A moment in time Louison Bobet seals his legend
As the peloton prepared for Stage 18 of the 1954 Tour, a ride of 216km from Grenoble to Briançon over the Cold’Izoard, France’s Louison Bobet was in the yellow jersey. He was defending champion, having won the Tour the previous year in 1953, and his lead over second-placed Fritz Schaer was more than nine minutes.
Bobet had made his Tour debut seven years earlier, in 1947, the first edition after the Second World War. It was his first year as a pro with the Stella-Hutchinson team and the month previously he had taken his first pro
