STAGE 1
Thursday, July 13th, 1950
Those who predicted great things for Jean Goldschmidt at the 1950 Tour were proven correct today as, 22 kilometers from the finish, the on-form Luxembourgeoise escaped with Raoul R=e9my (Sud-Est) and Roger Lambrecht (Belgique), then outsprinted his companions to become the first Yellow Jersey of this year's Tour.
The race got off to a joyous start, with thousands of spectators lining the streets of Paris. Among those in attendance was Orson Wells, American star of stage, screen and radio. After posing for photographs with the French National Team and others (http://tinyurl.com/gbqco), Mr. Wells waved the flag which signaled the start of this year's Tour.
The race started with the team parading through the suburbs of Paris (http://tinyurl.com/htsey). It wasn't until they reached Nogent-sur-Marne that the race proper began, heading east toward Metz. Marcel De Mulder (Aiglons Belges) launched the first serious attack of the day, 253 kilometers into the 307km stage (http://tinyurl.com/kzd24). The young Belgian then held-off the peloton for 10 kilometers.
But then Jean Goldschmidt launched the decisive the decisive break of the day, with Raoul R=e9my (Sud-Est) and Roger Lambrecht (Belgique) following soon after, and the three worked well together all the way to Metz (http://tinyurl.com/joycy).
One might have expected the victory to go to R=e9my, the best sprinter of the trio, but Goldschmidt was intent on wearing the Yellow Jersey and, benefiting from superior form earned at the Tour of Switzerland, kept the pace high and simply rode away from the other two in the final 200 meters.
Further back, Ferdi Kubler was obviously pleased with winning the bunch sprint for 8th place (http://tinyurl.com/gku9e).
All is not well in the French National team as Jacques Marinelli, 3rd in 1949 behind Coppi and Bartali, is suffering from furuncles, and to make matters worse the petit climber had nose bleeds for much of the day. Despite his suffering, Marinelli still managed to finish the stage in 22nd place, but it was a long struggle (http://tinyurl.com/eaanw).
It is not just the racers who are vulnerable to accidents and injuries during the Tour - the motorcyclist for "But et Club" fell and injured his leg, earning him a trip to hospital (more pictures this evening).
Standings after stage 1.
1 Jean Goldschmidt 9h 23' 8" 2 R=e9my same time 3 Lambrecht same time 4 Redolfi at 34 5 Chapatte at 1 10 6 Piot same time 7 Kirchen same time 8 Kubler at 1 18 9 Sabatini at 1 10 10 Pividori 9h 24' 26" 11 Dos Reis 9h 24' 26" 12 Verschueren 9h 24' 26" 13 Diederich 9h 24' 26" 14 Bartali 9h 24' 26" 15 Prouzet 9h 24' 26" 16 Robic 9h 24' 26" 17 Br=fbl=e9 9h 24' 26" 18 Quentin 9h 24' 26" 19 Bonnet 9h 24' 26" 20 Rolland 9h 24' 26" 21 Bauvin 9h 24' 26" 22 Marinelli 9h 24' 26" 23 Brambilla 9h 24' 26" 24 Renaud 9h 24' 26" 25 G=e9miniani 9h 24' 26" 26 De Muer 9h 24' 26" 27 Bonini 9h 24' 26" 28 Pontet 9h 24' 26" 29 Storms 9h 24' 26" 30 Queugnet 9h 24' 26" 31 Kemp 9h 24' 26" 32 Pineau 9h 24' 26" 33 Baldassari 9h 24' 26" 34 Mah=e9 9h 24' 26" 35 Rol 9h 24' 26" 36 Sciardis 9h 24' 26" 37 Keba=efli 9h 24' 26" 38 Canav=e8se 9h 24' 26" 39 Thuayre 9h 24' 26" 40 Dorgebray 9h 24' 26" 41 Audaire 9h 24' 26" 42 Schotte9h 24' 26" 43 Castelin 9h 24' 26" 44 Magni 9h 24' 26" 45 Lauk 9h 24' 26" 46 Chupin 9h 24' 26" 47 Van Ende 9h 24' 26" 48 Kallert 9h 24' 26" 49 N=e9ri 9h 24' 26" 50 Hendrickx 9h 24' 26" 51 Bresci 9h 24' 26" 52 Carroin 9h 24' 26" 53 Leoni 9h 24' 26" 54 Tacca 9h 24' 26" 55 Cogan 9h 24' 26" 56 Couvreur 9h 24' 26" 57 Dussault 9h 24' 26" 58 Moineau 9h 24' 26" 59 Pedroni 9h 24' 26" 60 De Cortes 9h 24' 26" 61 Croci-Torti 9h 24' 26" 62 Weilenmann 9h 24' 26" 63 Pasotti 9h 24' 26" 64 Demulder 9h 24' 26" 65 Dubuisson 9h 24' 26" 66 Creton 9h 24' 26" 67 Sforacchi 9h 24' 26" 68 Goasmat 9h 24' 26" 69 Ghirardi 9h 24' 26" 70 Metzger 9h 24' 26" 71 Gauthier 9h 24' 26" 72 Berton 9h 24' 26" 73 Baeyens 9h 24' 26" 74 Aeschlimann 9h 24' 26" 75 Ockers 9h 24' 26" 76 Lambertini 9h 24' 26" 77 Zbinden 9h 24' 26" 78 Zaaf 9h 24' 26" 79 Dupont 9h 24' 26" 80 Salimbeni 9h 24' 26" 81 Lajoie 9h 24' 26" 82 Darnauguilhem 9h 24' 26" 83 Corri=e9ri 9h 24' 26" 84 De Hoog 9h 24' 26" 85 Impanis 9h 24' 26" 86 Zelasco 9h 24' 26" 87 Meunier 9h 24' 26" 88 Blusson 9h 25' 26" 89 Lauredi 9h 25' 26" 90 Beyaert 9h 25' 26" 91 Bobet 9h 25' 26" 92 Blomme 9h 25' 27" 93 Biagioni 9h 27' 38" 94 Frankowski 9h 27' 38" 95 Jansen 9h 27' 38" 96 De Ryck 9h 27' 38" 97 Bonnaventure 4 30 98 Pezzi s.t. 99 Molines 5 29 100 Ernzer 6 5 101 Kellen 9 34 102 De Ruyter at 9 54 103 Giguet at 11 0 104 Lazarid=e8s s.t. 105 Desbats s.t. 106 D=e9prez s.t. 107 Baffert s.t. 108 Moliners s.t. 109 Brignole s.t. 110 Verhaert s.t. 111 Fernandez at 15 4 112 Vos at 1715 113 Wachtmans s.t. 114 Voorting s.t. 115 Forlini at 21 43 116 De Santi s.t.
Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio