On the 12th stage of Tour de France 1951 Wim van Est escaped with a small group, won the stage and took the lead in the general classification. He was the first Dutchman to wear the yellow jersey.
Next day the peloton arrived in the Pyrenees. The 201 km 13th long stage between Dax and Tarbes included the mighty Col d’Aubisque. Pretty big challenge for a rider, like Wim van Est, who had never climbed a major climb before.
Nevertheless, he wanted to keep the yellow jersey even after a stage like this, tried to keep up with the best climbers of the days. He had puncture and crashed a few times before cressing the top of Aubisque.
On the descent, following Fiorenzo Magni, he went too fast into a turn and lost control of his bike. He fell into a 70 m deep ravine. Spectators helped him to climb back by handing him a rope made from inner tubes.
He wanted to continue the race, but was persuaded to go to the hospital and abandon the race.
Wim van Est also wore the yellow jersey in 1955 and 1958 and won 2 more Tour de France stages during his career. He was also a monument winner (Ronde van Vlaanderen 1953).
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