Making wheeltracks in France

Sixty-five years ago Britain sent a full team to Le Tour for the first time. Giles Belbin tells the story of Team GB’s historic debut

- Giles Belbin

The night before the final stage of the 1955 Tour de France, Britain’s Brian Robinson and Tony Hoar couldn’t sleep. Behind them were 4,247km of tough racing, crashes and punctures; three weeks of cobblestones, mountains, and desperate chases. Now, ahead lay only 229km more, from Tours to Paris and a final sprint on the famous Parc des Princes track.

Robinson and Hoar tossed and turned all night. Earlier that day both had raced into Tours at the end of a 68.6km time trial from Châtellerault, Hoar besting Robinson by 1min 22sec. But it was Robinson who held the advantage overall, lying some 40 places higher up the general classification. Whether it was adrenaline from a day spent racing against the clock, or a nervous sense of anticipation at becoming the first British riders to complete the Tour, that kept them awake is not clear. Perhaps the two riders were fitful and restless due to the noise from the post-stage parties that lasted long into the night. “Tony Hoar and I had not slept a wink when we set out on this remarkable adventure,” Robinson would later say when reflecting on the special experience of riding the Tour’s final stage.

At last dawn finally broke. It was 30 July, a Saturday. In the coming hours the Tour would celebrate its second three-time winner – Louison Bobet who had entered the race as the defending two-time champion. Bobet had taken yellow at the beginning of the final week and lay nearly five minutes ahead of the second-placed Jean Brankart. Barring misfortune or collapse en route to Paris, the Frenchman, who was once considered too fragile for Grand Tour racing, was nailed on to claim his third Tour title in succession.