Ercole Baldini

Ercole Baldini (26 January 1933 to 1 December 2022) was an Italian cyclist who excelled on both road and track. Born at Villanova di Forlì, he set the amateur hour record at 21 with 44.870 km, which earned him the nickname Forlì train. In 1956 he won the Olympic road race gold medal at the Melbourne Games and the world individual pursuit title on track, and in September that year took the hour record from Jacques Anquetil with 46.394 km at the Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan. He turned professional in 1957 and won six important races, including the Trofeo Baracchi alongside Fausto Coppi, and became Italian champion. In 1958 he won the Giro d'Italia, beating Charly Gaul on the climber's own terrain, and also took the world road championship. He finished sixth in the 1959 Tour de France, won bronze medals in the individual pursuit at the world championships of 1960 and 1964, and ended his career in 1964 after surgery to a leg.