1959 Tour de France

1959 Tour de France
Route of the 1959 Tour de France
Followed counterclockwise, starting in Mulhouse and finishing in Paris
Race details
Dates 25 June – 18 July
Stages 22
Distance 4,358 km (2,708 mi)
Winning time 123h 46' 45"
Results
Winner  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) (Spain)
Second  Henry Anglade (FRA) (Centre-Midi)
Third  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) (France)
Points  André Darrigade (FRA) (France)
Mountains  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) (Spain)
Team Belgium

The 1959 Tour de France was the 46th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 18 July. The race featured 120 riders, of which 65 finished. The Tour included 22 stages over 4,358 km (2,708 mi).

The race was won by Spanish cyclist Federico Bahamontes, who also won the mountains classification. The points classification was won by French sprinter André Darrigade. The Belgian team became the winner of the team classification.

Although the French national team had the favourites, the race was contested between Anglade, in a French regional team, and Bahamontes, in the Spanish national team. After the French national team refused to help Anglade, Bahamontes won the race. It was the first win by a Spanish cyclist.

Teams

For a more comprehensive list, see List of teams and cyclists in the 1959 Tour de France.

The French team included Jacques Anquetil, Louison Bobet, Raphael Géminiani and Roger Riviere, who were all considered possible Tour winners.[1] This also posed a problem, as they did all want to be team captain, and refused to work for each other.[2] The Spanish team was headed by Federico Bahamontes, who in previous years did not care for flat stages and time trials, and only tried to win the mountains classification. In the 1959 season, Bahamontes had Fausto Coppi as manager, and Coppi convinced Bahamontes to focus on the general classification.[2] The defending champion Charly Gaul was again placed in a mixed team of Luxembourgian and Dutch cyclists, and expected little support.[2] The Italian team did not include Vito Favero and Gastone Nencini, who had performed well in the 1958 Tour. Their team captain was Ercole Baldini, winner of the 1958 Giro d'Italia, but he was not expected to be able to compete against Gaul, Bahamontes and Anquetil.[2] Of the cyclists in the French regional teams, Henri Anglade was the most notable. He was included in the Centre-Midi team,

The cyclists were represented by agents, who negotiated for the prices in post-tour criteriums. There were two major agents: Daniel Dousset, who represented Anquetil, Rivière and Bahamontes, and Piel Poulidor, who represented Anglade. This made it more important for Anquetil to help Bahamontes than Anglade.[2]

The teams entering the race were:

  • Netherlands/Luxembourg (combined)
  • Belgium
  • Italy
  • France
  • Spain
  • Switzerland/Germany (combined)
  • International
  • France Centre-Midi
  • France Paris North-East
  • France West South-West

Route and stages

The 1959 Tour de France started on 25 June in Mulhouse, and had two rest days, in Bayonne and Saint-Étienne.[3]

Stage characteristics and winners[4][3][5]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1 25 June Mulhouse to Metz 238 km (148 mi) Plain stage  André Darrigade (FRA)
2 26 June Metz to Namur (Belgium) 234 km (145 mi) Plain stage  Vito Favero (ITA)
3 27 June Namur (Belgium) to Roubaix 217 km (135 mi) Plain stage  Robert Cazala (FRA)
4 28 June Roubaix to Rouen 230 km (140 mi) Plain stage  Dino Bruni (ITA)
5 29 June Rouen to Rennes 286 km (178 mi) Plain stage  Jean Graczyk (FRA)
6 30 June Blain to Nantes 45 km (28 mi) Individual time trial  Roger Rivière (FRA)
7 1 July Nantes to La Rochelle 190 km (120 mi) Plain stage  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)
8 2 July La Rochelle to Bordeaux 201 km (125 mi) Plain stage  Michel Dejouhannet (FRA)
9 3 July Bordeaux to Bayonne 207 km (129 mi) Plain stage  Marcel Queheille (FRA)
10 5 July Bayonne to Bagnères-de-Bigorre 235 km (146 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Marcel Janssens (BEL)
11 6 July Bagnères-de-Bigorre to Saint-Gaudens 119 km (74 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  André Darrigade (FRA)
12 7 July Saint-Gaudens to Albi 184 km (114 mi) Plain stage  Rolf Graf (SUI)
13 8 July Albi to Aurillac 219 km (136 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Henry Anglade (FRA)
14 9 July Aurillac to Clermont-Ferrand 231 km (144 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  André Le Dissez (FRA)
15 10 July Puy de Dôme 12 km (7.5 mi) Mountain time trial  Federico Bahamontes (ESP)
16 11 July Clermont-Ferrand to Saint-Étienne 210 km (130 mi) Plain stage  Dino Bruni (ITA)
17 13 July Saint-Étienne to Grenoble 197 km (122 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Charly Gaul (LUX)
18 14 July Grenoble to Saint-Vincent (Italy) 243 km (151 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Ercole Baldini (ITA)
19 15 July Saint-Vincent (Italy) to Annecy 251 km (156 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Rolf Graf (SUI)
20 16 July Annecy to Chalon-sur-Saône 202 km (126 mi) Plain stage  Brian Robinson (GBR)
21 17 July Seurre to Dijon 69 km (43 mi) Individual time trial  Roger Rivière (FRA)
22 18 July Dijon to Paris 331 km (206 mi) Plain stage  Joseph Groussard (FRA)
Total 4,358 km (2,708 mi)[6]

Race overview

The peloton during stage nine between Bordeaux and Bayonne

During the Tour, a package of strychnine, addressed to one of the teams, was intercepted by the Tour doctor.[7]

Like in the previous years, Darrigade won the first stage.[2] In the third stage, a group of 13 cyclists escaped, none of them considered favourites for the overall victory. The favourites let them escape, knowing that they would win enough time back in the mountains, and the group won more than 10 minutes on the rest. Robert Cazala from the French national team became the new leader.[2]

Anglade was riding well in the first stages. Because of an escape in stage 7, he gained a few minutes on the top favourites.[2] In the ninth stage, the Belgian cyclists broke away, and the French team followed them. Cazala was not able to follow them, and he lost the lead. Eddy Pauwels became the new leader[2] Pauwels lost the lead in the tenth stage, and regional Michel Vermeulin became the new leader.[2]

After stage 12, Anglade was in fifth place in the general classification,[8] the first of the favourites for the overall victory. In the thirteenth stage, Anglade attacked and won the stage.[1] He jumped to second place in the general classification.

The French team director then concentrated the strategy on beating Anglade, because he though Anglade was the main threat.[1] The fifteenth stage was an individual mountain time trial, won by Spaniard Bahamontes. Bahamontes climbed to the second place in the general classification, only 4 seconds behind Jos Hoevenaers, the last man from the escaped group in stage 3 to stay high in the general classification. Eddy Pauwels was in third place, while Anglade was still in fourth place, only 43 seconds behind Hoevenaers.[2]

In the sixteenth stage, Pauwels was in the escaped group, and won enough time to take over the lead in the general classification. In the seventeenth stage, Bahamontes and Gaul escaped. Gaul won the stage, but Bahamontes took the leading position.[1]

The eighteenth stage would determine the outcome of the race. Bahamontes was leading, but his team mates had used a lot of energy the day before. The French national team was expected to attack.[2] In the eighteenth stage, Gaul was the first one to attack, and reached the top of the Galibier first, but later the other riders got back to him. On the way down from the Iseran, Bahamontes and Gaul were left behind, and Anquetil and Rivière were expected to increase their efforts, such that Bahamontes and Gaul would not be able to get back to them. Anquetil and Rivière did not want to assist each other and did nothing, so Bahamontes and Gaul were able to get back. Anquetil and Rivière then were left behind. On the last climb, Anglade attacked. Baldini and Gaul could follow, but Bahamontes could not, and at some moment was five minutes behind. This made Anglade the virtual race leader, which was against the wishes of the national team. Anquetil and Rivière then reached Bahamontes, and helped him to get back to Anglade.[1]

The only risk for Bahamontes left was the time trial in stage 21. At the start, Bahamontes was leading by 5'40". In the time trial, Anglade won 1'39" back on Bahamontes, but that was not enough.[1] When the Tour ended in the Parc des Princes velodrome in Paris, the French crowd booed the French national team, because they did not allow Anglade the victory.[1]

Classification leadership

The time that each cyclist required to finish each stage was recorded, and these times were added together for the general classification. If a cyclist had received a time bonus, it was subtracted from this total; all time penalties were added to this total. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey.

Points given in each stage
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Points 100 80 60 50 40 35 30 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The points classification was calculated differently than in the years before. The winner of a stage received 100 points, down to 1 point for the 25th cyclist. André Darrigade took the lead by winning the first stage, and remained the leader for the rest of the race.

The mountains classification was calculated by adding the points given to cyclists for reaching the highest point in a climb first.

The team classification was calculated as the sum of the daily team classifications, and the daily team classification was calculated by adding the times in the stage result of the best three cyclists per team. It was won by the Belgian team.

The combativity award was given to Gerard Saint.[3]

Classification leadership by stage
Stage Winner General classification
 Points classification
 Mountains classification Team classification
1 André Darrigade André Darrigade André Darrigade Louis Bergaud France
2 Vito Favero
3 Robert Cazala Robert Cazala Louis Bergaud
Eddy Pauwels
4 Dino Bruni
5 Jean Graczyk
6 Roger Rivière
7 Roger Hassenforder
8 Michel Dejouhannet
9 Marcel Queheille Eddy Pauwels Belgium
10 Marcel Janssens Michel Vermeulin Armand Desmet
11 André Darrigade Federico Bahamontes
12 Rolf Graf
13 Henry Anglade Jos Hoevenaers
14 André Le Dissez
15 Federico Bahamontes
16 Dino Bruni Eddy Pauwels
17 Charly Gaul Federico Bahamontes
18 Ercole Baldini
19 Rolf Graf
20 Brian Robinson
21 Roger Rivière
22 Joseph Groussard
Final Federico Bahamontes André Darrigade Federico Bahamontes Belgium

Final standings

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)[4]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Spain 123h 46' 45"
2  Henry Anglade (FRA) Centre-Midi + 4' 01"
3  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) France + 5' 05"
4  Roger Rivière (FRA) France + 5' 17"
5  François Mahe (FRA) West-South West + 8' 22"
6  Ercole Baldini (ITA) Italy + 10' 18"
6  Jan Adriaensens (BEL) Belgium + 10' 18"
8  Jos Hoevenaers (BEL) Belgium + 11' 02"
9  Gérard Saint (FRA) West-South West + 17' 40"
10  Jean Brankart (BEL) Belgium + 20' 38"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)[9]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  André Darrigade (FRA) France 613
2  Gérard Saint (FRA) West/South West 524
3  Jacques Anquetil (FRA) France 503
4  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Spain 425
4  Charly Gaul (LUX) Netherlands/Luxembourg 425
6  Rolf Graf (SUI) Switzerland/Germany 394
7  Roger Rivière (FRA) France 390
8  Jos Hoevenaers (BEL) Belgium 387
9  Henri Anglade (FRA) Centre-Midi 383
10  Michel van Aerde (BEL) Belgium 366

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)[9]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Spain 73
2  Charly Gaul (LUX) Netherlands/Luxembourg 68
3  Gérard Saint (FRA) West/South West 65
4  Valentin Huot (FRA) Centre-Midi 33
5  Roger Rivière (FRA) France 27
6  Louis Bergaud (FRA) Centre-Midi 24
7  Adolf Christian (AUT) Internationals 19
7  Michele Gismondi (ITA) Italy 19
9  Henri Anglade (FRA) Centre-Midi 15
10  François Mahé (FRA) West/South West 14

Team classification

Final team classification[9]
Rank Team Time
1 Belgium 372h 02' 13"
2 France + 31' 25"
3 Centre-Midi + 59' 01"
4 West/South West + 1h 17' 38"
5 Spain + 2h 17' 22"
6 Italy + 3h 11' 27"
7 Netherlands/Luxembourg + 3h 15' 00"
8 Switzerland/Germany + 4h 11' 47"
9 Internationals + 4h 34' 57"
10 Paris/North East + 4h 45' 19"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boyce, Barry (2004). "Spanish Climber Adds Yellow Jersey". Cycling Revealed. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2006). The Story of the Tour de France Volume 1: 1903-1964. Dog Ear Publishing. pp. 236–245. ISBN 1-59858-180-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Historical guide 2016, p. 50.
  4. 1 2 "46ème Tour de France 1959" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Historical guide 2016, p. 109.
  7. ↑ Dimeo, Paul (2007). A history of drug use in sport 1876-1976: beyond good and evil. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 0-415-35772-1.
  8. ↑ "46ème Tour de France 1959 - 12ème étape" (in French). Mémoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "1959: 46e editie". Tourdefrance.nl. 30 December 2003. Retrieved 26 February 2010.

Sources

External links

Media related to 1959 Tour de France at Wikimedia Commons

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