The 1955 Tour de France was the 42nd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 7 to 30 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Louison Bobet, the last of his three consecutive wins.
Teams
As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, 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 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
Louison Bobet, the winner of the 1953 Tour de France and the 1954 Tour de France, 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 mountain pass on stage 8.
+ Stage characteristics and winners Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1a 7 July Le Havre to Dieppe Plain stage 1b Dieppe Team time trial Netherlands 2 8 July Dieppe to Roubaix Plain stage 3 9 July Roubaix to Namur (Belgium) Plain stage 4 10 July Namur (Belgium) to Metz Plain stage 5 11 July Metz to Colmar Plain stage 6 12 July Colmar to Zürich (Switzerland) Plain stage 7 13 July Zürich (Switzerland) to Thonon-les-Bains Plain stage 8 14 July Thonon-les-Bains to Briançon Stage with mountain(s) 9 15 July Briançon to Monaco Stage with mountain(s) 16 July Monaco Rest day 10 17 July Monaco to Marseille Plain stage 11 18 July Marseille to Avignon Stage with mountain(s) 12 19 July Avignon to Millau Stage with mountain(s) 13 20 July Millau to Albi Plain stage 14 21 July Albi to Narbonne Stage with mountain(s) 15 22 July Narbonne to Ax-les-Thermes Plain stage 23 July Ax-les-Thermes Rest day 16 24 July Ax-les-Thermes to Toulouse Plain stage 17 25 July Toulouse to Saint-Gaudens Stage with mountain(s) 18 26 July Saint-Gaudens to Pau Stage with mountain(s) 19 27 July Pau to Bordeaux Plain stage 20 28 July Bordeaux to Poitiers Plain stage 21 29 July Châtellerault to Tours Individual time trial 22 30 July Tours to Paris Plain stage Total
Race overview
The first part of the first stage was won by Miguel Poblet, who became the first Spanish cyclist to wear the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. The second and third stage saw small groups escaping from the peloton. In both stages, Wout Wagtmans and Antonin Rolland, 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 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 attacked early in the stage. Gaul was more than 23 minutes behind in the general classification, but got over the mountains quickly and won with 13 minutes, which put him in third place.
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 overdose, and told the team doctors to be more careful with doping. In that stage, Bobet got away on Mont Ventoux 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, who jumped to second place in the general classification. Rolland lost more than nine minutes, and dropped to the fifth place in the general classification.
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 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 points classification 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 point, 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 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 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 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 to the first rider to pass a point by his final residence, the "Villa Mia" in Beauvallon, Grimaud, on the French Riviera on stage 10. This prize was won by André Darrigade.
+Classification leadership by stage Stage Winner General classification Points classification Mountains classification Team classification Combativity Award Classification 1a Miguel Poblet Miguel Poblet Miguel Poblet no award Île-de-France Claude Le Ber Claude Le Ber 1b Netherlands Italy 2 Antonin Rolland Wout Wagtmans Wout Wagtmans Île-de-France Roger Hassenforder 3 Louison Bobet France Louison Bobet Roger Hassenforder 4 Willy Kemp Antonin Rolland Francisco Alomar 5 Roger Hassenforder Vincent Vitetta Vincent Vitetta 6 André Darrigade Ferdinand Kübler 7 Jos Hinsen Wim van Est Jean Stablinski 8 Charly Gaul Antonin Rolland Charly Gaul Charly Gaul 9 Raphaël Géminiani Miguel Poblet Charly Gaul Charly Gaul 10 Lucien Lazaridès Wout Wagtmans Francisco Alomar 11 Louison Bobet Louison Bobet 12 Alessandro Fantini Nello Lauredi 13 Daan de Groot Wim van Est Daan de Groot 14 Louis Caput Max Cohen 15 Luciano Pezzi Stan Ockers Jan Nolten 16 Rik Van Steenbergen Lucien Teisseire 17 Charly Gaul Louison Bobet Charly Gaul 18 Jean Brankart Louison Bobet 19 Wout Wagtmans Henri Sitek 20 Jean Forestier Rino Benedetti 21 Jean Brankart Jean Brankart 22 Miguel Poblet Miguel Poblet FinalLouison BobetStan Ockers Charly Gaul France Charly Gaul
Final standings
General classification
+ Final general classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Time1 France 130h 29' 26"2 Belgium + 4' 53"3 Luxembourg/Mixed + 11' 30"4 Italy + 12' 44"5 France + 13' 18"6 France + 15' 01"7 Italy + 18' 13"8 Belgium + 27' 13"9 Belgium + 31' 10"10 France + 36' 27"
Final general classification (11–69) Rank Rider Team Time11 West + 36' 52"12 Italy + 39' 14"13 Belgium + 46' 03"14 France + 1h 00' 05"15 Netherlands + 1h 04' 50"16 South-East + 1h 05' 18"17 Belgium + 1h 05' 29"18 North-East/Centre + 1h 09' 58"19 Netherlands + 1h 10' 16"20 Spain + 1h 19' 25"21 Netherlands + 1h 21' 45"22 Spain + 1h 25' 48"23 Italy + 1h 36' 21"24 West + 1h 40' 01"25 Italy + 1h 44' 45"26 Spain + 1h 45' 30"27 Netherlands + 1h 49' 49"28 Belgium + 1h 57' 09"29 Great Britain + 1h 57' 10"30 Italy + 1h 58' 18"31 Île-de-France + 2h 00' 46"32 France + 2h 09' 20"33 North-East/Centre + 2h 10' 40"34 Italy + 2h 13' 30"35 North-East/Centre + 2h 23' 47"36 Netherlands + 2h 24' 58"37 Luxembourg/Mixed + 2h 28' 15"38 Île-de-France + 2h 28' 43"39 South-East + 2h 30' 52"40 Italy + 2h 31' 36"41 Netherlands + 2h 31' 16"42 Italy + 2h 36' 25"43 South West + 2h 36' 33"44 Île-de-France + 2h 38' 46"45 South-East + 2h 41' 07"46 France + 2h 52' 43"47 North-East/Centre + 2h 54' 29"48 Switzerland + 2h 55' 39"49 France + 2h 57' 33"50 Luxembourg/Mixed + 3h 02' 51"51 North-East/Centre + 3h 03' 06"52 South West + 3h 05' 57"53 Switzerland + 3h 07' 41"54 Île-de-France + 3h 07' 54"55 Belgium + 3h 10' 51"56 Île-de-France + 3h 12' 24"57 Spain + 3h 18' 34"58 South-East + 3h 22' 29"59 South-East + 3h 39' 07"60 Luxembourg/Mixed + 3h 49' 23"61 Switzerland + 3h 54' 11"62 West + 4h 02' 52"63 North-East/Centre + 4h 05' 40"64 Luxembourg/Mixed + 4h 14' 46"65 Spain + 4h 26' 34"66 South-East + 4h 32' 23"67 Switzerland + 4h 34' 05"68 West + 5h 06' 56"69 Great Britain + 6h 06' 01"
Points classification
+ Final points classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Points1 Belgium 3222 Netherlands 3993 Spain 4094 Netherlands 4155 North-East/Centre 4836 France 5037 Belgium 5638 Italy 573.59 Italy 638.510 Belgium 652.5
Mountains classification
+ Final mountains classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Points1 Luxembourg/Mixed 842 France 703 Belgium 444 Spain 315 Italy 306 Spain 287 Netherlands 24 Italy9 France 2310 North-East/Centre 18
Team classification
+ Final team classification Rank Team Time1 France 389h 10' 14"2 Italy + 47' 33"3 Belgium + 1h 54' 07"4 Netherlands + 3h 11' 42"5 North-East/Centre + 3h 46' 48"6 Spain + 4h 35' 38"7 South-East + 5h 57' 07"8 West + 6h 06' 55"9 Switzerland + 6h 45' 13"10 Luxembourg/Mixed + 6h 49' 08"11 Île-de-France + 7h 09' 08"
Combativity classification