Critérium des As
The Critérium des As (German criterion of the aces ) was a cycling race that was held between 1921 and 1990 at the end of the season. The best drivers of the season were invited as participants; People rode behind pacemakers on tandems , triplets, motorcycles and from 1947 on Dernys . Most of the events took place in Paris and the surrounding area. The race was held three times in the Netherlands and Switzerland .
The first edition in 1920, which is considered to be the forerunner of the actual criterion, went over 1208 kilometers from Paris to Bordeaux and back; The winner was the Belgian Louis Mottiat with a time of 56 hours and 48 minutes.
In 1921 the second event took place as an invitation race for the best racing drivers; the race led 27 times over the four-kilometer circuit around the Longchamp racetrack in Paris.
The record winner of the criterion was Rik Van Steenbergen , who won five times, followed by Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil with four successes each.
