Pierre Brambilla (12 May 1919 at Villarbeney in Switzerland – 13 February 1984 at

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, France) was a French professional road cyclist. He was of Italian origin but adopted French nationality on 9 September 1949. He was known as "la Brambille" and he won the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest po ...

competition in the

1947 Tour de France The 1947 Tour de France was the 34th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 25 June to 20 July. The total race distance was 21 stages over . It was the first Tour since 1939, having been cancelled during World War II, although some Tour ...

where he also finished third overall and wore the yellow jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

for two days. In that 1947 Tour, Brambilla was leading the race at the penultimate day, with

Aldo Ronconi Aldo Ronconi (20 September 1918 – 12 June 2012) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer. Ronconi was born at Brisighella, Ravenna, Italy. He was professional from 1940 to 1952 where he won 5 victories. He finished fourth overall ...

at 53 seconds and

Jean Robic Jean Robic (; 10 June 1921 – 6 October 1980)L'Équipe, 9 July 2003 was a French road racing cyclist, who won the 1947 Tour de France. Robic was a professional cyclist from 1943 to 1961. His diminutive stature (1.61m, 60 kg) and appearanc ...

at 2'58". At the last stage,

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Édouard Fachleitner Édouard Fachleitner (born 24 February 1921 in Santa Domenica d'Albona, Italy, died 18 July 2008) was a French former professional road bicycle racer. He was an Italian citizen until 23 June 1939. He was a professional between 1943 and 1952. F ...

attacked, and finished more than 13 minutes before Brambilla, taking the first two places. Brambilla was the first cyclist to lose the lead in the Tour de France on the last stage. Brambilla is pictured in the short story "Brambilla" by

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...

, published in his collection of short stories '' Cross Channel'' (1996).

Major results

;1939 :Lyon–Grenoble–Lyon (with Giuseppe Martino) ;1941 :Montluçon ;1942 :

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

: ::Winner stage 10 :Mountains classification circuit de France ;1943 :Carcassonne :Circuit du Mont Ventoux :Course du Mont Chauve :GP d'Espéraza :GP Haute Savoie :Perpignan ;1945 :Annecy–Grenoble–Annecy ;1946 :Tour de l'Ouest ;1947 :Paris–Clermont-Ferrand :

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

: ::Winner

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

::3rd place overall classification ::Wearing

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

for two days ;1949 :Cahors

External links

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Pierre Brambilla dans le Tour de France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brambilla, Pierre French male cyclists French Vuelta a España stage winners 1919 births 1984 deaths People from the canton of Fribourg