Henri Desgrange

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Henri Desgrange (front) in 1936

Henri Desgrange (born January 31, 1865 in Paris , † August 16, 1940 in Beauvallon ) was the editor of the French sports newspaper L'Auto and founder of the Tour de France .

The track cyclist

Desgrange was a very good track cyclist and the first French master of road riders. But he could not imagine that road cycling , ie "outdoors" on the country road, would be a great success. Therefore, he fully concentrated on the track. Between the ages of 20 and 30, he set eleven different records, including the first world hour record (1893).

Creation of L'Auto

He initially worked as a notary clerk, but was determined to become a journalist . As an active train driver, he already worked for various newspapers before he made journalism his job.

Desgrange, who was also friends with Albert Champion , then ran the Parc des Princes cycle track in Paris and worked as a journalist for various daily newspapers before starting as editor-in-chief of the sports magazine L'Auto Velo . The magazine was initiated by a group of industrialists around Count de Dion , André Michelin , Edouard Michelin and Adolphe Clément , who did not want to support a political endorsement of the previously largest French sports newspaper Le Vélo on the part of the accused Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus with its advertising orders. Desgrange was proposed by Clément. The first edition appeared on October 16, 1900 and contained a promise by Desgrange that politics should never be mentioned in this new paper. He kept his word until the outbreak of the First World War . However, shortly after it was founded, the name of the newspaper had to be renamed L'Auto due to a successful plagiarism lawsuit by Giffard . Desgrange later also worked as editor of the newspaper.

After the Second World War , it became L'Équipe , which is still France's leading sports gazette today.

The biggest bike race in the world

Desgrange was forced to advertise a sensation in competition with Giffard's Le Vélo . On January 19, 1903, L'Auto announced the Tour de France, the world's first stage race over a whole month. The “big loop” has become one of the most important sporting events over the years. Desgrange was the organizer of the tour. The strict "patron" was respected by the racing drivers and was considered a fair sportsman.

Cycling marathon as a popular sport

In 1904 Desgrange founded the Union des Audax in France and organized the cycling marathon as a popular sport for amateurs. While driving with a free choice of speed was propagated in the past , Audax drives have been carried out in a closed association since 1931. The highest award is the Aigle d'Or (golden eagle), which can be obtained after successfully participating in the 1200 km long Audax Paris-Brest-Paris , which only takes place every five years.

The tour to Desgrange

Henri Desgrange directed the Tour de France until 1939. He was followed by:

literature

  • Peter Joffre Nye: The Fast Times of Albert Champion: From Record-Setting Racer to Dashing Tycoon, An Untold Story of Speed, Success, and Betrayal , Prometheus Books, 1st edition, 2014, ISBN 978-1-616-14964-2 .

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ASO (ed.): Official program Tour de France 2003 . Paris 2003, p. 68 .
  2. ↑ a b Nye: The Fast Times of Albert Champion. 2014, p. 214.
  3. ↑ a b Nye: The Fast Times of Albert Champion. 2014, p. 215.
personal data
SURNAME Desgrange, Henri
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Editor of the French sports newspaper L'Auto and founder of the Tour de France
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1940
Place of death Beauvallon