1949 Tour de France
Encyclopedia
The 1949 Tour de France was the 36th Tour de France
, taking place from 30 June to 24 July 1949. It consisted of 21 stages over 4808 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.121 km/h.
The Italian team had internal problems, because Gino Bartali
and Fausto Coppi
could both be the team leader. During the selection procedure, Coppi almost refused to start the race, but he was convinced to start. During the race, Coppi almost pulled out, because he felt he did not have full support from the team captain. In the Alps, Coppi recovered. The race was won by Coppi, with second place taken by teammate Bartali, the winner of the previous year. Coppi also won the mountains classification, while his Italian team won the team classification
.
in the ninth stage.
While the mountains had been categorized into two categories in 1948, in 1949 the third category was added.
, the 1949 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. The three major cycling countries in 1949, Italy, Belgium and France, each sent a team of 12 cyclists. Other countries sent teams of 6 cyclists: Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain. Italy and Belgium also sent two extra teams of young riders of 6 cyclists each.
The French regional cyclists were divided into four teams of 12 cyclists: Ile de France, West-North, Centre-South West and South East. Altogether this made 120 cyclists.
There were 57 French cyclists, 22 Italian, 18 Belgian, 6 Dutch, 6 Luxembourg, 6 Spanish, 6 Swiss and 1 Polish cyclist.
In the previous year, Fausto Coppi refused to enter the Tour de France because of personal problems with his team mate Gino Bartali. Bartali had won the previous Tour, and was trying to equal Philippe Thys
by winning the Tour three times. Coppi had won the 1949 Giro d'Italia
, and wanted to be the first one to achieve the Tour-Giro double in one year. The Italian team manager Alfredo Binda
convinced them two weeks before the start of the race to join forces, so both Italians were in the race.
In that fifth stage, Coppi escaped together with the leader of the general classification, Jacques Marinelli
. When they were leading by 6 minutes, Coppi and Marinelli fell in Mouen. Marinelli was not hurt and could continue, but Coppi's bike was broken. The Italian team car offered him a new one, but Coppi refused because he wanted his personal spare bike, and threatened to quit the race.
When Bartali reached Coppi, he saw the problem, and waited. Even later, the Italian team captain Binda arrived with Coppi's spare bike, and Bartali and Coppi started to ride. Coppi started to slow down, complaining he was hungry and exhausted. Bartali decided he could not wait anmore, and rode away from Coppi. Coppi came in 18 minutes late that stage.
Later that night, it became clear that Coppi had been angry because the team leader had not been following him, even though he was in the leading group. Coppi did not want to race in a team where Bartali and not he was the leader. Binda tried to convince Coppi that he had been delayed, and he succeeded in keeping Coppi in the race.
In the Alps
, Coppi recovered. In the sixteenth stage, Coppi escaped, and only Bartali followed him. It was Bartali's 35th birthday, and Coppi gave Bartali the stage victory. After that stage, Bartali was first in the general classification, with Coppi in second place, 82 seconds behind.
In stage 17, Bartali and Coppi again were leading together. Around 40 km into the stage, Bartali punctured. Coppi waited for Bartali, but when Bartali later fell and twisted his ankle, team leader Binda allowed Coppi to take off alone. Coppi did so, won the stage, and decided the race.
.
, he became the first person to achieve the Giro-Tour double.
Coppi would go on to repeat the Giro-Tour double in 1952.
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, taking place from 30 June to 24 July 1949. It consisted of 21 stages over 4808 km, ridden at an average speed of 32.121 km/h.
The Italian team had internal problems, because Gino Bartali
Gino Bartali
Gino Bartali, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice and the Tour de France in 1938...
and Fausto Coppi
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi, , was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions...
could both be the team leader. During the selection procedure, Coppi almost refused to start the race, but he was convinced to start. During the race, Coppi almost pulled out, because he felt he did not have full support from the team captain. In the Alps, Coppi recovered. The race was won by Coppi, with second place taken by teammate Bartali, the winner of the previous year. Coppi also won the mountains classification, while his Italian team won the team classification
Team classification
The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:...
.
Changes from the 1948 Tour de France
The 1949 Tour de France marked the first time that the Tour de France had a stage finish in Spain, when it stopped in San SebastianSan Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
in the ninth stage.
While the mountains had been categorized into two categories in 1948, in 1949 the third category was added.
Participants
As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France1930 Tour de France
The 1930 Tour de France was the 24th Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 27 July 1930. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,822 km, ridden at an average speed of 28.000 km/h....
, the 1949 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. The three major cycling countries in 1949, Italy, Belgium and France, each sent a team of 12 cyclists. Other countries sent teams of 6 cyclists: Switzerland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain. Italy and Belgium also sent two extra teams of young riders of 6 cyclists each.
The French regional cyclists were divided into four teams of 12 cyclists: Ile de France, West-North, Centre-South West and South East. Altogether this made 120 cyclists.
There were 57 French cyclists, 22 Italian, 18 Belgian, 6 Dutch, 6 Luxembourg, 6 Spanish, 6 Swiss and 1 Polish cyclist.
In the previous year, Fausto Coppi refused to enter the Tour de France because of personal problems with his team mate Gino Bartali. Bartali had won the previous Tour, and was trying to equal Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France.-Professional career:...
by winning the Tour three times. Coppi had won the 1949 Giro d'Italia
1949 Giro d'Italia
The 1949 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 21 May to 12 June 1949, consisting of 21 stages. It was won by Fausto Coppi.Coppi won the overall by way of the memorable 17th stage , during which he escaped from the group and climbed alone the Maddalena Pass, the Col de Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the...
, and wanted to be the first one to achieve the Tour-Giro double in one year. The Italian team manager Alfredo Binda
Alfredo Binda
Alfredo Binda was an Italian cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s, later trainer of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. Binda was the first multiple Giro d'Italia champion, securing five victories between 1925 and 1933 that redefined the way stage races were ridden...
convinced them two weeks before the start of the race to join forces, so both Italians were in the race.
Race details
In the early stages, Bartali and Coppi both lost time. Before the fifth stage, Coppi and Bartali both were not in the top fifteen of the general classification.In that fifth stage, Coppi escaped together with the leader of the general classification, Jacques Marinelli
Jacques Marinelli
Jacques Marinelli is a former French cyclist. He wore the yellow jersey of leadership for six days in the 1949 Tour de France before finishing third.-Background:...
. When they were leading by 6 minutes, Coppi and Marinelli fell in Mouen. Marinelli was not hurt and could continue, but Coppi's bike was broken. The Italian team car offered him a new one, but Coppi refused because he wanted his personal spare bike, and threatened to quit the race.
When Bartali reached Coppi, he saw the problem, and waited. Even later, the Italian team captain Binda arrived with Coppi's spare bike, and Bartali and Coppi started to ride. Coppi started to slow down, complaining he was hungry and exhausted. Bartali decided he could not wait anmore, and rode away from Coppi. Coppi came in 18 minutes late that stage.
Later that night, it became clear that Coppi had been angry because the team leader had not been following him, even though he was in the leading group. Coppi did not want to race in a team where Bartali and not he was the leader. Binda tried to convince Coppi that he had been delayed, and he succeeded in keeping Coppi in the race.
In the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, Coppi recovered. In the sixteenth stage, Coppi escaped, and only Bartali followed him. It was Bartali's 35th birthday, and Coppi gave Bartali the stage victory. After that stage, Bartali was first in the general classification, with Coppi in second place, 82 seconds behind.
In stage 17, Bartali and Coppi again were leading together. Around 40 km into the stage, Bartali punctured. Coppi waited for Bartali, but when Bartali later fell and twisted his ankle, team leader Binda allowed Coppi to take off alone. Coppi did so, won the stage, and decided the race.
Stages
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 June | Paris – Reims Reims Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire.... |
 |
182 km (113 mi) | |
| 2 | 1 July | Reims – Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... |
|
273 km (170 mi) | |
| 3 | 2 July | Brussels – Boulogne sur Mer Boulogne Sur Mer Boulogne Sur Mer is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is in San Isidro Partido and forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation, 16 km north of Buenos Aires. It has a population of 73,496... |
|
211 km (131 mi) | |
| 4 | 3 July | Boulogne sur Mer – Rouen Rouen Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages... |
|
185 km (115 mi) | |
| 5 | 4 July | Rouen – St. Malo | |
293 km (182 mi) | |
| 6 | 5 July | St. Malo – Les Sables d'Olonne | |
305 km (190 mi) | |
| 7 | 7 July | Les Sables d'Olonne – La Rochelle La Rochelle La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988... |
 Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials... |
92 km (57 mi) | |
| 8 | 8 July | La Rochelle – Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture... |
|
262 km (163 mi) | |
| 9 | 9 July | Bordeaux – San Sebastián | |
228 km (142 mi) | |
| 10 | 10 July | San Sebastián – Pau | |
192 km (119 mi) | |
| 11 | 12 July | Pau – Luchon |  |
193 km (120 mi) | |
| 12 | 13 July | Luchon – Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea... |
|
134 km (83 mi) | |
| 13 | 14 July | Toulouse – Nîmes Nîmes Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:... |
|
289 km (180 mi) | |
| 14 | 15 July | Nîmes – Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of... |
|
199 km (124 mi) | |
| 15 | 16 July | Marseille – Cannes Cannes Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department.... |
|
215 km (134 mi) | |
| 16 | 18 July | Cannes – Briançon Briançon Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.... |
|
275 km (171 mi) | |
| 17 | 19 July | Briançon – Aosta Aosta Aosta is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes... |
|
257 km (160 mi) | |
| 18 | 21 July | Aosta – Lausanne Lausanne Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west... |
|
265 km (165 mi) | |
| 19 | 22 July | Lausanne – Colmar Colmar Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court.... |
|
283 km (176 mi) | |
| 20 | 23 July | Colmar – Nancy | Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials... with mountains |
137 km (85 mi) | |
| 21 | 24 July | Nancy – Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
|
340 km (211 mi) |
Classification leadership
| Stage | General classification |
Mountains classification | Team classification Team classification The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | no award | ? | |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | Ile de France | ||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | |||
| 15 | Île-de-France | ||
| 16 | |||
| 17 | |||
| 18 | |||
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | |||
| Final |
General classification
Of the 120 cyclists, 55 finished the race.| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' |
Italy | 149h 40' 49" |
| 2 | Italy | +10' 55" | |
| 3 | Ile de France | +25' 13" | |
| 4 | West-North | +34' 28" | |
| 5 | Belgian Aiglons | +38' 59" | |
| 6 | Italian Cadets | +42' 10" | |
| 7 | Belgium | +44' 35" | |
| 8 | Luxembourg | +47' 24" | |
| 9 | France | +52' 28" | |
| 10 | West-North | +1h 08' 55" | |
| Final general classification (11–55) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 11 | Belgium | +1h 17' 21" | |
| 12 | Italy | +1h 22' 01" | |
| 13 | Luxembourg | +1h 28' 14" | |
| 14 | France | +1h 34' 56" | |
| 15 | Luxembourg | +1h 35' 54" | |
| 16 | France | +1h 38' 40" | |
| 17 | Italy | +1h 38' 47" | |
| 18 | South East | +1h 43' 22" | |
| 19 | Switzerland | +1h 47' 52" | |
| 20 | Ile de France | +1h 48' 01" | |
| 21 | Belgian Aiglons | +1h 49' 16" | |
| 22 | West-North | +2h 00' 14" | |
| 23 | Ile de France | +2h 01' 18" | |
| 24 | Italy | +2h 08' 44" | |
| 25 | France | +2h 10' 09" | |
| 26 | South East | +2h 22' 33" | |
| 27 | Belgian Aiglons | +2h 26' 06" | |
| 28 | France | +2h 30' 11" | |
| 29 | Belgium | +2h 31' 13" | |
| 30 | France | +2h 32' 56" | |
| 31 | Center-South West | +2h 33' 29" | |
| 32 | France | +2h 48' 35" | |
| 33 | Belgium | +2h 50' 29" | |
| 34 | Belgium | +3h 01' 40" | |
| 35 | South East | +3h 16' 26" | |
| 36 | Italy | +3h 17' 43" | |
| 37 | Belgium | +3h 21' 41" | |
| 38 | Italian Cadets | +3h 30' 32" | |
| 39 | Center-South West | +3h 31' 19" | |
| 40 | Switzerland | +3h 40' 13" | |
| 41 | Italy | +3h 40' 51" | |
| 42 | Center-South West | +3h 43' 38" | |
| 43 | Belgian Aiglons | +3h 44' 03" | |
| 44 | Ile de France | +3h 50' 18" | |
| 45 | South East | +3h 50' 46" | |
| 46 | Center-South West | +3h 56' 13" | |
| 47 | South East | +4h 21' 26" | |
| 48 | Center-South West | +4h 39' 51" | |
| 49 | West-North | +4h 48' 40" | |
| 50 | Italy | +4h 53' 35" | |
| 51 | Italy | +5h 03' 51" | |
| 52 | Italy | +5h 11' 57" | |
| 53 | Italy | +5h 38' 28" | |
| 54 | Center-South West | +5h 50' 09" | |
| 55 | Italy | +6h 06' 51" | |
Mountains classification
Points for the mountains classification were earned by reaching the mountain tops first. There were two types of mountain tops: the hardest ones, in category 1, gave 10 points to the first cyclist, the easier ones, in category 2, gave 5 points to the first cyclist, and the easiest ones, in category 3, gave 3 points.| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' | Italy | 81 |
| 2 | Italy | 68 | |
| 3 | West-North | 62 | |
| 4 | France | 47 | |
| 5 | France | 29 | |
Team classification
The team classification was calculated by adding the times in the general classification of the best three cyclists per team.| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 450h 35' 23" |
| 2 | West-North | +2h 10' 21" |
| 3 | Luxembourg | +2h 18' 16" |
| 4 | France | |
| 5 | Île-de-France | |
Other awards
The special award for the best regional rider was won by third-placed Jacques MarinelliJacques Marinelli
Jacques Marinelli is a former French cyclist. He wore the yellow jersey of leadership for six days in the 1949 Tour de France before finishing third.-Background:...
.
Aftermath
As Coppi had also won the 1949 Giro d'Italia1949 Giro d'Italia
The 1949 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 21 May to 12 June 1949, consisting of 21 stages. It was won by Fausto Coppi.Coppi won the overall by way of the memorable 17th stage , during which he escaped from the group and climbed alone the Maddalena Pass, the Col de Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the...
, he became the first person to achieve the Giro-Tour double.
Coppi would go on to repeat the Giro-Tour double in 1952.