1950 Tour de France

The 1950 Tour de France was the 37th edition, held from 13 July to 7 August over 22 stages and 4,773 km. On the Col d'Aspin French supporters threatened and assaulted the Italian captain Gino Bartali, accusing him of causing Jean Robic's fall; after winning the twelfth stage from Pau to Saint-Gaudens, Bartali left the race, and the whole Italian team went with him, including Fiorenzo Magni in the yellow jersey. The lead passed to the Swiss Ferdinand Kübler, who kept it to Paris and became the first Swiss winner. Louison Bobet won the mountains classification and Belgium the team prize. The French-Algerian rider Abdel-Kader Zaaf became famous for riding off in the wrong direction. Live television covered every stage for the first time, and the yellow jersey prize rose to 100,000 francs.