This part is about monuments and memorials of famous and less known riders and other people in cycling. All locations are on or in the neighbourhood of a pass or other top.
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Louison Bobet (1925-83,Fra) and Fausto Coppi (1919-60,Ita)
Bobet and Coppi were the champions of the late 40-ties and early 50-ties. Only in 1949,51 and 52 they started together in the Tour. Bobet and Coppi became friends, trained together and talked about new training methods which Coppi already had tested. Coppi said that Bobet knows like nobody else how to suffer and his powers of recovery are unmatched. "The bike means everything to him. It is truly his life blood and his application to his chosen way of life is an example to every aspiring champion".
In 1949 Coppi placed in the his crucial jump in the 16th stage from Cannes to Briançon (275 km). On the false flat to Arvieux, at the foot of the Izoard, the two Italian champions jumped away so effectively that in 20 km they took 4 min. from the bunch. When Coppi punctured on the climb, Bartali waited for him and when Bartali punctured on the rough descent, Coppi similarly waited. On the last climb to the citadel in Briançon, Coppi allowed Bartali to win on what was his 35th birthday. Bartali now led, but Coppi had climbed from nowhere into second place overall, just a minute behind and the opponents Robic, Marinelli, Magni and Kübler were set to great distance.
The Breton Bobet was a great champion and a complete rider. In 1947 he started as a pro after being French Amateur Road Champion in 1946. By reaching the 4th place in the 1948 Tour he proofed to be a great talent. In the following years he won also a number major classic races but he had to wait till 1953 to win his first Tour.
Bobet was a complete and ambitious rider blessed with natural ability, a smooth pedalling stroke, intelligent and a great insight in the race development. But his dedication is what made him a champion. Bobet taught himself how to sprint and he used to sprint at the end of every race, whether for first place or fortieth. As a result of this training, he was able to beat the best sprinters of his day. He also trained in the mountains and could match the climbing specialists on the big climbs. In Bobet’s eyes there were no little races or unimportant victories. Every race mattered and he wanted to give his everything to his public. Bobet knew only one way of racing and that was to race to win, whatever the sacrifices demanded.
Many favourites started in the Tour of 1953: Robic and Bobet (Fra), Koblet and Schaer (Swi) and Géminiani and the old Bartali (Ita), Fausto Coppi didn’t participate. Hugo Koblet (fallen in the descent of the Col de Soulor and had to give up) and Jean Robic (fallen behind by a fall in the 13th stage) were the first drop outs. In the 18th stage from Gap to Briançon over the Col de Vars and Col d’Izoard Bobet strikes a heavy blow on the Izoard where Coppi is spectator and wins the stage with 10 min. ahead of his opponents. He could put on the yellow jersey which he should keep until Paris. Bobet became the first rider to win three consecutive Tour de France titles (1953-1955). (Philippe Thys (Bel) was Tour winner in 1913,14 and 20). He nearly missed the last one because by racing many races he was allready tired at the start.
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Bobet’s career was effectively ended in the autumn of 1961 when his car skidded off the road into a boulder. Bobet broke his femur and his recovery was long and difficult. He eventually raced again, but retired the next year on August 10, 1962 at age 37. During his recovery he finds out about thalassotherapy and after his cyling career he became head of a therapeutic institute in Guideron. In Port Crouesty (in Brittany by the sea) you can find the Louison Bobet institute specialized in thalassotherapy. He died on March 13 1983, because of cancer, a day after his 58th birthday and is still considered of one of France best and popular riders ever.
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2 Plates, offered by the readers of the French sport magazine l'Equipe, are placed on a small natural cone in a moon-shaped landscape called 'Casse Déserte', 1.5 km before the top of the Col d'Izoard
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