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Frech multipe Tour de France winner Louison Bobet is riding solo on the mighty ascent Mont Ventoux at the Tour de Frwnce 1955. His wife Christiane is running alongside the road showing support for his husband.

Louison Bobet on Mont Ventoux (Tour de France 1955)

Mont Ventoux was introduced to Tour de France in 1951 (one year earlier than Alpe d’Huez and Puy de Dôme). At the first three occasions (1951, 1954 and 1955) the peloton crossed the top during  mid-race, the first summit finish was organized only in 1958. The 11th stage of the 1955 Tour de France began in Marseille and ended in Avignon, covering a distance of 198 km. Standing between them was the formidable Mont Ventoux. Louison Bobet, the reigning world champion, was the first to conquer the brutal climb and went on to win the stage. Bobet, clad in the prestigious rainbow jersey of the world champion, would later trade it for the yellow jersey… Read More »Louison Bobet on Mont Ventoux (Tour de France 1955)

The first Grand Départ outside France, Louison Bobet in Amsterdam Tour de France 1954

First Tour de France starts abroad

Amsterdam hosted the  first Tour de France start abroad in 1954. List of Grand Départs outside of France 1954  Amsterdam (Netherland) 1958 Brussels (Belgium) 1965  Cologne (Germany) 1973  Scheveningen (Netherlands) 1978  Leiden (Netherlands) 1980 Frankfurt (Germany) 1982 Basel (Switzerland) 1987  West Berlin (Germany) 1992  San Sebastián (Spain) 1996  ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) 1998  Dublin (Ireland) 2002  Luxembourg City (Luxembourg) 2004  Liège (Belgium) 2007  London (United Kingdom) 2009 Monaco (Monaco) 2010  Rotterdam (Netherlands) 2012  Liège (Belgium) 2014  Leeds (United Kingdom) 2015  Utrecht (Netherlands) 2017 Düsseldorf (Germany) 2019 Brussels (Belgium) 2022 Copenhagen (Denmark) More Tour de France fun facts [su_posts posts_per_page=”4″ tax_term=”456″ order=”desc” orderby=”rand”]

Louison Bobet and Fausto Coppi Giro di Lombardia 1951

Louison Bobet’s Giro di Lombardia Victory (1951)

Although Louison Bobet is remembered mostly by his three consecutive Tour de France victories (1953, 1954, 1955), he also had some success in the world of one day races. Actually, Louison Bobet won four of the five monuments, he missed only the triumph at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Nevertheless, he attended La Doyenne three times, his best result was a 4th place in 1952. But he won Milano-Sanremo and Giro di Lombardia in 1951, Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1955 and Paris-Roubaix in 1956. Bobet rode Giro di Lombardia seven times during his career, he had other top10 results besides his victory in 1951. That year was a good one for him, he already won the other Italian monument… Read More »Louison Bobet’s Giro di Lombardia Victory (1951)