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| After a tempestuous Tour, it was Roger Lapébie who emerged victorious to continue the French domination of the Tour in the 1930s. |
The return of the Italians heralded the arrival of one of the great talents in the sport, that year's Giro winner Gino Bartali. It didn't take long for Bartali to make his mark: by Geneva, he was third overall, though some twelve minutes down on leader Erich Bautz, who owed his position to a four minute solo win at Belfort (ahead of Bartali) and a system of bonuses which doubled any time gaps a solo winner could accrue. On the stage to Grenoble, it was Bartali's turn to win alone, turning a twelve minute deficit into a seemingly-comfortable nine minute lead over Ward Vissers. Bartali's joy was short lived, however: once again the descent of the north face of the Galibier was to claim a high profile victim. Bartali got up to finish the stage and save his yellow jersey, but was to retire a few days later.
Meanwhile, at Digne it was Roger Lapébie who won, but once again the yellow jersey was placed on the shoulders of Belgian Sylvère Maes, with Mario Vicini and Lapébie close behind. The Pyrenees resulted in a stalemate, and though Lapébie had closed to within just 25 seconds after finishing in a group 1 ½ minutes ahead of Maes at Bordeaux, it looked like Maes would be safe, especially with another team time trial to come. However, on the way to Bordeaux, Maes had punctured, and two Belgian "Individuels" - not part of the national team - had waited to pace him back to the field. For this offence, Maes was penalized fifteen seconds; tempers flared and Maes and the entire Belgian team walked out. Thereafter Lapébie was able to steadily increase his lead all the way back to Paris.
This Tour also saw a mixed British / Canadian team ride. The Canadian, Gachon, retired on the first day, and of the two Britons, Bill Burl had retired on stage two. However, the remaining Briton, Charlie Holland, rode with distinction through the Alpes, finishing in the same group as Lapébie and René Le Grèves at Aix-les-Bains, and again with Le Grèves and that year's World Champion Eloi Meulenberg at Grenoble. He was still in the race until the triple stage from Perpignan to Luchon; finally left behind on the Col de Port after a series of punctures, he arrived at Luchon to find the finish packed up and gone, as if he had been forgotten. It was to be 1955 before another Briton started on Le Grand Boucle.
| Stage | Winner | Overall Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Paris - Lille, 263km | Jean Marjerus | Jean Marjerus |
| Stage 2 | Lille - Charleville, 192km | Maurice Archambaud | Marjerus |
| Stage 3 | Charleville - Metz, 161km | Walter Generati | Marcel Kint |
| Stage 4 | Metz - Belfort, 220km | Erich Bautz | Erich Bautz |
| Stage 5 A | Belfort - Lons-le-Saunier, 175km | Henri Puppo | Bautz |
| Stage 5 B | Lons-le-Saunier - Champagnole, 34km TTT | Sylvère Maes * | Bautz |
| Stage 5 C | Champagnole - Geneva, 93km | Léo Amberg | Bautz |
| Stage 6 | Geneva - Aix-les-Bains, 180km | Gustaaf Deloor | Bautz |
| Stage 7 | Aix-les-Bains - Grenoble, 228km | Gino Bartali | Gino Bartali |
| Stage 8 | Grenoble - Briançon, 194km | Otto Weckerling | Bartali |
| Stage 9 | Briançon - Digne, 220km | Roger Lapébie | Sylvère Maes |
| Stage 10 | Digne - Nice, 251km | Félicien Vervaecke | Maes |
| Stage 11 A | Nice - Toulon, 169km | Eloi Meulenberg | Maes |
| Stage 11 B | Toulon - Marseille, 65km TTT | Gustaaf Daneels ** | Maes |
| Stage 12 A | Marseille - Nîmes, 112km | Alphonse Antoine | Maes |
| Stage 12 B | Nîmes - Montpellier, 51km | René Pedroli | Maes |
| Stage 13 A | Montpellier - Narbonne, 103km | Francesco Camusso | Maes |
| Stage 13 B | Narbonne - Perpignan, 63km | Meulenberg | Maes |
| Stage 14 A | Perpignan - Bourg Madame, 99km | Meulenberg | Maes |
| Stage 14 B | Bourg Madame - Ax-les-Thermes, 59km | Mariano Cañardo | Maes |
| Stage 14 C | Ax-les-Thermes - Luchon, 59km | Meulenberg | Maes |
| Stage 15 | Luchon - Pau, 194km | Julien Berrendero | Maes |
| Stage 16 | Pau - Bordeaux, 235km | Paul Chocque | Maes |
| Stage 17 A | Bordeaux - Royan, 123km | Bautz | Roger Lapébie |
| Stage 17 B | Royan - Saintes, 37km | Adolf Braeckeveldt and Heniz Wengler, equal | Lapébie |
| Stage 17 A | Saintes - La Rochelle, 67km | Lapébie | Lapébie |
| Stage 18 A | La Rochelle - La Roche-sûr-Yon, 81km TTT | Roger Lapébie *** | Lapébie |
| Stage 18 B | La Rochelle - Rennes, 172km | Chocque | Lapébie |
| Stage 19 A | Rennes - Vire, 114km | Raymond Passat | Lapébie |
| Stage 19 B | Vire - Caen, 59km TT | Léo Amberg | Lapébie |
| Stage 21 | Caen - Paris, 234km | Ward Vissers | Lapébie |
* Sylvère Maes, Albert Hendrickx, Gustaaf Daneels, Jules Lowie, Marcel Kint, Albertin Disseaux
** Daneels, Maes, Vervaecke, Lowie, Disseaux
*** Roger Lapébie, Sylvain Marcaillou, Paul Chocque, Robert Tanneveau
1st: Roger Lapébie, France, 4415km in 138h 58' 31" (31.768km/h)
2nd: Mario Vincini, Italy (Individuel, incorporated into national team on stage 18A), @7' 17"
3rd: Léo Amberg, Switzerland, @26' 13"
4th: Francesco Camusso, Italy, @26' 53"
5th: Sylvain Marcaillou, France, @36' 36"
6th: Ward Vissers, Belgium (Individuel), @38' 13"
7th: Paul Chocque, France, @1h 05' 19"
8th: Pierre Gallien, France (Individuel), @1h 06' 33"
9th: Erich Bautz, Germany, @1h 06' 41"
10th: Jean Fréchaut, France (Individuel), @1h 24' 34"
(46th: Aloïs Klensch, Luxembourg, @6h 39' 25")
1st: Félicien Vervaecke, Belgium, 114 §
2nd: Mario Vicini, Italy (Individuel), 96
3rd: Sylvère Maes, Belgium, 90 §
§ At that time, you did not have to finish the Tour to claim the climbers' prize.
1st: France 418h 36' 28"
2nd: Italy @2h 54' 18"
3rd: Germany @3h 12' 22"