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.