Jean Bobet
Jean Bobet (born 22 February 1930 in Saint-Méen-le-Grand) is a French former road bicycle racer. He is the younger brother of Louison Bobet. Less talented, he nevertheless won the world students' championship as an amateur and then, as a professional, Paris–Nice in 1955, Genoa–Nice in 1956 and the Circuit du Morbihan in 1953. He came third in Milan–San Remo in 1953. He rode from 1949 to 1959, including all three Grand Tours.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jean Bobet |
| Born | 22 February 1930 Saint-Méen-le-Grand, France |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Major wins | |
| Paris–Nice (1955) | |
He and his brother retired from racing after a car carrying them crashed outside Paris in the autumn of 1960. Louison went into business ventures and Jean became a journalist. He became head of sport at Radio Luxembourg, wrote for L'Équipe and then Le Monde. He made occasional contributions to Miroir du Cyclisme and still (2008) appears on television, notably in retrospective programmes. He was instrumental in forming a museum in his brother's memory in Saint-Méen-le-Grand.
He has written several books, including Louison Bobet, une vélobiographie (Éditions Gallimard, 1958), an account of life with his brother in Demain on roule (Editions de la Table Ronde, 2004), translated as Tomorrow We Ride (Mousehold Press, 2008), and a history of Octave Lapize, one of the first stars of the Tour de France: Lapize, celui-là était un 'as' (Editions de la Table Ronde, 2003), translated as Lapize ... now there was an ace (Mousehold Press, 2010).
Teams
- 1949–1951 Stella-Dunlop
- 1952 Stella-Huret
- 1953 Bottecchia and Stella-Wolber-Dunlop
- 1954 Stella-Wolber-Dunlop
- 1955 L. Bobet-BP-Hutchinson and Mercier-Hutchinson
- 1956 L. Bobet-BP-Hutchinson
- 1957 L. Bobet-BP-Hutchinson, Mercier-BP-Hutchinson and Velo Club Bustese
- 1958–1959 L. Bobet-BP-Hutchinson
Palmarès
- 1949
- World University Cycling Champion
- World student team time-trial champion
- 1950
- 1951
- 1st Tour de l'Orne
- 1st Lannion–Rennes
- 1st Circuit de la Vallée de Loire
- 1952
- 1st Dinan
- 1st Hautmont
- 1953
- 1st Circuit de Morbihan
- 1st Grand Prix d'Europe
- 1955
- 1st Paris–Nice and one stage win
- 1st Scaer
- 1956
- 1st Genoa–Nice
- 1959
- 1st Lodève
Tour de France
- 1955 14th
- 1957 15th
Giro d'Italia
- 1953 Did not finish
- 1957 25th
- 1958 Did not finish (11th stage)
Vuelta a España
- 1956 Did not finish (16th stage)
