In the 1959 Tour de France, the French team included Jacques Anquetil, Louison Bobet, Raphael Géminiani and Roger Riviere, who were all considered possible Tour winners. This also posed a problem, as they all wanted to be team captains, and refused to work for each other. The Spanish team was headed by Federico Bahamontes, who in previous years did not care for flat stages and time trials, and only tried to win the mountains classification. In the 1959 season, Bahamontes had Fausto Coppi as manager, and Coppi convinced Bahamontes to focus on the general classification. The defending champion Charly Gaul was again placed in a mixed team of Luxembourgian and Dutch cyclists, and expected little support. The Italian team did not include Vito Favero and Gastone Nencini, who had performed well in the 1958 Tour. Their team captain was Ercole Baldini, winner of the 1958 Giro d'Italia, but he was not expected to be able to compete against Gaul, Bahamontes and Anquetil. Of the cyclists in the French regional teams, Henri Anglade was the most notable. He was included in the Centre-Midi team,
The cyclists were represented by agents, who negotiated for the prices in post-tour criteriums. There were two major agents: Daniel Dousset, who represented Anquetil, Rivière and Bahamontes, and Piel Poulidor, who represented Anglade. This made it more important for Anquetil to help Bahamontes than Anglade.
Teams
Netherlands/Luxembourg (combined) Belgium Italy France Spain Switzerland/Germany (combined) International France Centre-Midi France Paris North-East France West South-West
Cyclists
+ Legend No. Starting number worn by the rider during the Tour Pos. Position in the general classification DNF Denotes a rider who did not finish
By starting number
No. Name Nationality Team Pos. 1 Charly Gaul Netherlands/Luxembourg 12 2 Aldo Bolzan Netherlands/Luxembourg 45 3 Marcel Ernzer Netherlands/Luxembourg 33 4 Jean-Pierre Schmitz Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 5 Piet Damen Netherlands/Luxembourg 27 6 Daan de Groot Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 7 Piet De Jongh Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 8 Jaap Kersten Netherlands/Luxembourg 50 9 Bram Kool Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 10 Martin Van Den Borgh Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 11 Piet van Est Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 12 Gerrit Voorting Netherlands/Luxembourg DNF 21 Jan Adriaensens Belgium 7 22 Jean Brankart Belgium 10 23 Kamiel Buysse Belgium 61 24 Fred De Bruyne Belgium 31 25 Armand Desmet Belgium 23 26 Jos Hoevenaers Belgium 8 27 Marcel Janssens Belgium 25 28 Eddy Pauwels Belgium 11 29 Jef Planckaert Belgium 17 30 Michel Van Aerde Belgium 22 31 Martin Van Geneugden Belgium 53 32 Guillaume Van Tongerloo Belgium DNF 41 Pierino Baffi Italy 60 42 Ercole Baldini Italy 6 43 Waldemaro Bartolozzi Italy 57 44 Dino Bruni Italy 64 45 Aurelio Cestari Italy 38 46 Nello Fabbri Italy 42 47 Roberto Falaschi Italy DNF 48 Giuseppe Fallarini Italy DNF 49 Vito Favero Italy DNF 50 Michele Gismondi Italy 30 51 Arigo Padovan Italy 52 52 Ernesto Bono Italy 36 61 Jacques Anquetil France 3 62 Louison Bobet France DNF 63 Robert Cazala France 32 64 André Darrigade France 16 65 Pierre Everaert France DNF 66 Raphaël Géminiani France 28 67 Jean Graczyk France 35 68 Roger Hassenforder France DNF 69 Raymond Mastrotto France DNF 70 René Privat France DNF 71 Roger Rivière France 4 72 Jean Stablinski France DNF 81 Federico Bahamontes Spain 1 82 José Berrendero Spain DNF 83 Juan Campillo Garcia Spain 58 84 José Gómez del Moral Spain 47 85 Jesús Galdeano Spain DNF 86 Aniceto Utset Spain DNF 87 René Marigil Spain DNF 88 Fernando Manzaneque Spain 14 89 Luis Otaño Spain DNF 90 Julio San Emeterio Spain 40 91 Carmelo Morales Spain 43 92 Antonio Suárez Spain DNF 101 Ernest Ecuyer Switzerland/Germany DNF 102 Rolf Graf Switzerland/Germany 21 103 Hans Hollenstein Switzerland/Germany DNF 104 Emanuel Plattner Switzerland/Germany DNF 105 Max Schellenberg Switzerland/Germany DNF 106 Attilio Moresi Switzerland/Germany DNF 107 Ernst Traxel Switzerland/Germany 55 108 Otto Altweck Switzerland/Germany DNF 109 Lothar Friedrich Switzerland/Germany 18 110 Mathias Löder Switzerland/Germany DNF 111 Winfried Ommer Switzerland/Germany DNF 112 Frans Reitz Switzerland/Germany 49 121 Adolf Christian International 41 122 Richard Durlacher International DNF 123 Arne Jonsson International DNF 124 Ole-Bent Retvig International DNF 125 John Andrews International DNF 126 Tony Hewson International DNF 127 Brian Robinson International 19 128 Seamus Elliott International DNF 129 Victor Sutton International 37 130 Tadeusz Wierucki International DNF 131 Antonino Baptista International DNF 132 José Sousa Cardoso International DNF 141 Jean Anastasi France - Centre/Midi DNF 142 Henry Anglade France - Centre/Midi 2 143 Louis Bergaud France - Centre/Midi 13 144 Louis Bisilliat France - Centre/Midi 65 145 Emmanuel Busto France - Centre/Midi 39 146 Michel Dejouhannet France - Centre/Midi DNF 147 Jean Dotto France - Centre/Midi 15 148 Jean Forestier France - Centre/Midi 34 149 Bernard Gauthier France - Centre/Midi DNF 150 Valentin Huot France - Centre/Midi 48 151 Marcel Rohrbach France - Centre/Midi 51 152 Louis Rostollan France - Centre/Midi 59 161 Jean-Claude Annaert France - Paris/North-East DNF 162 Jean Hoffmann France - Paris/North-East DNF 163 Jacques Champion France - Paris/North-East DNF 164 Édouard Delberghe France - Paris/North-East 54 165 Raymond Hoorelbeke France - Paris/North-East 29 166 Stéphane Lach France - Paris/North-East DNF 167 André Le Dissez France - Paris/North-East DNF 168 Jean-Claude Lefebvre France - Paris/North-East DNF 169 Orphée Meneghini France - Paris/North-East DNF 170 René Pavard France - Paris/North-East DNF 171 Jean Robic France - Paris/North-East DNF 172 Michel Vermeulin France - Paris/North-East 20 181 Max Bleneau France - West/South-West 63 182 Albert Bouvet France - West/South-West DNF 183 Jean Gainche France - West/South-West DNF 184 Joseph Groussard France - West/South-West 56 185 Félix Lebuhotel France - West/South-West 46 186 François Mahé France - West/South-West 5 187 Fernand Picot France - West/South-West 44 188 Francis Pipelin France - West/South-West DNF 189 Marcel Queheille France - West/South-West 26 190 Gérard Saint France - West/South-West 9 191 Tino Sabbadini France - West/South-West 62 192 Joseph Thomin France - West/South-West 24
By team
+Netherlands/Luxembourg No. Rider Pos. 1 12 2 45 3 33 4 DNF 5 27 6 DNF 7 DNF 8 50 9 DNF 10 DNF 11 DNF 12 DNF+Belgium No. Rider Pos. 21 7 22 10 23 61 24 31 25 23 26 8 27 25 28 11 29 17 30 22 31 53 32 DNF+Italy No. Rider Pos. 41 60 42 6 43 57 44 64 45 38 46 42 47 DNF 48 DNF 49 DNF 50 30 51 52 52 36+France No. Rider Pos. 61 3 62 DNF 63 32 64 16 65 DNF 66 28 67 35 68 DNF 69 DNF 70 DNF 71 4 72 DNF+Spain No. Rider Pos. 81 1 82 DNF 83 58 84 47 85 DNF 86 DNF 87 DNF 88 14 89 DNF 90 40 91 43 92 DNF+Switzerland/Germany No. Rider Pos. 101 DNF 102 21 103 DNF 104 DNF 105 DNF 106 DNF 107 55 108 DNF 109 18 110 DNF 111 DNF 112 49+International No. Rider Pos. 121 41 122 DNF 123 DNF 124 DNF 125 DNF 126 DNF 127 19 128 DNF 129 37 130 DNF 131 DNF 132 DNF+France - Centre/Midi No. Rider Pos. 141 DNF 142 2 143 13 144 65 145 39 146 DNF 147 15 148 34 149 DNF 150 48 151 51 152 59+France - Paris/North-East No. Rider Pos. 161 DNF 162 DNF 163 DNF 164 54 165 29 166 DNF 167 DNF 168 DNF 169 DNF 170 DNF 171 DNF 172 20+France - West/South-West No. Rider Pos. 181 63 182 DNF 183 DNF 184 56 185 46 186 5 187 44 188 DNF 189 26 190 9 191 62 192 24
References