The 1958 Tour de France was the 45th 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 26 June to 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . The yellow jersey for the leader in the general classification changed owner a record 11 times, and only at the penultimate stage in the time trial the decision was made, when Gaul created a margin of more than three minutes. In the final sprint, sprinter André Darrigade, who had already won five stages, collided with a stage official, who eleven days later died because of his injuries.

Teams

In 1958, 120 cyclists entered, divided into 10 teams of 12 cyclists each. France, Italy, Belgium and Spain each sent a national team. The Netherlands and Luxembourg had a combined team, as had Switzerland and West Germany. There was also one "Internationals" team, consisting of cyclists from Austria, Portugal, Great Britain and Denmark. There were also three regional French teams: Centre-Midi, West/South-West and Paris/North-East. The teams entering the race were: * France * Italy * Belgium * Spain * Netherlands/Luxembourg * Switzerland/West Germany * Internationals * Centre-Midi * West/South-West * Paris/North-East

Pre-race favourites

The French team had had some problems with the selection, as

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ...

, the winner of the

1957 Tour de France The 1957 Tour de France was the 44th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 27 June to 20 July. It was composed of 22 stages over . The 1957 Tour was the first win for Jacques Anquetil, who won the Tour five times over his career. The ...

, did not want to share leadership with

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 ...

, winner in 1953, 1954 and 1955. Anquetil had been so superior in 1957, that he did not want Bobet and Géminiani both in his team. The French team selector then chose to include Bobet in the national team. Raphael Géminiani, who had been in the French national team since 1949, was demoted into the regional Centre-Midi team. Géminiani was not pleased, and sent the French team director

Marcel Bidot Marcel Bidot (21 December 1902 – 26 January 1995) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won two stages of the Tour de France and became manager of the French national team. He led the team in 12 Tours and won six of them. Racing Ma ...

a "jack-ass" named "Marcel" to express his displeasure.

Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005) For the first time, the first mountain climbs were broadcast live on television. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the

Col d'Izoard Col d'Izoard () is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the ...

mountain pass on stage 20.

Race overview

The first stage left in Brussels, to celebrate Brussel's World Fair. In the first stages, Luxembourgian climber

Charly Gaul Charly Gaul Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting (8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005) During a break in the sixth stage, Anquetil and Bobet were left behind. Géminiani was in the leading group, and gained more than ten minutes on his rivals. After the sixth stage, Gerrit Voorting was in first place, followed by François Mahé from the French national team, and Géminiani. In the seventh stage,

Arrigo Padovan Arigo Padovan (born 16 June 1927) is an Italian retired professional road bicycle racer, who won stages in both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. Major results ;1951 : Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato : Giro d'Italia: ::8th ...

won the sprint from Brian Robinson. The jury however relegated Padovan to second place for irregular sprinting, and Robinson became the first British winner of a stage. The ninth stage again saw a large breakaway, this time including Darrigade. Darrigade won the sprint, and because the next group was more than 10 minutes behind, he became the new leader. Géminiani and the French national team were still on bad terms. When Gastone Nencini, a threat to both, had escaped and the national team members asked Géminiani to help them to get Nencini back, Géminiani refused. The Pyrénées were visited in stage 13. Darrigade was not able to keep up with the leaders, and lost the lead. Bahamontes had tried to escape but failed, and later Gaul tried to escape, but he also failed. The favourites finished together, and Géminiani became the new leader;

Vito Favero Vito Favero (21 October 1932 – 16 May 2014) was an Italian road racing cyclist. He was professional from 1956 to 1962. In the 1958 Tour de France, he finished second. Stage 14 of the 1958 Tour was won by Federico Bahamontes but Favero took ...

was only three seconds behind him. In the fourteenth stage, also in the Pyrenees, Bahamontes escaped again, and this time he managed to stay away and win. Géminiani finished in the next group, but because Favero won the sprint for the second place, he received 30 seconds bonification time, and became the new leader. In the fifteenth stage, Favero again finished second, and extended his lead again by 30 seconds. In the eighteenth stage, a mountain time trial, Gaul won back time, and jumped from sixth place to third place in the general classification. Géminiani jumped back to the first place in that stage. In the nineteenth stage, over the Alps, Gaul had mechanical problems, and lost ten minutes. Second-placed rider Favero was now at a margin of more than three minutes. In the twentieth stage, again in the Alps, Bahamontes finished first. Gaul lost a few seconds to Géminiani in that stage, so after the twentieth stage, Gaul was more than sixteen minutes behind Géminiani. With only a few stages left, Géminiani appeared to be able to win the race. In stage 21, the weather conditions were bad. Before the stage started, Gaul told Bobet that he would attack on the first climb of the day, which he did. Bahamontes followed him, but let himself drop back because the weather was too bad and the finish was still far away. Gaul continued on his own, and his margin with the next cyclist kept growing. Géminiani now asked the French national team to help him, but they could not help and did not want to help. Géminiani forgot to take food in the food zone, and was hungry in the last part of the stage. In the end, Gaul won the stage almost 8 minutes ahead of the next rider. Favero came in third, more than ten minutes later, and Géminiani seventh more than 14 minutes behind. Favero was again first in the general classification, with Géminiani only 39 seconds behind in second place and Gaul 67 seconds behind in third place. After that stage, Géminiani accused the French team of treason, because he said it was due to their attacks that he lost the lead. Because of the extraordinary circumstances, the time limits were not enforced that stage. Second-placed rider Favero was now at a margin of more than three minutes. Stage 22 was flat, and the favourites stayed together. This meant that the time trial in stage 23 would be decisive. In that time trial, Gaul was the first of these three to start. Gaul set the winning time, and Géminiani and Favero lost more than three minutes, so Gaul took the lead in the general classification. Anquetil, who felt sick and was behind in the general classification, did not start that stage. The last stage traditionally saw no problems for the leader, and Gaul became the first Luxembourgian cyclist since 1928 to win the Tour. In the final sprint in the last stage in the

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros. The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47 ...

, André Darrigade was in first position when he collided with Constant Wouters, the 70-year-old secrétaire-général of the stadium, who was attempting to prevent photographers encroaching on the track. Darrigade needed five stitches, but Wouters injuries were more serious, and he died eleven days later.

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 general classification. 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 yellow jersey changed hands eleven times, the most ever. Gaul had an average speed of 36.919 km/h, which was a new record. Of the 120 cyclists that started the 1958 Tour de France, 78 finished the race. The points classification was calculated by adding the stage ranks of each cyclist. 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 ...

was calculated by adding the points given to cyclists for reaching the highest point in a climb first. 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 Belgian team, with a large margin over the Italian team. 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 mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. 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. Federico Bahamontes 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 the summit of the

Col du Lautaret Col du Lautaret () is a high mountain pass in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It marks the boundary between the valleys of the Romanche and the Guisane, a tributary of the Durance which has its source at the col. The valleys are linked ...

on stage 21. This prize was won by

Piet van Est Piet van Est (11 August 1934 – 17 October 1991) was a Dutch racing cyclist. He rode the Tour de France in 1957–1962 and 1964 and finished within the first 30 places in 1958, 1960 and 1962. In 1961 he won one stage of the Giro d'Italia and fi ...

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Team classification

Combativity classification

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour De France, 1958

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1958 in French sport 1958 in road cycling June 1958 sports events in Europe July 1958 sports events in Europe 1958 Challenge Desgrange-Colombo