37th Tour de France 1950

The “Suisse Cowboy” Inherits the Win

The drama of the intense competitions in the Tour de France races of 1948 and 1949 would be hard to match in 1950. The competition at the start was to come from an equally strong French National team, but the dark horse was powerful Suisse team, with Hugo Koblet and Ferdi Kubler.

After a rest day in Pau, the superstars of the Tour began to flex their muscles. Stage 11 from Pau to Saint Gaudens included the formidable climbs of the Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aubisque, and Col d'Aspin, in the “Circle of Death” (the hardest day in the Pyrenees ), but the story of the stage would eclipse the race itself. Italian Gino Bartali was riding well in the 1950 Tour and attacked on the Col d'Aspin with Frenchman Jean Robic. The huge crowds on the Aspin pressed forward to see their heroes. In the process the road narrowed, Bartali was bumped causing him to fall. The incident also took down Robic with him. The two were not hurt and recovered quickly. Several excited (undoubtedly drunken) fans hassled and insulted Bartali. At one point a fan flashed a knife in the Italian's face. The incident was brief but frightening. The breakaway of nine riders regrouped on the descent and continued. An angry Bartali unleashed a great sprint for the 2'54" stage win in Saint Gaurdens. His Italian teammate Fiorenzo Magni was in the winning breakaway and took the race lead.

That night Bartali, still infuriated over the violence, called a press conference to announce the withdrawal of both Italian teams. The abandonment of the Italian contingent included the unfortunate Fiorenzo Magni, who had taken the overall race lead.

The Maillot Jaune was not worn during stage 12, but the race leader became the second placed Ferdi Kubler. Given a long standing traditon he refused to wear the jersey by default. When Kubler did earn the Maillot Jaune, the Swiss strongman was very excited.

The French team, needing large time gains, continued their aggressive riding through the Alps. Bobet and Geminiani were able to battle back into 3rd and 4th place in the final General Classification, but Kubler and Ockers steadfastly defended all attacks and retianed thier race leads.

Ferdi Kubler, the “Swiss Cowboy” (named for his wide brimmed cowboy hats), rode into Paris with a comfortable lead. He had become the first Swiss to win the Tour de France.

TdF 1949

TdF 1951

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