Ercole Baldini, winner of the Giro d’Italia and Road World Championships in 1958, died at the age of 89 at his home in Villanova, Italy on Wednesday after a short illness.
Nicknamed Il Treno di Forlì – ‘The Forlì Express’ – Baldini’s gifts as a rouleur carried him to a sparkling series of successes on road and track in the late 1950s.
In his final year as an amateur in 1956, Baldini broke Jacques Anquetil’s Hour Record and later soloed to a remarkable victory in the road race at the Melbourne Olympics that December. Within two years, Baldini would claim a most dominant Giro victory and then power to the rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Reims.
Baldini was born in Forlì in 1933, the fourth of six sons. He started racing as a 17-year-old after impressing local professionals who encountered during his rides to and from school. His raw power was soon diverted to the track and in 1954, Baldini established an amateur Hour Record of 44.870km.
After a year of military service, Baldini enjoyed a golden 1956 season, his last as an amateur. In early September, he beat compatriot Leandro Faggin to the individual pursuit world title in Copenhagen, and on his return to Italy, Baldini opted to tackle Jacques Anquetil’s outright Hour Record. Before a crowd of 15,000 at Milan’s Vigorelli track, Baldini put more than 200 metres into Anquetil’s mark, establishing a new record of 46.394km.
In December, Baldini made the long journey to the Olympic Games in Melbourne, where he was in a class of his own in the road race. He broke clear alone with two laps remaining, cruising home almost two minutes ahead of Arnaud Geyre. The organising committee had mislaid its recording of the Italian national anthem for the podium ceremony, but the scattering of Italian émigrés in the crowd compensated by singing the Inno di Mameli after Baldini had been awarded gold.
Baldini turned professional with Legnano in 1957 and made an immediate impression in his Giro debut, winning the time trial to Forte dei Marmi and placing third overall behind Gastone Nencini and Louison Bobet.
Shortly afterwards, Baldini was crowned Italian national champion and at season’s end, he paired up with Fausto Coppi to win the two-up Trofeo Baracchi. The occasion was couched as a passing of the torch, and though physical issues meant Baldini didn’t endure long at the top, his flame burned brightly while he did.
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