1949

14th Tour de Hongrie

The first Tour de Hongrie after World War II was an interesting one. The main prize of the event was a Csepel motorbike (manufactured in a district of Budapest with the same name), and every stage winner could bring home a new road bike too! All of those went to foreigners though - for the second time in the Tour's history, the hosts couldn't win a single stage or jersey.

The race was organised by the Hungarian Cycling Federation, and the national teams of Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Poland and Romania all recieved an invitation (only Albania and Czechoslovakia didn't participate). The Hungarian riders were having a training camp in Szentendre, where their French coach, Jean Maréchal prepared them for the challenge.

In the first stage, a railway barrier gave 10 breakaway riders a huge lead. French Varnayo attacked with one kilometer to go and won the stage, but during the award ceremony, his teammate, Burgeteau was declared as the winner. As the organisers figured out: the superstitious Bourgeteau swapped his race number with Varnayo before the start. The official results were corrected, but the Hungarian press still mentioned Burgetetau as the winner.
 

The winner in the Millenáris (Photo: Fortepan/Márton Ernő Kovács)

After 3 stages, Rudolf Lauscha (Austria) led the race by seven minutes over Bourgeteau and Andre Labeylie (France). Just after the start of Stage 4, Labeylie attacked with the local János Ötvös. The pair had a lead over 12 minutes, when a huge storm arrived. Ötvös couldn't keep up the pace, although Labeylie waited for him twice, so they could work together till the line. The Frenchman continued alone, and won the stage, taking the lead in the General Classification by four minutes!

The peloton couldn't catch him in the last stage either - he won the General Classification by ten minutes, and became the first French winner of the Tour de Hongrie.

14th Tour de Hongrie (29 June - 3 July 1949, 1036 km)

Stage winners:
Stage 1 (Budapest - Debrecen, 229 km): Varnayo (France)
Stage 2 (Debrecen - Miskolc, 231 km): Constantin Sandru (Romania)
Stage 3 (Miskolc - Budapest, 184 km): Roger Bourgeteau (France)
Stage 4 (Budapest - Keszthely, 192 km): Andre Labeylie (France)
Stage 5 (Keszthely - Budapest, 200 km): Varnayo (France)

General Classification:
1. Andre Labeylie (France) 31:23:33
2. Rudolf Lauscha (Austria) 31:33:34 (+10:01)
3. Roger Bourgeteau (France) 31:38:35 (+15:02)

Winner of the Teams Classification: France