The Tour de France 2022 starts in Copenhagen on July 1. We dream of great French victories, just like every year. Why not July 14 at Alpe-d'Huez Although hope is permitted for stages, it's difficult to picture a Frenchman wearing yellow on the Champs Elysees. Bernard Hinault is the last tricolor winner. It was 1985. We have waited 37 years for his successor.
The Tour has been won by 21 French citizens, including the Badger. We have categorized them according to their country of birth on a France map
France had six winners in Paris, with France receiving five winners (Laurent Fignon won the 1983 and 1984 crowns). Only 15 provinces are able to crown their champion. The Cotes d'Armor with five victories is Bernard Hinault's.
Roger Pingeon is the only one with "its" yellow jersey in regard to our departments. He was born in Hauteville–Lompnes on August 28, 1940. He won the 1967 Grande Boucle. He was buried in Beaupont on March 19, 2017.
This map does not include Maurice Garin who was the first winner of Tour de France in 1903. He was born March 3, 1871...in Italy's Aosta Valley.
The Tour route, which includes the mandatory passage through the Alps is concentrated in the east, but the French stage winners are more from the west. This is the card that only takes into account individual wins.
The "Dauphine Libere" area (Ain, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Ardeche, Drome, Isere, Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Vaucluse) is much further down this ranking. It took 45 years, and the 1948 Tour de France, for a native from one of our departments to win a stage.
Bernard Gauthier won Roubaix's penultimate stage on July 24, 1948. He was born September 22, 1924, in Beaumont-Monteux in Drome. He began cycling in the 1940s at Grenoble.
The Second World War ended his career. He participated in a demonstration against German occupation in Grenoble with his friends Emile Baffert (see further below). Bernard Gauthier was one of 600 young men who were detained that day by the German army. They are taken to a camp close to Compiegne, where they will be held for three months. Gauthier, along with his friends, were part of a group of prisoners who were to be sent to Germany in February 1944. However, Gauthier managed to escape the train by jumping off it mid-night. They are now back in Grenoble a few days later.
Bernard Gauthier continued his cycling career after the war. In 1947, he participated in the Grande Boucle for the first-time. After finishing eighth in Milan-San Remo in 1948, he won Liege-Roubaix' penultimate stage by defeating his breakaway friends in a sprint.
He wore the yellow jersey seven days in 1950. He finished second in the Flanders Tour 1951. He finished third in the race in 1953. Bernard Gauthier remains the only Frenchman who has been on the podium twice in the same race. He won the 1956 French road championship. He is most well-known for his nickname "Monsieur Bordeaux Paris", which he won four times.
He became a Grenoble florist after he had finished his cycling career. He was buried in La Tronche on November 23, 2018.
Emile Baffert shines two years after Bernard Gauthier. The rider, who was born in Grenoble on August 26, 1924, won the final stage that ended at Paris' Parc des Princes. He was buried in Seyssins on July 20, 2017.
The Parc des Princes smiles at the runners from our various departments. Antonin Rolland was born in Sainte-Euphemie on September 3, 1924. He won the final stage of the 354-kilometer-long Tour de France. The 1955 Grande Boucle was his best Grande Boucle. He won another stage at Roubaix and was race leader for 12 days. He finished fifth overall. Antonin Rolland, now 97 years old is the oldest yellow jersey bearer still alive.
In 1957, Jacques Anquetil won his first Tour de France. He won the yellow jersey of Rene Privat during the fifth stage. Rene Privat was an Ardechois who was born in Coux on December 4, 1930. Three days prior, he had won in Caen and taken the lead in general classification. More in the game for the yellow jersey, Rene Privat still manages to win two other stages (Briancon-Cannes and Perpignan-Barcelona). After winning Milan-San Remo in the beginning of 1960, he won the Grande Boucle stage four and final time on June 27, 1960. Rene Privat, a native Ardechean, died in Le Puy-en-Velay on July 19, 1995. He is still the only one to win a stage.
The Haute-Savoie counter has finally been unlocked after 80 years of waiting. Philippe Chevallier won his first race, the ninth stage between Bordeaux et Pau. Annemasse native Philippe Chevallier returned to the Grande Boucle with less success in 1985. He has been the AG2R–Citroen general manager since 2015.
Philippe Chevallier was the first to win, so Jacques Michaud doubled his bet on Haute-Savoie. At home, too. The one who was born on July 11, 1951 in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois competed in his fifth and last Tour de France in 1983. He won his greatest victory, the 18th stage between Le Bourg from Oisans et Morzine.
Since then, there has been no victory for Haute-Savoie. This suggests that stage winners are not often born in the Alps and their mythical passes: the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence with the Col d'Allos, the Hautes-Alpes with the Galibier and the Izoard, the Savoie with Iseran and Madeleine and Vaucluse with Mont Ventoux are still waiting to see a native of their department win on the roads of the Tour de France.
