Bartali had almost given up during the race, but drew inspiration from a phone call from the Italian prime minister, who asked him to win the Tour de France to prevent civil unrest in Italy after assassination attempt against Togliatti.

The prize for wearing the yellow jersey was introduced in 1948,[1] sponsored by Les Laines, a French wool company.

[4] The Tour visited the Saar protectorate for the first time when the 18th stage passed Saarbrücken and Saarlouis.

The Tour organisation wanted to have both cyclists in the race, so they allowed the Italians and Belgians to enter a second team.

[9] The organisation still allowed the Italians and Belgians to enter a second team, but they were to be composed of young cyclists, and were named the Italy Cadets and the Belgium Aiglons.

When the brothers Georges and Roger Aeschlimann announced that they wanted to join the race, they were quickly accepted, especially because they were from Lausanne, where the Tour would pass through.

[7] The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,556 m (8,386 ft) at the summit tunnel of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 14.

[12] Bartali however won the sprint in the first stage, and thanks to the bonification of one minute for the winner, he was leading the race.

[18] In the Pyrenées, Bartali won both stages in a sprint, but Bobet was near and became the hero of the French spectators.

In the tenth stage, he lost time, and Belgian cyclist Roger Lambrecht reduced the margin to 29 seconds.

After the eleventh stage, Bobet was still in the lead, but was having problems, and after he fainted at the finish, he wanted to give up.

Alcide De Gasperi, prime minister of Italy, from the Christian Democratic party, told him that a few days earlier Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, had been shot, and Italy might be on the edge of a civil war.

De Gasperi asked Bartali to do his best to win a stage, because the sport news might distract people from the politics.

The sixteenth stage was not won by Bartali, but because his direct competitors lost time, he increased his lead to 32 minutes.

With each stage win of Bartali (seven in total), the Italian excitement about the Tour de France increased, and the political tensions quieted.