| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 30 June–25 July 1948 | ||
| Stages | 21 | ||
| Distance | 4,922 km (3,058 mi) | ||
| Winning time | 145h 36' 56" (33.443 km/h/20.781 mph) | ||
| Palmarès | |||
| Winner | Gino Bartali (Italy) | (Italy) | |
| Second | Briek Schotte (Belgium) | (Belgium) | |
| Third | Guy Lapébie (France) | (Centre–South East) | |
|
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| Mountains | Gino Bartali (Italy) | (Italy) | |
| Team | Belgium | ||
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← 1947
1949 →
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The 1948 Tour de France was the 35th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 25, 1948. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,922 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.443 km/h.[1]
The race was won by Italian cyclist Gino Bartali, who had also won the Tour de France in 1938. Bartali had almost given up during the race, but drew inspiration from a phone call from the Italian prime minister, who asked him to win the Tour de France to prevent civil unrest in Italy. Bartali also won the mountains classification, while the team classification was won by the Belgian team.
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The prize for wearing the yellow jersey was introduced in 1948[2], sponsored by Les Laines, a French wool company.[3] In 1947, the media had complained that too many cyclists reached the end of the race, so the race was no longer heroic; this may have motivated a new rule between the third and the eighteenth stage, the rider last in the general classification was eliminated;[2][4] Where the 1947 Tour de France had been France-centered, the 1948 race became more cosmopolitan.[5]
The first live television broadcast from the Tour de France was in 1948,[6] when the arrival at the velodrome of Parc des Princes was broadcasted live.[7]
As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, the 1948 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. Twelve teams of ten cyclists entered the race: Belgium, Dutch/Luxembourg, Internationals, Italy, France, Belgian Aiglons, Italian Cadets, Centre–South-West, Ile de France–France-North-East, West-France, Paris and France-South-East. There were 60 French cyclists, 24 Italian, 22 Belgian, 6 Dutch, 4 Luxembourgian, 2 Swiss, 1 Polish and 1 Algerian cyclist.[8]
The Italian team was divided between Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. Both cyclists argued in the preparation of the race about who would be the team leader. In the end, Coppi refused to participate, and Bartali became the team leader.[9]
As the Italian team had not entered the Tours de France of 1939 and 1947, it was the first Tour de France for Bartali since his victory ten years before in 1938. His results in the Giro d'Italia had not been well, and it was not thought that Bartali could compete for the win.[10]
Bartali however won the sprint in the first stage, and thanks to the bonification of one minute for the winner, he was leading the race. After that, the Italian team took a low profile in the race.[10] The lead was quickly taken by Louison Bobet. After the ninth stage, Bobet had built up a lead of more than nine minutes. In the tenth stage, he lost time, and Belgian cyclist Roger Lambrecht reduced the margin to 29 seconds. After the eleventh stage, Bobet was still in the lead, but was having problems, and after he fainted at the finish, he wanted to give up. After a meal, massage and sleeping, he changed his mind, and won the twelfth stage.[11]
After the twelfth stage, Bartali was 20 minutes behind. Bartali thought about quitting the tour, but was persuaded to race on.[12] That night, Bartali received a phone call while he was in bed. Alcide De Gasperi, prime minister of Italy, from the Christian Democratic party, told him that a few days earlier Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, had been shot, and Italy might be on the edge of a civil war. De Gasperi asked Bartali to do his best to win a stage, because the sport news might distract people from the politics. Bartali replied that he would do better, and win the race.[10] The next day, Bartali won stage 13 with a large margin. In the general classification, he jumped to second place, trailing by only 66 seconds. In the next stage, Bartali won again, and took over the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. Bobet was now in second place, eight minutes behind. The next stage, stage 15, was also won by Bartali. The sixteenth stage was not won by Bartali, but because his direct competitors lost time, he increased his lead to 32 minutes.[10] Bartali lost minutes in the time trial in stage 17, but his lead was never endangered.
With each stage win of Bartali (seven in total), the Italian excitement about the Tour de France increased, and the political tensions quieted.[13]
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 June | Paris – Trouville | Plain stage | 237 km (147 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 2 | 1 July | Trouville – Dinard | Plain stage | 259 km (161 mi) | Vincenzo Rossello (ITA) |
| 3 | 2 July | Dinard – Nantes | Plain stage | 251 km (156 mi) | Guy Lapébie (FRA) |
| 4 | 3 July | Nantes – La Rochelle | Plain stage | 166 km (103 mi) | Jacques Pras (FRA) |
| 5 | 4 July | La Rochelle – Bordeaux | Plain stage | 262 km (163 mi) | Raoul Remy (FRA) |
| 6 | 5 July | Bordeaux – Biarritz | Plain stage | 244 km (152 mi) | Louison Bobet (FRA) |
| 7 | 6 July | Biarritz – Lourdes | Stage with mountain(s) | 219 km (136 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 8 | 8 July | Lourdes – Toulouse | Stage with mountain(s) | 261 km (162 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 9 | 10 July | Toulouse – Montpellier | Plain stage | 246 km (153 mi) | Raymond Impanis (BEL) |
| 10 | 11 July | Montpellier – Marseille | Plain stage | 248 km (154 mi) | Raymond Impanis (BEL) |
| 11 | 12 July | Marseille – Sanremo | Plain stage | 245 km (152 mi) | Gino Sciardis (ITA) |
| 12 | 13 July | Sanremo – Cannes | Stage with mountain(s) | 170 km (106 mi) | Louison Bobet (FRA) |
| 13 | 15 July | Cannes – Briançon | Stage with mountain(s) | 274 km (170 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 14 | 16 July | Briançon – Aix-les-Bains | Stage with mountain(s) | 263 km (163 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 15 | 18 July | Aix-les-Bains – Lausanne | Stage with mountain(s) | 256 km (159 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 16 | 19 July | Lausanne – Mulhouse | Stage with mountain(s) | 243 km (151 mi) | Edward Van Dijck (BEL) |
| 17 | 20 July | Mulhouse – Strasbourg | Individual time trial | 120 km (75 mi) | Roger Lambrecht (BEL) |
| 18 | 21 July | Strasbourg – Metz | Plain stage | 195 km (121 mi) | Giovanni Corrieri (ITA) |
| 19 | 23 July | Metz – Liège | Plain stage | 249 km (155 mi) | Gino Bartali (ITA) |
| 20 | 24 July | Liège – Roubaix | Plain stage | 228 km (142 mi) | Bernard Gauthier (FRA) |
| 21 | 25 July | Roubaix – Paris | Plain stage | 286 km (178 mi) | Giovanni Corrieri (ITA) |
Bartali's three stage wins in a row was the last time that happened, until Mario Cipollini achieved four in a row in 1999.[10]
| Stage | General classification |
Mountains classification | Team classification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gino Bartali (ITA) | no award | Belgium |
| 2 | Jan Engels (BEL) | Belgium B | |
| 3 | Louison Bobet (FRA) | France | |
| 4 | Roger Lambrecht (BEL) | Internationals | |
| 5 | |||
| 6 | Louison Bobet (FRA) | ||
| 7 | Bernard Gauthier (FRA) | France | |
| 8 | Jean Robic (FRA) | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | Internationals | ||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | France | ||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | Gino Bartali (ITA) | Gino Bartali (ITA) | |
| 15 | |||
| 16 | |||
| 17 | Belgium | ||
| 18 | |||
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | |||
| Final | Gino Bartali (ITA) | Gino Bartali (ITA) | Belgium |
The budget of the Tour de France in 1948 was 45 million Francs, from which one third was provided by private enterprises.[15] In total, 7 million Francs of prizes were awarded in the 1948 Tour de France. Of these, 600.000 Francs were given to Bartali for winning the general classification.[16] Bartali is the only cyclist to win two Tours de France ten years apart.[17] Of the 120 cyclists, 44 finished the race.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gino Bartali (ITA) | Italy | 147h 10' 36" |
| 2 | Brik Schotte (BEL) | Belgium | +26' 16" |
| 3 | Guy Lapébie (FRA) | Centre-South East | +28' 48" |
| 4 | Louison Bobet (FRA) | France | +32' 59" |
| 5 | Jeng Kirchen (LUX) | NeLux | +37' 53" |
| 6 | Lucien Teisseire (FRA) | France | +40' 17" |
| 7 | Roger Lambrecht (BEL) | Internationals | +49' 56" |
| 8 | Fermo Camellini (ITA) | Internationals | +51' 36" |
| 9 | Louis Thiétard (FRA) | Paris | +55' 23" |
| 10 | Raymond Impanis (BEL) | Belgium | +1h 00' 03" |
| Final general standings (11–44) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 11 | Stan Ockers (BEL) | Belgium | +1h 00' 13" |
| 12 | André Brulé (FRA) | Paris | +1h 02' 30" |
| 13 | Kléber Piot (FRA) | Paris | +1h 25' 08" |
| 14 | Edward Van Dijck (BEL) | Belgium | +1h 32' 13" |
| 15 | Raphaël Géminiani (FRA) | Centre-South East | +1h 39' 49" |
| 16 | Jean Robic (FRA) | France | +1h 41' 26" |
| 17 | René Vietto (FRA) | France | +1h 42' 48" |
| 18 | Édouard Klabinski (POL) | Internationals | +1h 45' 30" |
| 19 | Bruno Pasquini (ITA) | Italy | +1h 48' 50" |
| 20 | Marcel Dupont (BEL) | Aiglons | +1h 59' 47" |
| 21 | Apo Lazaridès (FRA) | France | +2h 01' 58" |
| 22 | Jan Engels (BEL) | Aiglons | +2h 15' 41" |
| 23 | Raoul Rémy (FRA) | South East | +2h 15' 59" |
| 24 | Bernard Gauthier (FRA) | South East | +2h 34' 19" |
| 25 | Paul Giguet (FRA) | France | +2h 38' 01" |
| 26 | Georges Ramoulux (FRA) | Centre-South East | +2h 42' 46" |
| 27 | Primo Volpi (ITA) | Italy | +2h 46' 48" |
| 28 | Robert Chapatte (FRA) | Paris | +2h 56' 31" |
| 29 | Giovanni Corrieri (ITA) | Italy | +2h 59' 10" |
| 30 | Florent Mathieu (BEL) | Belgium | +3h 00' 54" |
| 31 | Attilio Lambertini (ITA) | Cadets | +3h 02' 55" |
| 32 | Alphonse Devreese (FRA) | Ile de France-North East | +3h 05' 28" |
| 33 | Antonio Bevilacqua (ITA) | Italy | +3h 05' 56" |
| 34 | Serafino Biagioni (ITA) | Italy | +3h 07' 03" |
| 35 | Pierre Baratin (FRA) | Ile de France-North East | +3h 18' 44" |
| 36 | Jefke Janssen (NED) | NeLux | +3h 24' 59" |
| 37 | Paul Néri (ITA) | Internationals | +3h 26' 21" |
| 38 | Vittorio Magni (ITA) | Cadets | +3h 34' 29" |
| 39 | Georges Martin (FRA) | South East | +3h 45' 13" |
| 40 | Daniel Thuayre (FRA) | Ile de France-North East | +3h 48' 13" |
| 41 | Egidio Feruglio (ITA) | Italy | +3h 48' 30" |
| 42 | Wim De Ruyter (NED) | NeLux | +3h 50' 41" |
| 43 | Jean Rey (FRA) | South East | +4h 14' 57" |
| 44 | Vittorio Seghezzi (ITA) | Cadets | +4h 26' 43" |
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 A, gave 10 points to the first cyclist, the easier ones, in category B, gave 5 points to the first cyclist.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gino Bartali (ITA) | Italy | 62 |
| 2 | Apo Lazaridès (FRA) | France | 43 |
| 3 | Jean Robic (FRA) | France | 38 |
| 4 | Brik Schotte (BEL) | Belgium | 30 |
| 5 | Lucien Teisseire (FRA) | France | 28 |
The team classification was calculated by adding the times in the general classification of the best three cyclists per team.
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 443h 58' 20" |
| 2 | France | +28' 40" |
| 3 | Paris | +56' 49" |
| 4 | Internationals | |
| 5 | Italian Cadets |
The Tour de France in 1948 for the first time had a special award for the best regional rider.[11] This was won by third-placed Guy Lapébie.[7]
The 1948 Tour de France first showed the strengths of Louison Bobet. Bobet would be the first rider to win three consecutive Tours de France, from 1953 to 1955.[18] After the race, the Italian team manager Alfredo Binda said about Bobet: "If I would have directed Bobet, he would have won the Tour."[7]
Coppi, who had not competed in the 1948 Tour de France because of his bad relationship with Bartali, would enter and win the 1949 Tour de France.