page_title: History of the Giro d'Italia
section_title: 1954–1967: Italian supremacy challenged
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Giro d'Italia / 1954–1967: Italian supremacy challenged
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Tour de France 1962 , Ab Geldermans, Jacques Anquetil, [Mies Stolker?].
context_page_description: The Giro d'Italia is an annual stage race bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; however it is currently run by RCS Sport. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.
  The first edition of the race was won by Italian Luigi Ganna who had the fewest total points at the end of the race; the same format was used for the next two years and also resulted in an Italian cyclist winning. The 1912 Giro saw the general classification contested by teams, which Atala-Dunlop won by ten points. The following year they reverted to the original system, before switching to the aggregate time model in 1914. Alfredo Binda won five editions of the race over a period of nine years, before Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi consistently asserted their superiority in the Giro d'Italia.
context_section_description: The tensions at the start of the race in 1954 were high because the organizers paid Fausto Coppi a large sum to participate in the race The transaction angered the peloton and led to the race being not highly contested; this was extremely evident on the twenty-first stage when the riders took over nine hours to complete the 222 km (138 mi) stage. Eventual winner Carlo Clerici attacked during the sixth leg and gained enough of a time advantage over the rest of the peloton and win the Giro d'Italia. Fiorenzo Magni led the majority of the first half of the 1955 Giro d'Italia before losing the lead to another rider. During the twentieth leg, Magni attacked with Fausto Coppi when his fellow competitors had stopped to change their tires. Magni's efforts gave him the race lead and ultiamtely his third Giro d'Italia victory.
  The 1956 edition of the Giro was without much drama until the twenty-first stage that stretched from Merano to the summit finish on Monte Bondone, a mountain in the Dolomites. The stage was bitterly cold with temperatures near −10 °C (14 °F) that forced over sixty riders to abandon the race including the race leader Pasquale Fornara. Charly Gaul attacked during the stage and won the stage, while also gaining enough time to take the lead. After the Gaul crossed the stage's finish, he was taken to the hospital because his jersey was stuck to his skin. Gaul won the race and became the first Luxembourgian rider to win the Giro d'Italia. Gaul returned to the race in 1957 and regained the after the sixteenth leg. During the eighteenth stage, Gaul stopped to urinate which led his fierce rival Louison Bobet to initiate an attack with Gastone Nencini and Miguel Poblet. Gaul lost to Nencini; however, Gaul took out his frustration by aiding Nencini with his bid to win just to spite Bobet. With Gaul's help, Nencini went on to win the event by nineteen seconds over Bobet.
  Italian Ercole Baldini took the lead of the 1958 Giro d'Italia after winning the mountainous, fifteenth stage to Bosco Chiesanuova. He won one more stage en route to his overall victory. The 1959 Giro d'Italia was headlined by the favorites Jacques Anquetil and Charly Gaul. Anquetil held the lead of the race going into the penultimate stage. Before the stage, Gaul stated openly that he was going to attack on the slopes of the Piccolo San Bernardo which caused Anquetil to mark him for most of the stage. Gaul stayed true to his word and attacked as the riders made their way up the Piccolo San Bernardo. Anquetil — who had eaten poorly during the stage — was unable to counter his later attacks. Gaul  got away, won stage, and gained close to ten minutes on Anquetil that was sufficient enough to win him the event.
  Jacques Anquetil captured the lead of the 1960 Giro d'Italia after dominating the lengthy stage 14 time trial from Seregno to Lecco. Anquetil's lead shrunk because of bike issues which prevented him from countering attacks while climbing the Gavia Pass during the penultimate stage. Anquetil retained a twenty-eight second lead that proved to be enough to last to the race's finish, making him the first French winner of the Giro d'Italia. Arnaldo Pambianco captured his lone Giro victory after his efforts in a breakaway on the 1961 edition's fourteenth stage gave him the race lead.
  The 1962 edition of the Giro d’Italia was marred by severe weather conditions. The fourteenth stage was shortened following a violent storm which prevented the climbing of the last two scheduled mountain passes and the stage finished atop the Passo Rolle. Angelino Soler won the race's sixteenth stage, with Franco Balmamion finishing second on the stage and taking the race lead. Balmamion successfully defended the lead all the way to the race's finish in Milan. Balmamion repeated as champion the next year after gaining the lead after the nineteenth stage that contained six difficult climbs.
  Jacques Anquetil took the race lead at the 1964 Giro d'Italia after the stage five individual time trial. Despite the best attempts of Franco Balmamion and Italo Zilioli, Anquetil managed t
caption: Jacques Anquetil was the first French winner of the Giro d'Italia.
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