Which French rider won three straight Tours de France from 1953 to 1955?

Louison Bobet won three straight Tours de France from 1953 through 1955.

Bobet’s first victory came in the 1953 Tour, when he overcame internal tensions within the French national team and beat Jean Malléjac for the overall title. He defended the championship in 1954, then completed the hat-trick in 1955. He was the first rider to win the Tour three consecutive times.

His 1954 victory was especially notable because that Tour began in Amsterdam, the first foreign Grand Départ, and because Bobet also won the world road race championship later that year. In 1955 he added victories in the Tour of Flanders and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré to his Tour title.

Bobet’s achievement is sometimes confused with the records of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault or Miguel Indurain, all of whom won multiple Tours. Bobet’s distinction is specifically the uninterrupted three-year run from 1953 to 1955.