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.
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.
Read more about 1948 Tour De France: Changes From The 1947 Tour De France, Participants, Race Details, Stages, Classification Leadership, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words tour and/or france:
“Left Washington, September 6, on a tour through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.... Absent nineteen days. Received every where heartily. The country is again one and united! I am very happy to be able to feel that the course taken has turned out so well.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
““Eh Bien you like this sacred pig of a country?” asked Marco.
“Why not? I like it anywhere. It’s all the same, in France you are paid badly and live well; here you are paid well and live badly.””
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)