1951 Tour de France
The 38th Tour de France takes place from 4 to 29 July 1951 and resulted in 24 stages over 4692 km. For the first time since 1926 and for only the second time ever Paris was not the starting point of the Tour de France. On the tour 123 racers participated, of which 66 were classified.
Race course
Fausto Coppi, who won the Tour in 1949 went to the fatal accident of his brother at a bicycle race is not a good tour and finished at the end of the tenth. Only on the 20th stage, he flashed his skills and was stage winner after a solo flight.
In the first half of the tour, there was no clear leadership of a driver, several riders have worn the yellow jersey. The Dutchman Wim van Est was able to take on the twelfth section of the jersey after his stage win, the next day he had to give up after a fall. From him Gilbert Bauvin took the lead, but just one day later, the Swiss Hugo Koblet take the yellow jersey from him: On his third stage victory on his first tour he could all depend on the mountain stage to Luchon except Coppi. From the first time trial and on the eleventh leg Koblet had been able to win in the stage to Agen after a solo flight over 135 km.
The lead in the overall standings were no more Koblet off to Paris, so after Ferdy Kübler, a Swiss can win the Tour de France for the second time in a row. Koblet crowned his performance even with two more stage wins.
The Frenchman Raphael Géminiani, who won a stage, was second in the overall standings at the end clearly behind the Swiss, but was able to win the mountain classification.