1950 Tour de France
Route of the 1950 Tour de France
Followed counterclockwise, starting and finishing in Paris |
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 13 July – 7 August | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 4,773 km (2,966 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 145h 36' 56" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner |
 Ferdinand Kübler (SUI)
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(Switzerland) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 Stan Ockers (BEL)
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(Belgium) | |
| Third |
 Louison Bobet (FRA)
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(France) | |
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| Mountains |
Louison Bobet (FRA)
|
(France) | |
| Team | Belgium | ||
The 1950 Tour de France was the 37th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 13 July to 7 August. It consisted of 22 stages over 4,773 km (2,966 mi).
Gino Bartali, captain of the Italian team, threatened and assaulted by some French supporters accusing him to have caused Jean Robic's fall on the Col d'Aspin, retired after winning the 12th stage from Pau to Saint-Gaudens and left the race together with all the other Italian riders (including Fiorenzo Magni, who was wearing the yellow jersey). The lead transferred to Swiss cyclist Ferdinand Kübler, who was able to keep the lead until the end of the race. Kübler became the first Swiss winner of the Tour de France.
The mountains classification was won by Louison Bobet, while the Belgian team won the team classification.
Algerian-French cyclist Abdel-Kader Zaaf became famous in this Tour de France by being so disoriented that he rode in the wrong direction.
The "interest" for the yellow jersey (the prize money for the leader of the general classification after each stage) was increased to 100.000 French Francs. In 1949, the French TV had reported every evening about the Tour de France, and in 1950, live coverage of every stage was given. The time cut-offs, the maximum time a cyclist was allowed to finish a stage, was reduced.
In the previous years, the Tour de France had been decided in the mountains. The organisation wanted the other aspects of the race to be more important, so some mountains were not visited in 1950, and the time bonification for cyclists that reached mountain tops first was reduced. from 1 minute in 1949 to 40 seconds in 1950.
The riders had sometimes been helped by team assistants who directly assisted the riders by pushing them from within the team cars, under the pretence of supplying them with a drink. In 1950, the Tour organisation paid extra care for this, and penalized the cyclists if it happened.
The prize for winning a stage was increased from 30.000 French Francs to 50.000 French Francs.
As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, the 1950 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. The three major cycling countries in 1950, Italy, Belgium and France, each sent a team of 10 cyclists. Other countries sent teams of 6 cyclists: Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Italy and Belgium also sent two extra teams of young riders of 6 cyclists each. The French regional cyclists were divided into five teams of 10 cyclists: Paris, Ile de France–North East, West, Centre–South West and South East. Originally, the plan was to have one extra international team of six cyclists with Spanish cyclists, but this extra team became a North African team, with Moroccan and Algerian cyclists; at the time, portions of Morocco were a French protectorate, and Alergia was an integral part of France. This was the first African team to compete in the Tour de France. Altogether this made 116 cyclists.
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Wikipedia