Louison Bobet vs Charly Gaul: "Monsieur Pipi Incident Giro 1957" "and Revenge TdF 1958"

It was no secret that Charly Gaul and Louison Bobet did not like each other. Gaul, a superior climber from Luxembourg, had the nicknamed Angel of the Mountains. Bobet, a French superstar of cycling with multiple Tour de France victories and World Road Race Championships, was talented in all aspects of racing.

Charly Gaul won the Tour de France once (KoM twice), Giro d’Italia twice (KoM twice).

Louison Bobet won the Tour de France 3 times, World Championship Road Race once, and 4 Monuments: Milan-San Remo (1951), Giro di Lombardia (1951), Tour of Flanders (1955), Paris-Roubaix (1956).

The friction between the two started in the TdF 1955. The young Luxembourger issued a challenge to Bobet: "I'm about to attack! Just make sure you can follow..." Bobet did not follow the attack, and Gaul won the stage by 13’54”. The young Gaul emerged as a star of the future and Bobet went on to win his third straight TdF. Final results aside, the grudge had begun.

The feud came to a head during the Giro d’Italia 1957 (also known for the Monsieur Pipi Incident). On stage 18 Bobet and Italian Gastone Nencini decided to answer the call of nature and stopped on the side of the road. Race leader Gaul seized the opportunity and rode away aggressively. An unwritten rule was broken, and a furious Frenchman ordered his team to “put down the hammer and catch the aggressive Luxembourger.”

Later in the stage when Gaul needed a “nature break” Bobet and Nencini caught and flew past the busy race leader. Gaul could not close the resulting gap as the Italians and Frenchmen roared over the summit of the Bondone. Charly Gaul’s short-lived race lead was gone. The power of Gaston Nencini took the Maglia Rosa away from Gaul after stage 18 with only three stages to the finish in Milan.

SPECIAL NOTE: After the incident Gaul dealt with the problem and is known for developing a technique to have a ‘nature break’ while still riding.

Gaul had a score to settle in the TdF 1958, and verbal spats were plentiful during the race. Bobet’s French national team ganged up on Gaul. Someone even sabotaged his bike during the Tour.

Before the start of the final mountain stage from Briançon to Aix-les-Bains (stage 21), Gaul taunted Bobet: “So, are you ready, Monsieur Bobet? I will attack on the climb to Chamrousse.”

In heavy rain the Angel of the Mountains attacked as predicted and won the stage by 19 minutes.

He beat them all (Bobet, Anquetil, and Geminiani) and won the 1958 TdF. Revenge was sweet for Little Charly Gaul.