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1949 Tour de France

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1949 Tour de France
Race details
Dates30 June–24 July 1949
Stages21
Distance4,808 km (2,988 mi)
Winning time145h 36' 56"
Results
Winner  Fausto Coppi (Italy) (Italy)
  Second  Gino Bartali (Italy) (Italy)
  Third  Jacques Marinelli (France) (Île-de-France)
  Mountains  Fausto Coppi (Italy) (Italy)
  Team Italy
← 1948
1950 →

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.[1]

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.

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 Sebastian in the ninth stage.[2] While the mountains had been categorized into two categories in 1948, in 1949 the third category was added.[3]

Participants

As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, 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.[4]

There were 57 French cyclists, 22 Italian, 18 Belgian, 6 Dutch, 6 Luxembourg, 6 Spanish, 6 Swiss and 1 Polish cyclist.[5] 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.[4] 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.[3]

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.[6] 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.[2] 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.[6] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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.[2] Coppi did so, won the stage, and decided the race.[8]

Stages

Stage results[4][9]
Stage Date Route Terrain Length Winner
1 30 June Paris – Reims Plain stage 182 km (113 mi)  Marcel Dussault (FRA)
2 1 July Reims – Brussels Plain stage 273 km (170 mi)  Roger Lambrecht (BEL)
3 2 July Brussels – Boulogne sur Mer Plain stage 211 km (131 mi)  Norbert Callens (BEL)
4 3 July Boulogne sur Mer – Rouen Plain stage 185 km (115 mi)  Lucien Teisseire (FRA)
5 4 July Rouen – St. Malo Plain stage 293 km (182 mi)  Ferdi Kübler (SUI)
6 5 July St. Malo – Les Sables d'Olonne Plain stage 305 km (190 mi)  Adolphe Deledda (FRA)
7 7 July Les Sables d'Olonne – La Rochelle Individual time trial 92 km (57 mi)  Fausto Coppi (ITA)
8 8 July La Rochelle – Bordeaux Plain stage 262 km (163 mi)  Guy Lapébie (FRA)
9 9 July Bordeaux – San Sebastián Plain stage 228 km (142 mi)  Louis Caput (FRA)
10 10 July San Sebastián – Pau Plain stage 192 km (119 mi)  Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
11 12 July Pau – Luchon Stage with mountain(s) 193 km (120 mi)  Jean Robic (FRA)
12 13 July Luchon – Toulouse Plain stage 134 km (83 mi)  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)
13 14 July Toulouse – Nîmes Plain stage 289 km (180 mi)  Emile Idée (FRA)
14 15 July Nîmes – Marseille Plain stage 199 km (124 mi)  Jean Goldschmidt (LUX)
15 16 July Marseille – Cannes Plain stage 215 km (134 mi)  Désiré Keteleer (BEL)
16 18 July Cannes – Briançon Stage with mountain(s) 275 km (171 mi)  Gino Bartali (ITA)
17 19 July Briançon – Aosta Stage with mountain(s) 257 km (160 mi)  Fausto Coppi (ITA)
18 21 July Aosta – Lausanne Stage with mountain(s) 265 km (165 mi)  Vincenzo Rossello (ITA)
19 22 July Lausanne – Colmar Stage with mountain(s) 283 km (176 mi)  Raphaël Geminiani (FRA)
20 23 July Colmar – Nancy Individual time trial with mountains 137 km (85 mi)  Fausto Coppi (ITA)
21 24 July Nancy – Paris Plain stage 340 km (211 mi)  Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL)

Classification leadership

Stage General classification
 Mountains classification Team classification
1  Marcel Dussault (FRA) no award ?
2  Roger Lambrecht (BEL)
3  Norbert Callens (BEL)
4  Jacques Marinelli (FRA)  France
5 Ile de France
6
7
8
9
10  Fiorenzo Magni (ITA)
11  Fausto Coppi (ITA)  Italy
12
13
14
15 Île-de-France
16  Gino Bartali (ITA)  Italy
17  Fausto Coppi (ITA)
18
19
20
21
Final  Fausto Coppi (ITA)  Fausto Coppi (ITA)  Italy

Results

General classification

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. Of the 120 cyclists, 55 finished the race.

Final general classification (1–10)[4]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Fausto Coppi (ITA) Yellow Jersey Italy 149h 40' 49"
2  Gino Bartali (ITA) Italy +10' 55"
3  Jacques Marinelli (FRA) Ile de France +25' 13"
4  Jean Robic (FRA) West-North +34' 28"
5  Marcel Dupont (BEL) Belgian Aiglons +38' 59"
6  Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) Italian Cadets +42' 10"
7  Stan Ockers (BEL) Belgium +44' 35"
8  Jean Goldschmit (LUX) Luxembourg +47' 24"
9  Apo Lazaridès (FRA) France +52' 28"
10  Pierre Cogan (FRA) West-North +1h 08' 55"

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.

Final mountains classification (1–5)[2][5]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Fausto Coppi (ITA) Italy 81
2  Gino Bartali (ITA) Italy 68
3  Jean Robic (FRA) West-North 62
4  Apo Lazaridès (FRA) France 47
5  Lucien Lazaridès (FRA) France 29

Team classification

The team classification was calculated by adding the times in the general classification of the best three cyclists per team.

Final team classification (1–5)[2][5]
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 Marinelli.[3]

Aftermath

As Coppi had also won the 1949 Giro d'Italia, he became the first person to achieve the Giro-Tour double.[2] Coppi would go on to repeat the Giro-Tour double in 1952.

References

  1. ^ Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique" (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f James, Tom (14 August 2003). "1949: Coppi's double". Veloarchive. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d "36ème Tour de France 1949" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  5. ^ a b c "Tour-Giro-Vuelta". www.tour-giro-vuelta.net. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  6. ^ a b c McGann, Bill (2006). The Story of the Tour De France. Dog ear publishing. pp. 159–165. ISBN 98581805. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Rider biographies - Fausto Coppi". Cycling hall of fame. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  8. ^ "The Tour - Year 1949". Amaury Sport Organisation. 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  9. ^ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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