The last edition of Tour de France before the World War II broke out was in 1939, which was followed by an eight year long hiatus. Next time the international peloton (without German and Italian riders) came together to participate in the most famous cycling race of the world was during the summer of 1947.
The first etap was a 236 km long plain stage between Paris and Lille, which was won by the Swiss rider (later, in 1950 a Tour de France winner himself) Ferdy Kübler.
MORE ABOUT TOUR DE FRANCE IN THE 1940S
Cycling Who’s Who: Jean Robic
Tour de France winner Jean Robic was born on the 10th of June in 1921 in Vouziers, France. His professional career started in the middle of the 2nd World War in 1943. In 1944 he finished Paris-Roubaix with a fractured skull. After this event, he started wearing a leather helmet which became later something like … Read more
Winning the Tour de France without wearing the yellow jersey
Since the introduction of the yellow jersey in 1919, there were only two cyclists to win the race with taking the first place in the general classification in the last stage. Thus they didn’t have the opportunity to wear the yellow jersey during that particular edition of Tour de France. Jean Robic (1947) After the … Read more
Cycling Who’s Who: Jacques Marinelli
Jacques Marinelli was born on the 15th December of 1925 in Blanc-Mesnil, France. He was a professional rider between 1948 and 1955. He rode the Tour de France six times between 1948 and 1954, his most successful year was 1949 when he was wearing the yellow jersey for six days. That Tour de France was … Read more
9 July 1949 First time a Tour de France stage finished in Spain
It was the 228 km long 9th stage between Bordeaux and San Sebastian on the 9th July 1949. Louis Caput was the winner of the stage. Tour de France used to visit neighbour countries during the early years of its history already. Read more about when Tour de France went abroad before 1914. Tour de France … Read more