1955 Tour de France - Race Details

Race Details

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 team mates, 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 cyclist, 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 took 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 recognized that Malléjac's symptoms were the same as after taking too much amphetamine, and told the team doctors to be more careful with doping. In that stage, Bobet got away on the 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 the 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 later, Rolland 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.