The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st Tour de France, taking place from July 8 to August 1, 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over 4656 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.229 km/h.

The race was won by Louison Bobet

Louison 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...

, the second of his three consecutive wins.

Changes from the 1953 Tour de France

The 1954 Tour de France was the first time that the Tour de France started outside France, as it started in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

.

Also new was the team time trial

Team time trial

A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...

. Although around 1930 the Tour had seen stages in which the teams started separately, in 1954 the team time trial format was reintroduced in a way that only the team time counted.

Also the split stages were reintroduced. Stage 4 was divided into two parts: the team time trial of 10.4 km (part A), and a regular stage of 131 km (part B), both run on the same day. Similarly, stage 21 was divided into a regular stage of 134 km (part A) and an individual time trial of 72 km (part B), also both run on the same day.

Participants

As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France

1930 Tour de France

The 1930 Tour de France was the 24th Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 27 July 1930. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,822 km, ridden at an average speed of 28.000 km/h....

, the 1954 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. Seven national teams were sent, with 10 cyclists each from France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Luxembourg/Austria (the latter a combined team). France additionally sent five regional teams from 10 cyclists each, divided into Center-North East France, West France, South East France, Ile de France and South West France.
The combined team Luxembourg/Austria consisted of six Luxembourgian cyclists, three Austrian cyclists and one from Liechtenstein. In total, 110 cyclists started the race.

Notable absents were the Italian cyclists. In Italy, new sponsors had entered the market, named "extra-sportives" because they did not sell a product directly related to the sport. During the 1954 Giro d'Italia

1954 Giro d'Italia

The 1954 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 21 May to 13 June 1954, consisting of 22 stages for a total of 4,396 km, ridden at an average speed of 33.563 km/h. It was won by the Swiss Carlo Clerici.- Final classment :- Maglia rosa holders:...

, this caused a strike, the Bernina strike. After this, the Italian federation decided not to send a team to the 1954 Tour de France.

Race details

In the first stage, Wout Wagtmans

Wout Wagtmans

Wouter Wagtmans was a Dutch road bicycle racer.Together with Wim van Est he belonged to the generation that brought great popularity to cycling in the Netherlands in the 1950s. In 1947, Wagtmans started as amateur, and two years later he became Dutch champion...

 won the sprint, and took the yellow jersey. He would remain the leader until the team time trial in stage 4, when the French team won back enough time on the Dutch team for Bobet to take over the lead. In that time trial, over 10.4 km, the winning team was decided by adding the times of the three best cyclists per team. For the general classification, every cyclist got added his individual time. In the second part of the fourth stage, former winner Jean Robic

Jean Robic

Jean Robic was a French road racing cyclist, who won the 1947 Tour de France. Robic was a professional cyclist from 1943 to 1961. His diminutive stature and appearance was encapsulated in the nickname the hobgoblin of the Brittany moor...

 hit a photographer during the sprint, fell down and had to give up.

In the eighth stage, Wagtmans had joined a breakaway, which won enough time on Bobet for Wagtmans to take back the yellow jersey.

Wagtmans fell down in the eleventh stage, and although he managed to keep his lead until the start of the twelfth stage, he continued without morale. In the twelfth stage in the Pyrénées, three important riders attacked: Bauvin, Bahamontes and Malléjac. They stayed ahead, and Bauvin jumped to the first position in the general classification. Bobet was not far behind these three, and moved into the second place. In that twelfth stage, 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...

 had fallen down, and lost 27 minutes, and his chances to win the Tour de France a second time. In the next stage, Koblet gave up.

In the fourteenth stage, the Swiss cyclists were fighting back. They were riding as fast as they could, and the leading group was getting smaller. Bauvin also could not keep up with that group, and finished 8 minutes behind, losing the leading position. Bobet however could keep up with the Swiss pace, partly because he had a flat tire, and took over the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.

In the sixteenth stage, Bauvin lost another 20 minutes, and dropped to sixth place. The Swiss cyclists had attacked Bobet where they could, but were unable to gain time on him. They had moved into second and third place of the general classification.
In the eighteenth stage, Bobet dominated, and dropped all of the other contenders. He won by a margin of one minute and 49 seconds, and his margin in the general classification was 12 minutes 49 seconds, which would normally be large enough for the victory. Bobet also won the individual time trial, and thereby increased his margin even more.

The Swiss cyclists could not attack Bobet anymore in the last stages, so Bobet won his second Tour de France. The Swiss team had performed well though, capturing the second and third place in the general classification, winning the team classification

Team classification

The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:...

 and having Kübler win the points classification

Points classification in the Tour de France

The points classification in the Tour de France is a secondary competition in the Tour de France, that started in 1953. Points are given for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints, and these are recorded in a points classification. It is considered a sprinters' competition...

.

Stages

Stage results

Stage	Date	Route	Terrain	Length	Winner
1	8 July	Amsterdam – Brasschaat Brasschaat Brasschaat is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Brasschaat proper. In November 2006, Brasschaat won the LivCom-Award 2006 for the most liveable municipality in the world....	Plain stage	216 km (134 mi)
2	9 July	Beveren Beveren Beveren is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Beveren proper, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene....  – Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...	Plain stage	255 km (158 mi)
3	10 July	Lille – Rouen Rouen Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...	Plain stage	219 km (136 mi)
4a	11 July	Rouen – Circuit des Essarts	Team time trial Team time trial A team time trial is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock .Teams start at equal intervals, usually two, three or four minutes apart...	10.4 km (6 mi)
4b		Rouen – Caen Caen Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....	Plain stage	131 km (81 mi)
5	12 July	Caen – Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...	Plain stage	224 km (139 mi)
6	13 July	Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...  – Brest Brest, France Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...	Plain stage	179 km (111 mi)
7	14 July	Brest – Vannes Vannes Vannes is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago.-Geography:Vannes is located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin. It is around 100 km northwest of Nantes and 450 km south west...	Plain stage	211 km (131 mi)
8	15 July	Vannes – Angers Angers Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....	Plain stage	190 km (118 mi)
9	16 July	Angers – Bordeaux Bordeaux Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...	Plain stage	343 km (213 mi)
10	18 July	Bordeaux – Bayonne Bayonne Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...	Plain stage	202 km (126 mi)
11	19 July	Bayonne – Pau	Stage with mountain(s)	241 km (150 mi)
12	20 July	Pau – Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon , also referred to as Luchon, is a spa town and a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Geography:...	Stage with mountain(s)	161 km (100 mi)
13	21 July	Luchon – Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...	Plain stage	203 km (126 mi)
14	22 July	Toulouse – Millau Millau Millau is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is located at the confluence of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers.-History:...	Stage with mountain(s)	225 km (140 mi)
15	23 July	Millau – Le Puy Le Puy-en-Velay Le Puy-en-Velay is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.Its inhabitants are called Ponots.-History:Le Puy-en-Velay was a major bishopric in medieval France, founded early, though its early history is legendary...	Stage with mountain(s)	197 km (122 mi)
16	24 July	Le Puy – Lyon Lyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....	Stage with mountain(s)	194 km (121 mi)
17	26 July	Lyon – Grenoble Grenoble Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...	Stage with mountain(s)	182 km (113 mi)
18	27 July	Grenoble – Briançon Briançon Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....	Stage with mountain(s)	216 km (134 mi)
19	28 July	Briançon – Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:...	Stage with mountain(s)	221 km (137 mi)
20	29 July	Aix les Bains – Besançon Besançon Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...	Stage with mountain(s)	243 km (151 mi)
21a	30 July	Besançon – Épinal Épinal Épinal is a commune in northeastern France and the capital of the Vosges department. Inhabitants are known as Spinaliens.-Geography:The commune has a land area of 59.24 km²...	Plain stage	134 km (83 mi)
21b		Epinal – Nancy	Individual time trial Individual time trial An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...	72 km (45 mi)
22	31 July	Nancy – Troyes Troyes Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...	Plain stage	216 km (134 mi)
23	1 August	Troyes – Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	Plain stage	180 km (112 mi)

Classification leadership

Stage	General classification	Points classification Points classification in the Tour de France The points classification in the Tour de France is a secondary competition in the Tour de France, that started in 1953. Points are given for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints, and these are recorded in a points classification. It is considered a sprinters' competition...	Mountains classification	Team classification Team classification The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:...
1			no award
2
3
4A
4B
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21A
21B
22
23
Final

General classification

Of the 110 cyclists that started the 1954 Tour de France, 69 finished the race.

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	'	France	140h 06' 05"
2		Switzerland	+15' 49"
3		Switzerland	+21' 46"
4		South East	+28' 21"
5		West	+31' 38"
6		Belgium	+36' 02"
7		South West	+37' 55"
8		South East	+41' 14"
9		Belgium	+42' 08"
10		Center-North East	+42' 21"

Final general classification (11–69)
Rank	Rider	Team	Time
11		France	+42' 42"
12		Switzerland	+56' 36"
13		South East	+1h 04' 03"
14		Netherlands	+1h 04' 15"
15		West	+1h 09' 03"
16		Netherlands	+1h 09' 13"
17		Netherlands	+1h 10' 20"
18		Spain	+1h 11' 28"
19		France	+1h 12' 20"
20		Netherlands	+1h 19' 10"
21		Belgium	+1h 21' 08"
22		Belgium	+1h 24' 58"
23		France	+1h 28' 52"
24		South East	+1h 31' 53"
25		Spain	+1h 37' 42"
26		France	+1h 39' 46"
27		France	+1h 43' 48"
28		Île-de-France	+1h 45' 24"
29		Belgium	+1h 56' 00"
30		Luxembourg-Austria	+2h 03' 21"
31		Spain	+2h 15' 02"
32		Île-de-France	+2h 18' 36"
33		Île-de-France	+2h 19' 48"
34		Belgium	+2h 28' 39"
35		Île-de-France	+2h 29' 44"
36		Belgium	+2h 32' 01"
37		Spain	+2h 45' 10"
38		France	+2h 47' 04"
39		Center-North East	+2h 49' 53"
40		South West	+2h 50' 21"
41		West	+2h 55' 51"
42		South East	+2h 56' 18"
43		Spain	+2h 57' 18"
44		Spain	+2h 59' 45"
45		Spain	+3h 03' 25"
46		Center-North East	+3h 06' 27"
47		Netherlands	+3h 09' 48"
48		Île-de-France	+3h 17' 18"
49		France	+3h 17' 56"
50		Switzerland	+3h 19' 56"
51		Île-de-France	+3h 21' 02"
52		South West	+3h 22' 31"
53		South West	+3h 23' 58"
54		Spain	+3h 27' 00"
55		Spain	+3h 28' 59"
56		Switzerland	+3h 33' 20"
57		Center-North East	+3h 37' 41"
58		Île-de-France	+3h 38' 18"
59		France	+4h 09' 27"
60		West	+4h 15' 05"
61		South East	+4h 15' 09"
62		South West	+4h 17' 45"
63		West	+4h 20' 06"
64		Belgium	+4h 36' 29"
65		West	+4h 40' 50"
66		Center-North East	+4h 44' 56"
67		South West	+4h 47' 21"
68		Luxembourg-Austria	+5h 50' 12"
69		Luxembourg-Austria	+6h 07' 29"

Points classification

The points classification

Points classification in the Tour de France

The points classification in the Tour de France is a secondary competition in the Tour de France, that started in 1953. Points are given for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints, and these are recorded in a points classification. It is considered a sprinters' competition...

 was calculated in the same way as in 1953, following the calculation method from the Tours de France from 1905 to 1912. Points were given according to the ranking of the stage: the winner received one points, the next cyclist two points, and so on. These points were added, and the cyclist with the least points was the leader of the points classification. In 1954, this was won by Ferdi Kübler.

Final points classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	'	Switzerland	215.5
2		Belgium	284.5
3		Switzerland	286.5
4		Netherlands	502.5
5		France	513
6		Center-North East	615
7		Île-de-France	618
8		South East	653
9		Belgium	660.5
10		West	675

Mountains classification

Points for the mountains classification were earned by reaching the mountain tops first. The system was almost the same as in 1953: there were two types of mountain tops: the hardest ones, in category 1, gave 10 points to the first cyclist, the easier ones, in category 2, gave 6 points to the first cyclist, and the easiest ones, in category 3, gave 3 points. Federico Bahamontes won this classification.

Final mountains classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	'	Spain	95
2		France	53
3		Belgium	45
4		Île-de-France	38
5		South East	33
6		Switzerland	31
7		West	23
8		Belgium	20
8		West	20
10		Spain	16

Team classification

The team classification

Team classification

The team classification is a prize given in the Tour de France to the best team in the race. It has been awarded since 1930, and the calculation has changed throughout the years.-Calculation:...

 was calculated as the sum of the daily team classifications, and the daily team classification was calculated by adding the times in the stage result of the best three cyclists per team. It was won by the Swiss team.

Final team classification

Rank	Team	Time
1	Switzerland	420h 29' 57"
2	France	+18' 27"
3	Belgium	+32' 19"
4	Netherlands	+1h 09' 00"
5	South East	+1h 13' 37"
6	Spain	+2h 26' 08"
7	West	+2h 42' 58"
8	Center-North East	+3h 50' 16"
9	South West	+4h 08' 31"
10	Île-de-France	+4h 27' 52"
11	Luxembourg-Austria	+10h 20' 27"

Combativity classification

In every stage, a jury gave points for the most combative cyclist. These votes were added in the combativity classification

Combativity award

The combativity award, , is a prize given in the Tour de France. It favours constant attackers and since 1981 the winner of the award has not won the whole Tour.- History :...

. At the end of the Tour de France, Lucien Lazaridès and François Mahé were leading this classification with 20 votes each.

Final combativity classification (1–5)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1		South East	20
1		West	20
3		France	18
3		Belgium	18
5		West	11

Lucien Lazaridès is regarded as the winner of this classification.

Aftermath

After he won the Tour de France, Bobet would later win the 1954 UCI Road World Championships

1954 UCI Road World Championships

- Events Summary :...

. The next year he would win the 1955 Tour de France

1955 Tour de France

The 1955 Tour de France was the 42nd Tour de France, taking place from July 7 to July 30, 1955. It consisted of 22 stages over 4495 km, ridden at an average speed of 34.446 km/h....

, thereby becoming the first cyclist to win three Tours in a row.