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After the drama of the previous two years, the Italians once again entered the Tour as favourites, even though Fausto Coppi was absent, victim of a crash in the Giro of that year. Even in his absence, however, things looked to be going well for the Italians, winning five of the first ten stages. On the big Pyreneen trek to St Gaudens, however, veteran Gino Bartali fell from his bike with Jean Robic on the descent of the Col d'Aspin. Even though Bartali got up to win the stage, he had felt threatened by over-zealous fans on the roadside; several times he had been punched and kicked. With feelings running high, both the Italian A and B teams retired overnight, even though Fiorenzo Magni was leading overall. In his absence, the Swiss rider Ferdi Kübler chose the flat roads from Perpignan - Nîmes to attack; he was only fourth on the stage, in the company of Stan Ockers, but had left his principal French rivals Raphaël Geminiani and Louison Bobet over ten minutes behind. Both were to win stages through the Alps, but by Paris, Kübler, "the Swiss Cowboy" (named on account of his prediliction for wide brimmed hats) was a comfortable winner, the first Swiss to win the Tour. The second was not to be too far behind...
| Stage | Winner | Overall Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Paris - Metz, 307km | Jean Goldschmit | Jean Goldschmit |
| Stage 2 | Metz - Liège, 241km | Adolfo Leoni | Goldschmit |
| Stage 3 | Liège - Lille, 232.5km | Alfredo Pasotti | Bernard Gauthier |
| Stage 4 | Lille - Rouen, 231km | Stan Ockers | Gauthier |
| Stage 5 | Rouen - Dinard, 316km | Giovanni Corrieri | Gauthier |
| Stage 6 | Dinard - St Brieuc, 78km TT | Ferdi Kübler | Goldschmit |
| Stage 7 | St Brieuc - Angers, 248km | Nello Lauredi | Gauthier |
| Stage 8 | Angers - Niort, 181km | Fiorenzo Magni | Gauthier |
| Stage 9 | Niort - Bordeaux, 206km | Pasotti | Gauthier |
| Stage 10 | Bordeaux - Pau, 202km | Marcel Dussault | Gauthier |
| Stage 11 | Pau - St Gaudens, 230km | Gino Bartali | Fiorenzo Magni |
| Stage 12 | St Gaudens - Perpignan, 233km | Maurice Blomme | Ferdi Kübler |
| Stage 13 | Perpignan - Nîmes, 215km | Marcel Molinès | Kübler |
| Stage 14 | Nîmes - Toulon, 222km | Custodio Dos Reis | Kübler |
| Stage 15 | Toulon - Menton, 205.5km | Jean Diederich | Kübler |
| Stage 16 | Menton - Nice, 96km | Kübler | Kübler |
| Stage 17 | Nice - Gap, 239km | Raphaël Geminiani | Kübler |
| Stage 18 | Gap - Briançon, 165km | Louison Bobet | Kübler |
| Stage 19 | Briançon - Saint Etienne, 291km | Geminiani | Kübler |
| Stage 20 | Saint Etienne - Lyon, 98km TT | Kübler | Kübler |
| Stage 21 | Lyon - Dijon, 233km | Gino Sciardis | Kübler |
| Stage 22 | Dijon - Paris, 314km | Emile Baffert | Kübler |
1st: Ferdi Kübler, Switzerland, 4775km in 145h 36' 56" (32.778km/h)
2nd: Stan Ockers, Belgium, @ 09' 30"
3rd: Louison Bobet, France, @ 22' 19"
4th: Raphaël Geminiani, France, @ 31' 14"
5th: Jean Kirchen, Luxembourg, @ 34' 21"
6th: Kléber Piot, Ile-de-France - Nord-Est, @ 41' 35"
7th: Pierre Cogan, Centre - Sud-Ouest, @ 52' 22"
8th: Raymond Impanis, Belgium, @ 53' 34"
9th: Georges Meunier, Centre - Sud-Ouest, @ 54' 29"
10th: Jean Goldschmit, Luxembourg, @ 55' 21"
(51st: Fritz Zbinden, Switzerland, @ 4h 06' 47")
1st: Louison Bobet, France, 58
2nd: Stan Ockers, Belgium 44
3rd: Jean Robic, Ouest, 41
1st: Belgium 438h 54' 21"
2nd: France @ 38' 25"
3rd: Luxembourg @ 41' 25"