Brian Robinson
Encyclopedia
Brian Robinson is an English former road bicycle racer of the 1950s and early 1960s.
He was the first Briton to finish the Tour de France
and the first to win a Tour stage.
His success as a professional cyclist in mainland Europe paved the way for other Britons such as Tom Simpson
and Barry Hoban
.
His family lived in Ravensthorpe
and moved to Mirfield in 1943.
Both his parents worked at a factory producing parts for Halifax bombers, Henry at night and Milly by day.
The family had a small area of land, known as an allotment, where they kept rabbits and two pigs. Robinson had a brother, Des, and a sister, Jean.
Road Club at 13 and joined when he reached the club's minimum age the following year. His elder brother, Des, and his father were already members. His father, however, would not let Robinson start racing until he was 18. His first race was a hilly 25-mile time-trial in March, which he completed in 1h 14m 50s. His ambition was not to ride against the clock, but in massed road races. Opportunities were limited. Views on British road racing
were polarised between the British League of Racing Cyclists
, which wanted road racing on open roads, and the National Cyclists' Union
, which feared police and public reaction and confined racing to closed circuits.
Robinson was an NCU member. He worked for the family building business, training before and after work, and frequently raced on roads in Sutton Park, Birmingham
, where races had to end by 9.30 am so the public could use the park. In 1948 he went to Windsor
to watch the Olympic Games road race in Windsor Great Park
"little realising that four years later I would make the next Olympics in Helsinki
".
He was fifth in the NCU massed-start championship and third in the Road Time Trials Council
(RTTC) hill-climb championship in 1950. The following year, he was equal 7th in the Isle of Man International, 10th in the NCU massed-start championship, and second in the RTTC hill-climb championship. In 1952 he was fourth in the NCU title race, won the hill-climb championship, and was fifth in the Isle of Man International.
, in a joint NCU/Army team. Robinson was at this time doing his National Service
. He rode well and was fifth with three days to go, but poor days in the Pyrenees
saw him slip to 40th. "I had never seen mountains like that before," he said.
The following August, he represented Great Britain at Helsinki
in the Olympic Games road race. Robinson finished 27th, one place behind his brother, to André Noyelle of Belgium
. The future Tour de France winner, Jacques Anquetil
, was 12th, and Robinson raced against him again in the world cycling championship
in Italy
in September 1952 where they tied for eighth.
and joined the Ellis Briggs
team as an independent, or semi-professional. He rode the Tour of Britain
in 1952, wearing the leader’s yellow jersey before finishing fourth.
The following year, 1954, he improved to second, and second in the mountains competition.
The British cycle industry, fighting in a dwindling market, competed for sales by sponsoring riders. Hercules
and BSA
had supported long-distance record-breakers when there was no other professional racing on the road and now wanted to have road-racing teams.
planned a team that would be the first from Britain to ride the Tour de France, then based on national teams. The riders in its colours grew season by season until in 1955 it had Robinson, Bernard Pusey, Dennis Talbot, Freddy Krebs, Clive Parker, Ken Joy, Arthur Ilsley, Derek Buttle (the founder of the team) and Dave Bedwell
. The team raced in France, the Netherlands and Belgium in preparation. Robinson was 8th in Paris–Nice, fourth in La Flèche Wallonne
and led the Tour of the Six Provinces to the sixth stage. The eventual Tour team was a mixture of Hercules riders and those from other sponsors.
The Tour de France proved tough and only Robinson and Tony Hoar finished, Robinson 29th and Hoar lanterne rouge
or last. They were the first Britons to finish the Tour, 18 years after Charles Holland
and Bill Burl were the first Britons in the race in 1937.
Robinson told Jock Wadley
of Sporting Cyclist
that it was easy for an English professional to get into the Tour de France in 1955. "Indeed, when it came to selection time there were hardly enough riders available to fill the places." Hercules and other British sponsors dropped their sponsorship at the end of 1955. Robinson, who had married the previous October, set up at the start of 1956 at Les Issambres, the area of the French Riviera
that Hercules had used for its training the previous year and which was close to the spring criteriums. He and another professional, Bernard Pusey, suffered because the first races were cancelled because of snow.
In 1956, the Tour allowed mixed teams. Robinson joined a squad which included Charly Gaul
. He took third on the first stage, and by the end of the Tour was 14th, Gaul 13th. He also rode the Vuelta a España
in Hugo Koblet
's Swiss-British team, and was second after the fourth stage. He punctured on a climb on the 10th stage when in a break with Italy's Angelo Conterno
, the race winner, but managed to recover from 11th to eighth.
by 50 seconds. Then he finished third in Milan – San Remo to Spain's Miguel Poblet
, whose 29th birthday it was. Cycling
called it "by far the greatest achievement by a British roadman in a single-day race since the halcyon 19th-century days of George Pilkington Mills
and the Bordeaux–Paris". There was commercial intrigue behind the result, however.
Robinson crashed on wet cobbles early in the 1957 Tour de France, injuring his left wrist. He recovered to finish 15th in the world championship won by Rik van Steenbergen
.
crossed the line first, but was relegated to second for his tactics in a hot sprint.
Robinson showed his victory was no fluke by winning the 20th stage (from Annecy
to Chalon-sur-Saône
) of the 1959 Tour by 20 minutes. Next day he paid the price, trailing far behind the field with his Irish team-mate, Seamus Elliott
, beside him.
Both finished outside the time limit and expected to be sent home. But the team's manager, Sauveur Ducazeaux
, insisted the judges apply a rule that no rider in the first ten could be eliminated. Robinson had started the day ninth: it was Elliott who was sent home. "The mother hen was cooked; the chick avoided the pot", Fotheringham said.
Robinson finished the Tour 19th, having at one time been ninth. That year he helped get his professional Rapha Geminiani team to sign Tom Simpson
. Within weeks, he was watching Simpson win two stages of the Tour de l'Ouest.
Robinson finished 26th and 53rd in the Tours of 1960 and 1961. In between he won the 1961 Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré
, winning two stages. He was part of the winning team in the team time-trial, then third in the individual time trial at Romans. He won the following day's stage at Villefranche
. He kept control of the race as it passed through the mountains and won the race.
Robinson, at 74, helped organise a dinner in August 2005 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first British competitors in the Tour de France. The event aimed to attract all British riders who have raced in the Tour since 1955.
In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame
.
1955
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
He was the first Briton to finish the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
and the first to win a Tour stage.
His success as a professional cyclist in mainland Europe paved the way for other Britons such as Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson was the most successful English road racing cyclist of the post-war years. He infamously died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the Tour de France in 1967...
and Barry Hoban
Barry Hoban
Barry Hoban is a former English professional cyclist who rode during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the previous holder of the record for the most stage wins in the Tour de France by a British rider, winning eight between 1967 to 1975...
.
Background
Robinson's teen years came in the Second World War, which began in 1939 when he was eight.His family lived in Ravensthorpe
Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury
Ravensthorpe is an area of Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire, England. Ravensthorpe is on the western outskirts of Dewsbury and is part of the "Dewsbury West" ward in the district of Kirklees. The area has always been heavily industrial and was once bustling with textile mills. There is now a toxic...
and moved to Mirfield in 1943.
Both his parents worked at a factory producing parts for Halifax bombers, Henry at night and Milly by day.
The family had a small area of land, known as an allotment, where they kept rabbits and two pigs. Robinson had a brother, Des, and a sister, Jean.
Early cycling career
Robinson rode with the HuddersfieldHuddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
Road Club at 13 and joined when he reached the club's minimum age the following year. His elder brother, Des, and his father were already members. His father, however, would not let Robinson start racing until he was 18. His first race was a hilly 25-mile time-trial in March, which he completed in 1h 14m 50s. His ambition was not to ride against the clock, but in massed road races. Opportunities were limited. Views on British road racing
Road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...
were polarised between the British League of Racing Cyclists
British League of Racing Cyclists
The British League of Racing Cyclists was an association formed in 1942 to promote road bicycle racing in Great Britain. It operated in competition with the National Cyclists' Union, a rivalry which lasted until the two merged in 1959 to form the British Cycling Federation.-Background:The National...
, which wanted road racing on open roads, and the National Cyclists' Union
National Cyclists' Union
The National Cyclists' Union was an association established in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878 as the Bicycle Union. Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain...
, which feared police and public reaction and confined racing to closed circuits.
Robinson was an NCU member. He worked for the family building business, training before and after work, and frequently raced on roads in Sutton Park, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, where races had to end by 9.30 am so the public could use the park. In 1948 he went to Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
to watch the Olympic Games road race in Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...
"little realising that four years later I would make the next Olympics in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
".
He was fifth in the NCU massed-start championship and third in the Road Time Trials Council
Cycling Time Trials
Cycling Time Trials is the British bicycle racing organisation which supervises individual and team time trials in England and Wales. It was formed out of predecessor body the Road Time Trials Council in 2002.-Time trialling:...
(RTTC) hill-climb championship in 1950. The following year, he was equal 7th in the Isle of Man International, 10th in the NCU massed-start championship, and second in the RTTC hill-climb championship. In 1952 he was fourth in the NCU title race, won the hill-climb championship, and was fifth in the Isle of Man International.
International experience
In spring 1952 Robinson rode the Route de France, amateur version of the Tour de FranceTour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, in a joint NCU/Army team. Robinson was at this time doing his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. He rode well and was fifth with three days to go, but poor days in the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
saw him slip to 40th. "I had never seen mountains like that before," he said.
The following August, he represented Great Britain at Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in the Olympic Games road race. Robinson finished 27th, one place behind his brother, to André Noyelle of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The future Tour de France winner, Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
, was 12th, and Robinson raced against him again in the world cycling championship
World Cycling Championship
The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The UCI Road World Championships include championships for elite men's road race and individual time trial...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in September 1952 where they tied for eighth.
The new professional
In 1953, Robinson left the King's Own Yorkshire Light InfantryKing's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. The regiment's traditions and history are now maintained by The Rifles.-The 51st Foot:...
and joined the Ellis Briggs
Ellis Briggs
Ellis Briggs is a British bicycle manufacturer and shop, based in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England.It is the oldest bicycle shop in the Bradford area still in business today....
team as an independent, or semi-professional. He rode the Tour of Britain
Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is a cycle race, conducted over several stages, in which participants race from place to place across parts of Great Britain....
in 1952, wearing the leader’s yellow jersey before finishing fourth.
The following year, 1954, he improved to second, and second in the mountains competition.
The British cycle industry, fighting in a dwindling market, competed for sales by sponsoring riders. Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
had supported long-distance record-breakers when there was no other professional racing on the road and now wanted to have road-racing teams.
Tour de France
HerculesHercules Cycle and Motor Company
For the German Bicycle and Motorcycle manufacturer see: Hercules Fahrrad GmbH & CoThe Hercules Cycle and Motor Company Limited was a British bicycle manufacturer founded on 9 September 1910 in Aston in England....
planned a team that would be the first from Britain to ride the Tour de France, then based on national teams. The riders in its colours grew season by season until in 1955 it had Robinson, Bernard Pusey, Dennis Talbot, Freddy Krebs, Clive Parker, Ken Joy, Arthur Ilsley, Derek Buttle (the founder of the team) and Dave Bedwell
Dave Bedwell
Dave Bedwell was one of Great Britain's most accomplished racing cyclists in the 1950s, known as the "Iron Man" of cycling...
. The team raced in France, the Netherlands and Belgium in preparation. Robinson was 8th in Paris–Nice, fourth in La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne
La Flèche Wallonne is a major men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Belgium.The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège...
and led the Tour of the Six Provinces to the sixth stage. The eventual Tour team was a mixture of Hercules riders and those from other sponsors.
The Tour de France proved tough and only Robinson and Tony Hoar finished, Robinson 29th and Hoar lanterne rouge
Lanterne rouge
The Lanterne Rouge is the competitor in last place in a cycling race such as the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the caboose of a railway train, which conductors would look for in order to make sure none of the couplings had...
or last. They were the first Britons to finish the Tour, 18 years after Charles Holland
Charles Holland (cyclist)
Charles Holland was a British road bicycle racer. He was one of the first two Britons to ride the Tour de France.-The early years:...
and Bill Burl were the first Britons in the race in 1937.
Robinson told Jock Wadley
Jock Wadley
John Borland Wadley was an English journalist whose magazines and reporting opened Continental cycle racing to fans in Britain....
of Sporting Cyclist
Sporting Cyclist
Sporting Cyclist was a British cycling A4-sized magazine originally called Coureur. It began in 1957 and closed after 131 issues in October 1968.-Coureur:...
that it was easy for an English professional to get into the Tour de France in 1955. "Indeed, when it came to selection time there were hardly enough riders available to fill the places." Hercules and other British sponsors dropped their sponsorship at the end of 1955. Robinson, who had married the previous October, set up at the start of 1956 at Les Issambres, the area of the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
that Hercules had used for its training the previous year and which was close to the spring criteriums. He and another professional, Bernard Pusey, suffered because the first races were cancelled because of snow.
In 1956, the Tour allowed mixed teams. Robinson joined a squad which included Charly Gaul
Charly Gaul
Charly Gaul was a professional cyclist. He was a national cyclo-cross champion, an accomplished time triallist and a better climber. His ability earned him the nickname of The Angel of the Mountains in the 1958 Tour de France, which he won with four stage victories...
. He took third on the first stage, and by the end of the Tour was 14th, Gaul 13th. He also rode the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
in Hugo Koblet
Hugo Koblet
Hugo Koblet was a Swiss champion cyclist. He won the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia as well as competing in six-day and pursuit races on the track. He won 70 races as a professional...
's Swiss-British team, and was second after the fourth stage. He punctured on a climb on the 10th stage when in a break with Italy's Angelo Conterno
Angelo Conterno
Angelo Conterno was an Italian professional road racing cyclist during the 1950s and early 1960s who is most famous for becoming the first Italian to win the Vuelta a España...
, the race winner, but managed to recover from 11th to eighth.
Milan – San Remo
In 1957 he scored his first professional win, in the GP de la Ville de Nice, beating Louison BobetLouison Bobet
Louis 'Louison' Bobet was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955...
by 50 seconds. Then he finished third in Milan – San Remo to Spain's Miguel Poblet
Miguel Poblet
Miguel Poblet i Orriols, born March 18, 1928 at Montcada i Reixac in the northern suburbs of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is a Spanish former professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1944 to 1962, during which he had over 200 professional victories...
, whose 29th birthday it was. Cycling
Cycling Weekly
Cycling Weekly is a British cycling magazine. It is published by IPC Media and is devoted to the sport and past-time of cycling. It is affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".-History:...
called it "by far the greatest achievement by a British roadman in a single-day race since the halcyon 19th-century days of George Pilkington Mills
George Pilkington Mills
George Pilkington Mills was the dominant English racing cyclist of his generation, and winner of the inaugural Bordeaux–Paris cycle race. He frequently cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats, holding the world record time on six occasions between 1886 and 1895. He was a member of the Anfield and...
and the Bordeaux–Paris". There was commercial intrigue behind the result, however.
Robinson crashed on wet cobbles early in the 1957 Tour de France, injuring his left wrist. He recovered to finish 15th in the world championship won by Rik van Steenbergen
Rik Van Steenbergen
Rik Van Steenbergen was a Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists.-Early life:...
.
First Tour stage win
In 1958, Robinson won stage seven of the Tour de France, to Brest. Arigo PadovanArigo Padovan
Arigo Padovan was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who won stages in both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.- Palmarès :1951...
crossed the line first, but was relegated to second for his tactics in a hot sprint.
Robinson showed his victory was no fluke by winning the 20th stage (from Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
to Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon....
) of the 1959 Tour by 20 minutes. Next day he paid the price, trailing far behind the field with his Irish team-mate, Seamus Elliott
Seamus Elliott
Seamus 'Shay' Elliott was an Irish road bicycle racer.Shay Elliott was the first Irish cyclist to make a mark as a professional rider in continental Europe....
, beside him.
Both finished outside the time limit and expected to be sent home. But the team's manager, Sauveur Ducazeaux
Sauveur Ducazeaux
Sauveur Ducazeaux was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won one stage in the 1936 Tour de France. After his cycling career, he became a team captain. In 1956, he was the team captain of Roger Walkowiak, who surprisingly won the 1956 Tour de France.- Palmarès :19331936- External links :*...
, insisted the judges apply a rule that no rider in the first ten could be eliminated. Robinson had started the day ninth: it was Elliott who was sent home. "The mother hen was cooked; the chick avoided the pot", Fotheringham said.
Robinson finished the Tour 19th, having at one time been ninth. That year he helped get his professional Rapha Geminiani team to sign Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson
Tom Simpson was the most successful English road racing cyclist of the post-war years. He infamously died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the Tour de France in 1967...
. Within weeks, he was watching Simpson win two stages of the Tour de l'Ouest.
Robinson finished 26th and 53rd in the Tours of 1960 and 1961. In between he won the 1961 Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré
Dauphiné Libéré
The Critérium du Dauphiné is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. The race was inaugurated by a local newspaper, the Dauphiné Libéré, which gave its name to the event...
, winning two stages. He was part of the winning team in the team time-trial, then third in the individual time trial at Romans. He won the following day's stage at Villefranche
Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Villefranche-de-Rouergue is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France.-History:At the end of the Albigensian Crusade from the northern "barons" against the southern Occitania on a religious pretext , the Count of Toulouse was defeated and concluded the treaty of Paris in 1229...
. He kept control of the race as it passed through the mountains and won the race.
Retirement
Robinson retired when he was 33, not having made much money from cycling despite his successes.Assessment and later years
The magazine Cycling placed Robinson ninth best British rider of the 20th century.Robinson, at 74, helped organise a dinner in August 2005 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first British competitors in the Tour de France. The event aimed to attract all British riders who have raced in the Tour since 1955.
In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame
British Cycling Hall of Fame
The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations.On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty riders to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame were announced...
.
Palmarès
1954- Stage win, Tour d'Europe.
1955
- 1st Tour of Pennines
1957
- 1st Grand Prix de Nice, La Forteresse
1958
- Tour de France1958 Tour de FranceThe 1958 Tour de France was the 45th Tour de France, taking place June 26 to July 19, 1958. The total race distance was 24 stages over 4,319 km, at an average speed of 36.919 km/h....
:- Winner stage 7
- stage win Tour du Sud-Est
- 1st pursuit and omnium, de Guecho, with Jacques AnquetilJacques AnquetilJacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
1959
- Tour de France1959 Tour de FranceThe 1959 Tour de France was the 46th Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 18 July 1959. The race featured 120 riders, of which 65 finished. The Tour included 22 stages over 4,391 km, and the winner had an average speed of 35.474 km/h....
:- Winner stage 20
1960
- Stage wins Tour de l'Aude and Midi LibreGrand Prix du Midi LibreThe Grand Prix du Midi Libre was a multiple-stage cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation courses for the Tour de France...
1961
- 1st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Stage win Circuit d'Auvergne