The 1955 Tour de France was the 42nd edition of the

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 ...

, taking place from 7 to 30 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by

Louison Bobet Louis "Louison" Bobet (; 12 March 1925 - 13 March 1983) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 ...

, the last of his three consecutive wins.

Teams

As was the custom since the

1930 Tour de France The 1930 Tour de France was the 24th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 27 July. It consisted of 21 stages over . The 24th tour de France introduced a new format to team racing; teams were organised by country with ten riders ...

, the 1955 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. Eight national teams were sent, with 10 cyclists each from France, Belgium, Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, and a mixed team consisting of Luxembourgian, Austrian, West German and Australian cyclists. France additionally sent five regional teams from 10 cyclists each, divided into Île-de-France, North-East/Centre, West, South-East and South-West. In total, 120 cyclists started the race. The mixed team included cyclists from West-Germany, which was the first time since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

that German cyclists rode the Tour. The Great Britain team was the first British team in Tour history. The teams entering the race were: * France * Belgium * Spain * Great Britain * Netherlands * Italy * Luxembourg/Mixed * Switzerland * Île-de-France * North-East/Centre * West * South-East * South-West

Pre-race favourites

, the winner of the

1953 Tour de France The 1953 Tour de France was the 40th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 3 to 26 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Louison Bobet, the first of his three consecutive wins. At first, internal struggles in the ...

and the

1954 Tour de France The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 8 July to 1 August 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over . The race was won by Louison Bobet, the second of his three consecutive wins. Teams As was the cust ...

, had done an aggressive preparation in the early season before the Tour de France, aiming for his third victory. Bobet was the main favourite, also because he was the world champion.

Route and stages

The 1955 Tour de France started on 7 July, and had two rest days, in Monaco and Ax-les-Thermes. The 1955 Tour saw the introduction of the photo finish. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit tunnel of the

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint- ...

mountain pass on stage 8.

Race overview

The first part of the first stage was won by

Miguel Poblet Miguel Poblet Orriols (18 March 1928 – 6 April 2013) was a Spanish professional cyclist, who had over 200 professional victories from 1944 to 1962. He was the first Spanish rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, and in 1956 he b ...

, who became the first Spanish cyclist to wear 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 ...

. The second and third stage saw small groups escaping from the peloton. In both stages,

Wout Wagtmans Wouter "Wout" Wagtmans (10 November 1929 – 15 August 1994) was a Dutch road bicycle racer. Together with Wim van Est he belonged to the generation that brought great popularity to cycling in the Netherlands in the 1950s. In 1947, Wagtmans sta ...

and

Antonin Rolland Antonin Rolland (born 3 September 1924) is a French former professional cyclist who was active from 1946 to 1963. Rolland won stages in the Tour de France and in the Giro d'Italia. He was born in Sainte-Euphémie, Ain. In the 1955 Tour de Fran ...

, one of Bobet's teammates, were present. Wagtmans became leader of the general classification, with Rolland in second place. The first attack that was important for the general classification was in the fourth stage. Rolland was part of a group of nine cyclists that finished seven minutes before the rest. Rolland was the best-placed cyclist of those nine, and took the lead. In the seventh stage, Rolland briefly lost that lead, because a group including

Wim van Est Wim is a masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and other names and may refer to: * Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer * Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician * Wim Arras (born 1964), Belgian cyclist * Wim Block ...

escaped and gained more than seventeen minutes, which was just enough for Van Est to take over the lead. Van Est was sure to lose it in the next stage, which included high mountains. In that eighth stage,

Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005) In the ninth stage, Gaul tried to do the same again, and got over the first three mountains alone. But because of a crash on the second mountain he lost time, and did not win the stage; instead he even lost a few minutes. During the eleventh stage, French cyclist Jean Malléjac collapsed and remained unconscious for 15 minutes. The Tour doctor who helped recognised that Malléjac's symptoms were identical to an

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

overdose, and told the team doctors to be more careful with doping. In that stage, Bobet got away on

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; oc, Ventor, label= Provençal ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest ...

and nobody was able to follow him. He reached the top alone, and from there descended to the finish, 6 minutes ahead of Rolland, who was still the race leader. Bobet jumped to second place in the general classification. The next challenge for the general classification were the Pyrénees mountains. In stage 17, Gaul made the pace, and most cyclists could not follow. Bobet could hold on for a long time, but at the finish lost 84 seconds to Gaul. Because Rolland lost more than seven minutes, Bobet took the lead. In the eighteenth stage, it was again Gaul who attacked. This time, a small group including Bobet could follow him all the way. Rolland finished two minutes later, but was still in second place in the general classification. The time trial in the 21st stage was won by

Jean Brankart Jean Brankart (12 July 1930 – 23 July 2020) Bobet remained the leader, and his lead was not challenged in the last stage. Bobet became the first person in the Tour de France to win three Tours in a row.

Classification leadership and minor prizes

The time that each cyclist required to finish each stage was recorded, and these times were added together for the

. If a cyclist had received a time bonus, it was subtracted from this total; all time penalties were added to this total. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey. The

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

was calculated in the same way as in 1954, following the calculation method from the Tours de France from 1905 to 1912. Points were given according to the ranking of the stage: the winner received one points, the next cyclist two points, and so on. These points were added, and the cyclist with the fewest points was the leader of the points classification. In 1955, this was won by Stan Ockers. Points for the

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, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

were earned by reaching the mountain tops first. The system was almost the same as in 1954: 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 6 points to the first cyclist, and the easiest ones, in category 3, gave 3 points. Charly Gaul won this classification. The

team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...

was calculated as the sum of the daily team classifications, and the daily team classification was calculated by adding the times in the stage result of the best three cyclists per team. It was won by the French team. The British team and the regional South West team finished with only two cyclists, so they were not eligible for the team classification. In addition, there was a

combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numb ...

given after each stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. Gaul won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. ...

to the first rider to pass a point by his final residence, the "Villa Mia" in Beauvallon, Grimaud, on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

on stage 10. This prize was won by

André Darrigade André Darrigade (born 24 April 1929 in Narrosse) is a retired French professional road bicycle racer between 1951 and 1966. Darrigade, a road sprinter won the 1959 World Championship and 22 stages of the Tour de France. Five of those Tour vict ...

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Combativity classification

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour De France, 1955 1955 in French sport

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

1955 in road cycling July 1955 sports events in Europe 1955 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo