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72-553: Henri Desgrange ( French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi deɡʁɑ̃ʒ] ; 31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist . He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres (21.950 mi) on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France . Henri Desgrange was born into a comfortably prosperous middle-class family living in Paris. Desgrange worked as

144-593: A revolver . Tales were also said to include 'Garin taking a train', a claim confirmed by a cemetery attendant looking after his grave who, as a boy, heard Garin tell his stories as an old man. In December 1904 Garin was stripped of his title and banned for two years. Garin retired from cycling and ran his garage in Lens until his death. The garage is still there, although wholly changed from Garin's era. An unnamed writer recalled: I remember Maurice Garin well. I met him and talked to him almost every day because we lived in

216-428: A champion. Garin was incontestably the strongest rider of the period, so he was first choice. He was 34. The suspension for two years ... broke his career. We never again saw him at the front of the peloton 'this little and stubborn rider of formidable consistency ... who won all the races that mattered', ... "this rider, intelligent, crafty, instinctive and calculating, ... the little chimney sweep from Arvier, in

288-590: A clerk at the Depeux-Dumesnil law office near the Place de Clichy in Paris and may have qualified as a lawyer. Legend says he was fired from there either for cycling to work or for exposing the outline of his calves in tight socks as he did so. Desgrange saw his first bicycle race in 1891 when he went to the finish of Bordeaux–Paris . He began racing on the track, but endurance riding suited him better, and he set

360-459: A cycle shop in the lower end of the boulevard de Paris in Roubaix in 1895. Brothers César and Ambroise also competed as professional cyclists. Garin moved to Lens, Pas-de-Calais in 1902 and lived there the rest of his life. He bought his first bicycle for 405 francs, twice what a forge worker would earn in a week of 12-hour days, in 1889. Racing did not interest him but he did ride round

432-503: A day. Some of Le Vélo ' s advertisers had disagreed with the paper's support for Alfred Dreyfus , a soldier found guilty on trumped up charges of selling secrets to the Germans but eventually acquitted after being sent to Devil's Island . The Tour was to promote their new rival paper, L'Auto . The editor, Henri Desgrange , planned a five-week race from 31 May to 5 July. This proved too daunting and only 15 entered. Desgrange cut

504-503: A didactic journey by two children and not the race) had sold six million copies before the publishers thought it necessary, in 1905, to include a map of the country they were describing. While Desgrange is known outside cycling for his Tour de France, he made a further name inside it and within other sports by creating the Audax movement in 1904. Enthused by the way he saw long-distance cyclists challenging themselves to ride long distances in

576-513: A dirt course of jumps and banked and flat corners. Cycle speedway is bicycle racing on short outdoor dirt tracks, 70–90 m (230–300 ft) in length. Motor-paced racing and keirin use motorcycles for pacing, so cyclists achieve higher speeds. Gravel racing is one of the newest disciplines of bicycle racing, emerging in the 21st century. For example, one of the premiere gravel races, Unbound Gravel , started in 2006. Some precursors to gravel racing in its current form include road races like

648-467: A fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or freewheel. The ball is controlled by the bike and the head, except when defending the goal. Cycle Polo is a team sports sport that combines elements of traditional horse polo with bicycling and is played on grass. Cycle Polo's was included in the 1908 London Olympics as a demonstration sport. The game has become particularly popular in India. Hardcourt Bike Polo

720-509: A lead of 30 metres on the Batave. A classic victory was within his grasp but he could almost feel his adversary's breath on his neck. Somehow Garin held on to his lead of two metres, two little metres for a legendary victory. The stands exploded and the ovation united the two men. Garin exulted under the cheers of the crowd. Cordang cried bitter tears of disappointment. In 1898 he won Paris–Roubaix again, this time by 20 minutes, and in 1901 he won

792-624: A mile in length and sometimes run for a set time (60 min, 90 min, etc.) rather than a specific distance. Criteriums are the most popular form of road racing in North America. In Belgium, kermesses are popular, single-day events of usually over 120 km (70 mi). As well as road races in which all riders start simultaneously, individual time trial and team time trial events are also held on road-based courses. Track cycling has been around since as early as 1870. The riders competed on wooden indoor tracks that closely resembled

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864-479: A more apt diet, and said he had survived on: In 1894 he won a 24-hour race in Liège , Belgium, and the following year set an hour record for cycling behind pacers. The first Paris–Roubaix was in 1896; Garin came third, 15 minutes behind Josef Fischer . He would have come second had he not been knocked over by a crash between two tandems, one of them ridden by his pacers. Garin "finished exhausted and Dr Butrille

936-523: A set time, he created Audax Français to encourage and regulate such events in France. That in turn led to long-distance rides across France. The first 200-kilometre (120 mi) ride under Audax rules was on 3 April 1904, followed by a 100-kilometre (62 mi) walking event on 26 June. The cycling distances extended to 300, 400, and 600 kilometres (190, 250, and 370 mi) and ultimately to Paris–Brest–Paris (1,200 kilometres (750 mi)) which

1008-454: A shower. The column's title was Dirty Feet. For Desgrange, the Tour de France was not simply a long-distance and multi-day cycle race - an idea invented by Lefèvre - but close to what would now be called social engineering. He sought not just the best cyclist but a supreme athlete. To him, he said several times, the perfect Tour would have a perfect winner only if one man survived. Desgrange had

1080-449: A single thing sticks in my memory: I see myself, from the start of the Tour de France, like a bull pierced by banderillas, who pulls the banderillas with him, never able to rid himself of them. Of the 1904 race, Edward Boeglin asked: Was Garin the subject of an injustice? It's not impossible. But the rigour of the sanctions can be explained by the discredit into which professional cycling had (already!) fallen. An example had to be made of

1152-493: A sport for road racers during the off season, to vary their training during the cold months. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or World Cup season is September–January) and consist of many laps of a 2–3 km (1–2 mi) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills, and obstacles requiring the rider to dismount, carry the bike and remount in one motion. Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long,

1224-493: A stone. Soon there was general mayhem: "Up with Faure! Down with Garin! Kill them!" they were shouting. Finally cars arrived and the riders could get going thanks to pistol shots. The aggressors disappeared into the night. Garin said: "I'll win the Tour de France provided I'm not murdered before we get to Paris." Misbehaviour was rife too between riders and nine were thrown out during the race for, among other things, riding in or being pulled by cars. There were claims, too, that

1296-512: A wife - they divorced - and a daughter. Little is known of either. He spent most of his life with the avant-garde artist Jeanne (Jane) Deley but never married her. She and Desgrange met some time after World War I. In 1936 Henri Desgrange had a prostate operation. The Tour de France was planned between two necessary operations, and Desgrange was determined to attend it, despite warnings that he should not. Desgrange ordered his car to be heavily packed with cushions. A doctor would ride beside him, but

1368-737: Is a cash prize awarded in his honour each year in the Tour De France to the first rider who crosses the race's highest point. Cycle sport Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport . Bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe. The countries most devoted to bicycle racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Other countries with international standing include Australia, Luxembourg, Slovenia, United Kingdom, United States and Colombia. The first bicycle race

1440-493: Is a more popular, fast-paced, and physically demanding variation of Cycle Polo played on hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete. In teams of three, players maneuver their bicycles while using mallets to strike a ball into the opposing team's goal. Originating in Seattle in the late 1990s, hardcourt bike polo has since gained a sharp spike in popularity worldwide, with organized leagues and tournaments held in urban centers across

1512-402: Is credited with founding the Tour de France in 1903 but the idea came from one of his journalists, Géo Lefèvre . L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903. Promotion of the Tour de France proved a great success for the newspaper. Circulation leapt from 25,000 before the Tour to 65,000 after it. In 1908, the race boosted circulation past a quarter of a million, and during the 1923 Tour, it

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1584-502: Is popularly held to have been a 1,200 m (3,900 ft) race on the 31 May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud , Paris , France. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with solid rubber tires . The machine is now on display at the museum in Ely , Cambridgeshire , England. The Union Cycliste Internationale was founded on 14 April 1900 by Belgium,

1656-491: Is similar to motorcycle trials . Points are awarded for bike handling skills. The first UCI Trials World Championships took place in 1986. Freestyle BMX is an extreme sport of stunt riding BMX bikes . Artistic cycling is a discipline where athletes perform tricks (called exercises) in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. Cycle ball , also known as "radball" (from German), is a sport similar to association football played on bicycles. The two people on each team ride

1728-517: The Dreyfus affair ), led Desgranges to become the editor of a newly-founded competing sports paper, L'Auto-Vélo , later renamed L'Équipe , The first issue of L'Auto-Vélo appeared on 16 October 1900. It was printed on yellow paper to distinguish itself from the green of Le Vélo but a court case brought by the original paper agreed in January 1902 that the name was too similar and the consortium

1800-626: The Légion d'honneur pinned to his chest, and went to war as a poilu , an ordinary soldier. He won the Croix de Guerre in combat and continued to write for L'Auto but under the name "Desgrenier". Desgrenier is a play on words. Desgrange translates loosely as Barnes in English; the slight change turned his name into Lofts. Desgrange was made an officer in May 1919 and that summer returned to L'Auto to edit

1872-650: The Parc des Princes velodrome and then in December 1903 of France's first permanent indoor track, the Vélodrome d'Hiver , near the Eiffel Tower . Unease with the attention paid to his track business by the leading sports paper, Le Vélo , and support from business magnates like Jules-Albert de Dion and Adolphe Clément-Bayard , who were displeased with the paper's advertising rates (and their political stance on

1944-494: The Tour de France , Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España to multi-day stage races such as the Tour de Suisse and Tour of California , to single day "Classics" such as the Tour of Flanders and Milan–San Remo . The longest one-day road race sanctioned by USA Cycling is LOTOJA which covers the 206 mi (332 km) from Logan, Utah , to Jackson, Wyoming . Criteriums are races based on circuits typically less than

2016-703: The Tour of the Battenkill and Boulder–Roubaix (named after Paris–Roubaix ) which are road races with gravel sections. The distinguishing features of gravel racing include long distances, often 100 to 200 mi (160 to 320 km), and mass starts that include all categories of racers, similar to Gran Fondo rides. The bicycles and courses in gravel racing vary widely, from road bicycles with wide tires used on smooth gravel roads to bicycles that are similar to mountain bike used on courses that include technical trails. Speeds achieved on indoor tracks are usually greater than those on roads. Other factors affecting speed are

2088-439: The 120 km (70 mi) Cootamundra Annual Classic it is 11.8 metres per second (42 km/h; 26 mph). In the 259 km (200 mi) 2010 Paris–Roubaix , Fabian Cancellara set a speed of 10.9 metres per second (39 km/h; 24 mph), while over the 818 km (500 mi) Furnace Creek 508 , the speed drops dramatically to 8.3 metres per second (30 km/h; 19 mph). For an extreme road distance such as

2160-527: The 4,800 km (3,000 mi) Race Across America , the average speed of the record holder is 5.7 metres per second (21 km/h; 13 mph), while the 2,350 km (1,000 mi) Freedom Trail over mountainous terrain in South Africa is at a record speed of 1.9 metres per second (6.8 km/h; 4.3 mph). Mountain bike trials is a sport where riders navigate natural and human-made obstacles without putting down their foot, or "dabbing". It

2232-484: The Aoste valley near Mont Blanc ' Edouard Boeglin, Franco Cuaz. Garin also won the 1904 Tour de France , by a small margin over Lucien Pothier , but was subsequently stripped of the title which was awarded to Henri Cornet . The race aroused a passion among spectators, who felled trees to hold back rivals and beat up others at night outside St-Étienne . Garin was one of the mob's victims. Pierre Chany wrote: In

Henri Desgrange - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-533: The French favourite Henri Pélissier stalked off in 1920 after Desgrange penalised him two minutes for leaving a flat tyre by the roadside. In 1924 he and two other riders walked out of the race in Coutances after a row about whether riders were allowed to take off clothing as the day grew hotter. Desgrange dismissed Pélissier as "a pigheaded, arrogant champion". Marcel Bidot , another rider and later manager of

2376-509: The French team in the Tour de France, called Desgrange "a driven man and a boss who tolerated no disagreement". Desgrange created a committee for physical education at the start of the first world war and trained several thousand soldiers to prepare them for the Front. Despite his age - he was already more than 50 - Desgrange then enrolled as a soldier himself. He presented himself at an assembly centre at Autan , distinctive for his grey hair and

2448-550: The Stade Vélodrome Maurice Garin was built in Lens, and named in his honour. In 1938 Garin was awarded the gold medal of Physical Education by the Minister of Sport for France, Leo Lagrange. Garin is remembered as a short, determined man, even authoritarian. As an old man he became confused. His biographer, Franco Cuaz, said: ... He [Garin] wandered through Lens asking "Where is the control? Where

2520-750: The Tour pass through. He began a professional team under his name after the Second World War . The Dutchman Piet van Est won Bordeaux–Paris in 1950 and 1952 in the team's red and white jersey. On the Tour's 50th anniversary in 1953, Garin was among several old stars waiting at the finish as part of a celebration. He is buried in a family grave with his wife Desirée. The inscription on the headstone says: Familles Brot, Garin et Darnet. Desirée Maille (1890–1952), — Épouse de Maurice Garin (1871–1957) Mme Vve Marie Brot, (1863–1948) Henri Darnet (1905–1970) Denise Darnet (1904–1982) 'Cimetière Est' (section F3), Sallaumines , near Lens In 1933

2592-684: The United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland to replace the International Cycling Association , which had been formed in 1892, over a row with Great Britain as well as because of other issues. Since the rise of the Olympic Movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics , cycling has been a contestant event in every Summer Olympic Games . Road bicycle racing involve both team and individual competition, and races are contested in various ways. They range from

2664-463: The climb of the col de la République , leaving St-Étienne, supporters of the regional rider, Faure, assault the Italian, Gerbi. He is thrown to the ground, beaten like plaster. He escapes with a broken finger... ... A bunch of fanatics wielded sticks and shouted insults, setting on the other riders: Maurice and César Garin got a succession of blows, the older brother [Maurice] was hit in the face with

2736-449: The detail. He wrote in L'Auto : A suggestion of how Desgrange already perceived his race came in the paragraph that followed: The "magnitude of the Tour de France", by then only in its second year, came close to be ended there and then. Desgrange wrote in L'Auto : Desgrange soon thought otherwise and ran his Tour de France for another three decades. It was "his" Tour de France with rules that he drew up, rules that he imposed strictly -

2808-465: The details were lost when Tour archives were transported south in 1940 to avoid the German invasion and never seen again. Stories spread of riders spreading tacks on the road to delay rivals with punctures, of riders being poisoned by each other or by rival fans. Lucien Petit-Breton said he complained to an official that he had seen a rival hanging on to a motorcycle, only to have the cheating rider pull out

2880-536: The distance varying depending on the conditions. The sport is strongest in traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (Flanders in particular) and France. Mountain bike races are held off-road and involve moderate to high degree of technical riding. There are several varieties; the main categories are cross-country , enduro and downhill but also 4X or four-cross racing. BMX takes place off-road. BMX races are sprints on purpose-built off-road single-lap tracks, typically on single-gear bicycles. Riders navigate

2952-498: The first four riders in the 1904 Tour de France, imposing penalties which went beyond those Desgrange had already imposed and which he thought excessive. The winner, Maurice Garin , for example, had already been fined 500 francs for taking food where taking food was not allowed. What annoyed Desgrange more was that the UVF had waited until the following 30 November before acting, to avoid igniting public passion. And that it hadn't explained

Henri Desgrange - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-547: The first recognised "hour record" when on 11 May 1893 he rode 35.325 kilometres (21.950 mi) on the Buffalo velodrome in Paris. He also established records at 50 and 100 km and 100 miles and became a tricycle champion in 1893. He wrote a training book in 1894, La tête et les jambes , which included the advice that an ambitious rider has no more need of a woman than an unwashed pair of socks. In 1894 he wrote another book, Alphonse Marcaux . In 1897 he became director of

3096-455: The globe. Maurice Garin One-day races and Classics Maurice-François Garin ( pronounced [mɔʁis fʁɑ̃swa ɡaʁɛ̃, moʁ-] ; 3 March 1871 – 19 February 1957) was an Italian-French road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903 , and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with eight others, for cheating. He

3168-420: The headwind. Garin passed him at Mayenne and Lesna gave up shortly afterwards with 200 km to go. Garin finished 19h 11m better than Charles Terront ten years earlier. In 1902 Garin won Bordeaux–Paris , a race of 500 km from south-west France. The Tour de France began to promote a new daily sports newspaper, L'Auto ahead of the largest paper in France, Le Vélo , which sold 80,000 copies

3240-486: The interests of cycling in general and his own, a way of thinking that justified his reputation as a despot". The sport of cycle racing grew faster than the national and international associations established to administer it. Henri Desgrange saw his race, and himself, as more than capable of standing up to the Union Vélocipédique Française (UVF), the French authority. The UVF disqualified

3312-545: The jolting and the repeated acceleration and slowing proved too much on the second day of the Tour already, and he left the race for good, retiring to his château at Beauvallon, Grimaud . Aged 75, Desgrange died at home on the Mediterranean coast on 16 August 1940. L'Auto wrote, under the headline Le Patron : A monument to his memory, paid for by subscription, stands at the Col du Galibier . The Souvenir Henri Desgrange

3384-781: The length to 19 days and offered a daily allowance. The race began at the Au Reveil Matin café at a crossroads in Montgeron , south of Paris, and ended in Ville-d'Avray, another suburb, having circuited France in six days of racing over 2,428 km. One stage, between Nantes and Paris, was 471 km. Sixty riders started at an entry fee of 10 francs – €87.50 today with inflation – and 21 finished. Garin won 3,000 francs (approx €10,500 at 2008 values) for finishing first in 94h 33m 14s, or 6,125 francs (approx €21,500 at 2008 values) in all with his other prizes. Lucien Pothier

3456-471: The modern velodromes of today. Unlike road racing, which is dependent on environmental factors, indoor tracks ensure the sport can be competed all year round. It encompasses races that take place on banked tracks or velodromes . Events are quite diverse and can range from individual and team pursuits , two-man sprints, to various group and mass start races. Competitors use track bicycles which do not have brakes or freewheels. Cyclo-cross originated as

3528-536: The one-day road race, criterium , and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France and its sister events which make up cycling's Grand Tours . The races typically take place from spring through to autumn. Many riders from the Northern Hemisphere spend the winter in countries such as Australia to compete or train. Professional races range from the three-week "Grand Tour" stage races such as

3600-508: The organisers had allowed Garin to break rules – at one stage being given food where it was not permitted by its chief official – because his sponsor, La Française, had a financial stake in the race. The French cycling union , the Union Vélocipédique Française, heard from dozens of competitors and witnesses and in December disqualified all the stage winners and the first four finishers: Garin, Pothier, César Garin , and Hippolyte Aucouturier . The UVF did not say precisely what had happened and

3672-509: The paper and to restore the Tour de France in a nation of death, ruin and shortage. It is because of Desgrange and the Tour de France that the people of France first recognised the shape of their country, say two academics who have studied the role of the race in French social history. The French had little idea of their geography at the start of the 20th century, say Jean-Luc Boeuf and Yves Léonard. The popular 1877 children's schoolbook Le Tour de France par deux enfants (the title referred to

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3744-403: The riders had left, raced after them and passed them all. He fell off twice but finished ahead of the racers. The crowd was enthusiastic but the organisers less so. They refused to pay him the 150 francs (approx €525 at 2008 values) due to the real winner, so spectators raised 300 francs (approx €1,050 at 2008 values) among themselves. Garin became a professional. His first true professional win

3816-558: The route profile (flats and hills), wind conditions, temperatures and elevation. At a 2013 event in Mexico, François Pervis achieved an average of 21.40 metres per second (77.0 km/h; 47.9 mph) with a flying start over 200 m (660 ft). The top average speed over the men's 1 km (0.6 mi) time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics was 16.4 metres per second (59 km/h; 37 mph) recorded by Chris Hoy . Average speeds clearly drop with increasing distance, so that over

3888-466: The same area, 200 m from each other, at Lens. Le Père Garin , as my father and grandfather called him used to bring out a chair in fine weather and sit in the doorway of the little office of the service station he owned at 116 rue de Lille in Lens, under the sign for Antar fuel and oil. My barber was in the neighbouring house and I used to go there once a month to have a crew cut , [ couper en brosse ] which

3960-400: The second edition of Paris–Brest–Paris , finishing almost two hours ahead of Gaston Rivierre after covering 1,208 km in 52h 11m 1s. He started by chasing another Frenchman, Lucien Lesna, who rode the first 600 km at 28km/h and had two hours' lead at Brest . At Rennes he stopped for a bath to recover from the tiredness, filth and heat, then found he could not get racing again into

4032-532: The sun and decided to ride more. His first win was in 1893, in Namur - Dinant - Givet in Belgium . He had sold his first bike and bought a lighter one – still 16 kg but with pneumatic tyres – for 850 old French francs (approx €3,000 at 2008 values). The race was over 102 km. He was leading by Dinant when he punctured. Spotting a soigneur waiting with a spare bike for a rival, Garin rested his own against

4104-502: The town fast enough to be called a madman – le fou . Until 2004, it was said that Garin had taken French nationality when he was 21, in 1892 but in 2004, the reporter Franco Cuaz found the naturalizing act and Garin took French nationality 21 December 1901. He began racing in northern France in the same year when the secretary of the cycling club at Maubeuge persuaded him to enter a regional race, Maubeuge - Hirson -Maubeuge, over 200 km. Garin finished fifth despite suffering from

4176-418: The wall of a bridge, grabbed the soigneur's spare bike and rode off. At the finish, winning with ten minutes over the field, he gave back the bike and recovered his own the next day where he had left it. Garin became a professional by chance. He planned to ride a race at Avesnes-sur-Helpes , 25 km from where he lived. He arrived to find it was only for professionals. Not allowed to compete, he waited until

4248-408: Was an article 'in order to simplify the interview', he explained! There he gave his feelings during the race, gave his opinion on the formula by which the race was run, gave a word of congratulation to his rivals. Garin's written note said: The 2,500 km that I've just ridden seem a long line, grey and monotonous, where nothing stood out from anything else. But I suffered on the road; I was hungry, I

4320-470: Was far from an adulated hero, even less a rich champion (he spent his retirement running the service station), and I don't remember any special celebration in his honour. Television crews didn't come from home and abroad to interview him. [They showed no interest] until he died in 1957. And the rue de Lille, where he lived, still hasn't been renamed the rue Maurice Garin. Garin kept his interest in cycling. He returned just once to his birthplace, in 1949, to see

4392-497: Was first, followed by the mud-soaked figure of Cordang. Suddenly, to the stupefaction of everyone, Cordang slipped and fell on the velodrome's cement surface. Garin could not believe his luck. By the time Cordang was back on his bike, he had lost 100 metres. There remained six laps to cover. Two miserable kilometres in which to catch Garin. The crowd held its breath as they watched the incredible pursuit match. The bell rang out. One lap, there remained one lap. 333 metres for Garin, who had

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4464-523: Was in a 24-hour race in Paris in 1893. It was held on the Champ de Mars , site of the Eiffel Tower . The riders competed, as was the custom, behind a succession of pacers. The event took place in February and the cold drove out riders one after the other. Garin rode 701 km in 24 hours, beating the only other rider to finish by 49 km. While other riders would consume much strong red wine, Garin chose

4536-510: Was obliged to attend the man who had been run over by two machines," said the race historian, Pascal Sergent. In 1897 he won Paris–Roubaix, beating the Dutchman Mathieu Cordang in the last two kilometres of the velodrome at Roubaix . Sergent said: As the two champions appeared they were greeted by a frenzy of excitement and everyone was on their feet to acclaim the two heroes. It was difficult to recognise them. Garin

4608-596: Was of Italian origin but adopted French nationality on 21 December 1901. Garin was born the son of Maurice-Clément Garin and Maria Teresa Ozello in Arvier , in the French-speaking Aosta Valley in north-west Italy , close to the French border. The name Garin was the most common in the native village of Maurice, called "Chez-les-Garin", belonging to five of the seven families. They had four daughters and five sons, of whom Maurice

4680-447: Was ordered to drop "vélo" from the title. "It was a magnificently imaginative invention, a form of odyssey in which the lonely heroism of unpaced riders was pitted against relentless competition and elemantal nature. The Tour encompassed the territory of France, and Desgrange later claimed that it encouraged a sense of national identity, establishing La Patrie in clear geographic terms". Jim McGurn , an historian., Desgrange

4752-514: Was originally a race but became an international Audax ride. The Audax movement extends to swimming, with Audax brevets created over six kilometres (three point seven miles) on 27 June 1913, then to rowing over 80 kilometres (50 mi) and finally, in 1985, to skiing. The Union des Audax Parisien was created on 14 July 1921 to administer brevets across the world. It became the Union des Audax Français on 1 January 1956. Throughout his life, Desgrange

4824-579: Was passionate about improving the health of the nation. He was concerned that so many Frenchmen had been rejected by the army because of their poor health that France had not been able to protect itself adequately in the Franco-Prussian war. He set a personal example by running for a couple of hours a day all through his life. Jacques Goddet (son of Victor Goddet) said: Desgrange used L'Auto to help his campaign, going as far as listing riders he had seen his Parc des Princes cycle track without having

4896-427: Was second and Fernand Augereau third. Pierre Chany wrote: In the town which adopted Maurice Garin, at Lens, an immense procession was organised with the participation of all the notables of the region. Before leaving Paris on Monday evening, the day after the race finished, the winner paid a visit, out of politeness, to Henri Desgrange and, in a gesture without precedent, pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. It

4968-418: Was selling 500,000 copies a day. The record circulation claimed by Desgrange was 854,000, achieved during the 1933 Tour. The reporter Pierre Chany wrote: "He knew the imperfections of his work, which was still in progress, but it was as if he didn't see them. He rejected advice, certain of his authority and decisions, powerful in a world where his word had the force of law. He followed a narrow path between

5040-401: Was the fashion in those days. My friends and I were aged seven to ten and on our one-speed bikes we used to pin numbers on our back... and we never missed riding past Maurice Garin in a tight group so that he would see. It's strange that nobody thought to take a picture of me, the little kid, alongside the first great champion of the biggest race in the world. But life's like that. Maurice Garin

5112-738: Was the first son. In 1885 the family left Arvier to work on the other side of the Alps , almost to the Belgian border. Garin worked as a chimney sweep. He later moved to France. By the age of 15, he was living in Reims as a chimney sweep. He moved to Charleroi in Belgium but by 1889 he was back in France, at Maubeuge . Garin's younger brother, Joseph-Isidore, died in 1889. The father died shortly afterwards in Arvier. Garin's brothers François and César stayed in northern France and, with Maurice, opened

5184-426: Was thirsty, I was sleepy, I suffered, I cried between Lyon and Marseille, I had the pride of winning other stages, and at the controls I saw the fine figure of my friend Delattre, who had prepared my sustenance, but I repeat, nothing strikes me particularly. But wait! I'm completely wrong when I say that nothing strikes me, I'm confusing things or explaining myself badly. I must say that one single thing struck me, that

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