1953 Tour de France

The 1953 Tour de France was the 40th edition, held from 3 to 26 July over 22 stages and 4,476 km, and was won by Louison Bobet, the first of his three consecutive victories. Infighting in the French national team at first worked against him, but once the team pulled together he beat the regional rider Jean Malléjac in the mountains. The race introduced the points classification and its green jersey, first won by Fritz Schär. Changes to the formula, with only one time trial instead of two, no bonus for leading over a summit, fewer mountain stages and teams of ten rather than eight, all counted against 1952 winner Fausto Coppi, and the organisers were accused of favouring the French.