one-day race success came in 1956 in the form of the Italian classic Tre Valli Varesine, which is still contested today (most recently won by Alessandro De Marchi). Nencini has one single top-10 in the Monuments, a 6th place in the 1957 Tour of Flanders, won by Fred de Bruyne.
As touched on above, the Italian was best known for his superior descending ability. So much so that, Géminiani, a fellow pure stage racer of the 1950s, once said that “the only reason to follow Nencini downhill would be if you had a death wish”.
Another one of his famous descending stories involves Henry Anglade, French champion and Tour stage winner. Upset that the Italian was getting all the recognition for being the best descender in the peloton, the Frenchman challenged the Italian to a race on a descent of the Dolomites, during the 1959 Giro d’Italia. Whoever lost had to buy the drinks before the meal that evening. As it turns out the Aglade beat Nencini, and confirmed that the Italian bought him aperitifs that evening.
Gastone Nencini was born in Barberino di Mugello, a small town in Tuscany, near Florence. This is the origin of his nickname, Il Leone del Mugello – The Lion of Mugello. He sadly passed away at just 49 years of age, victim of cancer.
His life and career had everything. Amazing highs and tragic lows. He is immortalized by a monument located at the Futa pass, near his hometown, where he is addressed as the “campione mugellano” – champion from Mugello. Not many careers are worthy of such an honor. Gastone Nencini’s certainly was.
Interesting links
A look back at the career of Gastone Nencini – video