Paris – Brest – Paris (Audax)
The Audax Paris – Brest – Paris (PBP) is a 1200 km long bicycle marathon that is run in a closed association in accordance with the Audax rules. Start and finish are near Paris, the turning point is in the north-west French city of Brest in Brittany, on the Atlantic coast . PBP emerged from the professional cycling race of the same name , which took place for the first time on September 6, 1891 and last in 1951. The Audax takes place every five years, most recently in 2016.
A special feature of the route is that it is very hilly. There are around 10,000 meters of altitude to overcome. Since there are no mountains between Paris and Brest, the vertical meters are spread over more than 360 mostly short and not very steep climbs.
history
The Paris – Brest – Paris professional cycling race, which was held for the first time in 1891, was open to amateurs from the start. In 1931, Henri Desgrange (head of the magazine l'Auto), at the suggestion of André Griffe (chairman of the Union des Audax Cyclistes Parisiens), replaced the amateur category with a so-called Audax , which allowed a ride in a closed association (10 drivers per group) meant. The average speed between breaks was 20 km / h, since 1961 it has been 22.5 km / h. The trip with free choice of speed ( certification ) has since been organized by the Audax Club Parisien.
In 1948 there were 62 Audax participants at the start, of which 20 gave up and thus 42 reached the finish. In 1956, 330 Audax participants started in 17 groups. Since many cyclists did not like the ride in a closed association, there is an alternative to a certification , which took place for the first time in 1956 and started only four days after the Audax. In order to avoid a competitive situation in the following years (officially because of the high risk of sleep deprivation for participants in both events one after the other), the two clubs decided in 1971 not to allow their trips to take place in the same year. Since then, the certification has been held every four years and the Audax every five years.
The Audax trips are now organized by the "Union des Audax Français" (see web links). The last Audax took place in early July 2016
| year | Attendees | Speed | comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 81 at the start, 29 successful | 20 km / h | 1 group |
| 1948 | 62 at the start, 42 successful | 20 km / h | 1 group |
| 1951 | 96 at the start, 85 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 1956 | 106 at the start, 77 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 1961 | 162 at the start, 140 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 1966 | 178 at the start, 165 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 1971 | 328 at the start, 305 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 1976 | 911 at the start, 726 successful | 22.5 km / h | 2 groups |
| 1981 | Started in 1573, successful in 1522 | 22.5 km / h | 7 groups |
| 1986 | 926 at the start, 923 successful | 22.5 km / h | 4 groups |
| 1991 | 456 at the start, 411 successful | 22.5 km / h | 2 groups |
| 1996 | 212 at the start, 192 successful | 22.5 km / h | 3 groups |
| 2001 | 191 at the start, 185 successful | 22.5 km / h | 7 groups |
| 2006 | 151 at the start, 134 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
| 2011 | 143 at the start, 123 successful | 22.5 km / h | 2 groups |
| 2016 | 88 at the start, 78 successful | 22.5 km / h | 1 group |
The last event took place in 2016, from July 2nd to 6th. The start was at 10 p.m. in Montlhéry . The first stage was 445 km or 24 hours long and went to Saint-Brieuc . The second stage led back to Saint-Brieuc (315 km) via the turning point in Brest. The third stage led over 315 km to Nogent le Rotrou . The fourth and final stage back to Montlhéry was 140 km long. The next event will take place in 2021.