Marcel Berthet

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marcel Berthet (1912)
Berthet in a streamlined bicycle, with Etienne Bunau-Varilla (1913)

Marcel Berthet (born March 4, 1888 in Neuilly-sur-Seine , † April 7, 1953 in Rouen ) was a French cyclist .

Marcel Berthet was a professional racer from 1907 to 1923. Even as an amateur, he won to 1913 and from 1921 in 1905, the road race Paris - Provins -Paris and in 1907 French stayer -Master over 50 kilometers on the track . As a professional he started in a total of twelve six-day races: in 1909 he finished second in the six-day race in Berlin , together with John Stol , and the following year he finished third with Maurice Brocco . After the First World War , he finished second with Charles De Ruyter in the six-day race in Brussels in 1920 , which the two drivers won together the following year. Once, in 1913, he also took part in the Tour de France , but gave up after the fourth stage.

Berthet's specialty was cycling records. He set hourly world records three times on the Buffalo Velodrome , on June 20, 1907 over 41.250 kilometers, on August 7, 1913 over 42.741 kilometers and on November 20, 1913 over 43.775 kilometers. He delivered a long-distance duel with the Swiss Oscar Egg , who outbid him three times and electrified cycling fans. He also set several records in 1913 with the streamlined Velo Torpille bike designed by the inventor Etienne Bunau-Varilla , including a speed record of 57.3 km / h over 1000 meters.

After retiring from cycling, Marcel Berthet stayed in the bicycle industry and went into development. In 1933 he produced and marketed a saddle and constructed a recumbent bike, with which he set another hourly record on September 9, 1933, which, however, was not recognized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Berthet remained connected to the six-day races as a referee at the Vélodrome d'Hiver , where he was called l'élégant Marcel ( elegant Marcel ).

In the 1920s, the French Pierre Lyotard developed a large-area pedal and named the model Marcel Berthet .

literature

  • René Jacobs, Hector Mahau, Harry Van Den Bremt, René Pirotte: Velo Gotha. Presses de Belgique, Brussels 1984, p. 53.
  • Andreas Pooch: The science of fast cycling II. Recumbent file publishing house, Windeck 2008, ISBN 978-3-9806385-5-5 , p. 15.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ classiclightweights.co.uk

Web links

Commons : Marcel Berthet  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Berthet, Marcel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuilly-sur-Seine
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1953
Place of death Rouen