Which Italian won the Tour's first Alpe d'Huez summit finish in 1952?

Fausto Coppi won the Tour de France’s first Alpe d’Huez summit finish in 1952.

The finish came on 4 July, when the 10th stage ran 266 kilometres from Lausanne to Alpe d’Huez. Coppi attacked during the climb and finished 1 minute 20 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Jean Robic.

The 1952 Tour introduced mountain-top finishes, an important change in race design. Coppi won all three inaugural summit finishes that year: Alpe d’Huez, Sestrières and the Puy de Dôme. He also won the overall Tour, taking his second victory after 1949.

A common mix-up is confusing the first Alpe d’Huez winner with later stars such as Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Hinault or Marco Pantani. Coppi’s 1952 victory came decades before the climb became one of cycling’s most famous annual landmarks.