Paris – Brest – Paris (Brevet)

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Paris-Brest-Paris (Brevet)
Racing series Bicycle marathon -  amateur category
Host country FranceFrance France
Competition period August
Stages 15th
overall length 1,200 km with approx.12,000 hm
course
Map Paris-Brest-Paris (Brevet)
← 2015 2023 →

The Brevet Paris – Brest – Paris (PBP) is a more than 1200 km long bicycle marathon ( Brevet ) from Paris to Brest and back. However, the start has not been in Paris itself for decades, but in a suburb. The turning point is in the north-west French city of Brest on the Atlantic coast in Brittany. PBP arose from the cycle race of the same name for professionals and amateurs, which took place for the first time on September 6, 1891 and most recently in 1951. The certification takes place every four years, most recently in 2019. The next event will take place in August 2023.

Paris – Brest – Paris is definitely not a race. The goal of most participants is therefore only to complete the route within the given time (90, 84 or 80 hours). Nevertheless, there are always very ambitious participants who cover the route in around 44 hours. The fight against fatigue is often more difficult than the effort of cycling. The cycling marathon is made easier by the fact that the route is completely signposted, which is unusual for brevets. All types of bicycles are allowed as long as they are driven by a chain and without auxiliary power (motor, sails, etc.). In addition to numerous recumbent bicycles and some velomobiles , tricycles, tandems and occasionally three-seater bicycles (triplets) also ride . Triathlon handlebar extensions are prohibited, while lighting and a reflective vest are mandatory.

The route is continuously hilly and has about 10,000 meters of altitude, i.e. about 830 per 100 kilometers. The altitude meters are relatively evenly distributed over around 360 climbs that are relatively short and not very steep. The few steeper sections are at Rambouillet; the longer (but not steep) are on the way to Roc'h Trévezel . At 384 meters above sea level, this is the highest point on the route (and in Brittany ).

qualification

To qualify for PBP, drivers have had to complete brevets of at least 200, 300, 400 and 600 km each since 1979 in the same year. Participants from countries south of the equator can start the series at the beginning of November of the previous year, but must have completed it by May of the PBP year.

As the number of starting places is limited, priority will be given to those who obtained the longest possible certification in the year before PBP. Those who drove a certification with at least 1000 km in the previous year can register first, followed by those who have driven a 600 km certification and so on. In order to ensure internationality, there were separate limits for each country in 2011. From 2015, the country-specific limit no longer applies.

Starting place

The starting point has changed several times in history. From 1991 to 2011, the Gymnase des Droits de l'Homme sports complex in the Paris suburb of Guyancourt in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines municipal association was the start and finish. In 2015, the nearby Vélodrome National served . In August 2018 it was announced that the start and finish for 2019 will be the Bergerie Nationale and the castle park in Rambouillet . With the change of the starting point, the route length also changed: in 2015 it was 1228 km, in 2019 it was 1216 km.

history

The Paris – Brest – Paris cycle race, first held in 1891, was open to amateurs from the start. In 1931 the amateur category was replaced by a ride in a closed association, a so-called Audax . Because this displeased many cyclists, the Audax Club Parisien (ACP), chaired by Camille Durand, organized a ride on the same route, where everyone - as before - drives their own pace, without it being a race. This driving style is usually called Allure Libre . Until the professional cycling race was abandoned in 1956, there were three events Paris – Brest – Paris, each of which was held in the same year on the same route (national road 12). The condition for participation in the first certification in 1931 was the qualification with a 300 km long certification. In addition, the time limit was 96 hours.

1931

57 participants took the first Brevet in 1931, two of them women, one men's tandem , four mixed tandems and one triplet . The starting point was the “Le Mauco” café on Porte Maillot, not far from the city limits of Paris. In rain and strong wind, 34 single bikes and all 5 tandems finished the race. The fastest were Tranchant, Cottard and Ruard with 68:30 hours. A passenger arrived in Paris just 35 minutes after the checkpoint closed.

1948

In 1948 there was a change in the regulations: You were not allowed to change bicycles on the go. Of 189 participants (including 15 tandems) the Grenobler Routens and Fourmy (49:20 hours) on a tandem were the first to cross the finish line. The fastest individual drivers were Bernard and Rafaitin with 51:15 hours. A total of 152 cyclists stayed within the time limit.

1951

In 1951 the brevet recorded a rapidly growing popularity with 458 participants. 379 participants came back to Paris within the time limit. A 400 km license was required for qualification and the organizers introduced many rules that are still valid today: lights were required, escort vehicles were banned and there were fixed control points.

1956

Because of the cancellation by the professionals in 1956, the two amateur events also lost a lot of their popularity. Only 250 cyclists registered, and only 220 of them showed up at the start. The start time was set at 9 p.m. for tandems and 10 p.m. for single riders. In the worst weather, only 155 participants made it back to Paris in time. Among them Roger Martin, who drove for the first time this year and took part in Paris – Brest – Paris ten times. Baumann was the fastest (52:19 hours).

1961

The crisis triggered by the permanent cancellation of the professionals continued in 1961 with only 172 randonneurs. The fastest was Jean Fouace with 46:18 hours. He improved the previous record by more than 2 hours. 127 participants stayed within the rating. This time it started in the morning. The tandems at 9 o'clock, the single riders an hour later.

1966

In 1966 172 cyclists also started. This time at 4 p.m. (tandems and single riders together). The time limit was only 90 instead of the previous 96 hours. As of this year, the ACP has allowed assistance from escort vehicles in the area of ​​the checkpoints. Otherwise, the escort vehicles are not allowed to take the official route. The help of vehicles on the route leads to severe time penalties.

1971

In 1971, more cyclists took part again, namely 325. Eight particularly daring cyclists drove their certification almost immediately after the Audax Paris – Brest – Paris , which means 2400 km within about ten days. In order to reduce the risk of sleep deprivation and to avoid a competitive situation, the organizing clubs have decided not to allow their trips to take place in the same year from now on. Since then, the ACP has organized the brevet every four years and the UAF (Union des Audax Françaises) has organized the Audax every five years.

1975

The 1975 brevet counted 667 participants, 554 of whom crossed the finish line within the time limit. Some Englishmen came with the tricycles popular in their home country, which was the first time they were used by PBP. Those who drove Paris – Brest – Paris for the first time had to qualify with a 600 km long brevet, while a 400 km brevet was sufficient for “old hands”. Because two drivers had a serious accident (one of them fatal), the organizer asked the escort vehicles to illuminate the route for the cyclists throughout the night, although escort vehicles were actually only allowed to provide assistance at the checkpoints.

1979

In 1979 the route was changed. Due to increasing car traffic (the marathon takes place on public, open roads) and because two drivers had serious accidents in 1975, largely low-traffic side streets were chosen. The national road 12, which had been in use since 1891, was thus obsolete for PBP. The route, which was new at the time, is still used today, apart from regular small changes. For the first time, there were also three time limits (and associated three start times) to choose from: those who wanted to make it within 90 hours started at 4 a.m. Those who chose 84 hours left at 10 a.m. and those who chose a time limit of 78 hours started at 4 p.m.

1983

In 1983, 2106 participants from 15 countries started, and 1903 cyclists reached the finish within the time limit of 90 hours.

1987

In 1987 2597 cyclists came to Paris, 2117 of them within the time limit.

1991

There were changes for the centenary in 1991: The start was moved to the Paris suburb of Guyancourt . One day before the start there was a prologue from the Paris City Hall to Guyancourt to the Gymnase des Droits de l'Homme sports facility, the new starting point. As before, the time limit could be selected, but this time between 80, 90 or 84 hours with the start times 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The ACP introduced magnetic stripe cards and computers to record the times electronically. 3276 randonneurs started, but only 2611 crossed the finish line in time. Many blamed the starting time of 10 p.m. for this. On the occasion of the anniversary, Claude Galvaing rode a bicycle without gears and free-wheeling, just like in the early days .

1995

In 1995 the ACP counted 2860 starters, 2270 of which remained within the time limit. The mudguard requirement (common in English brevets in winter) has been abolished.

1999

In 1999 3573 randonneurs from 20 countries started and 2977 crossed the finish line. The day before the start there was a prologue with more than 1000 participants through all seven towns of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines municipal association. The route has been completely signposted since 1999.

2003

In 2003, 4069 participants started; for the first time there were more foreigners (2064) than French (2005). In addition, for the first time a participant rode without a bike: the Finn Alpo Kuusisto had a sports scooter. Since the regulations only stipulated that the vehicle must only be operated with muscle power, this was not a rule violation. For this achievement he received a special award. However, scooters (and, as a precaution, inline skates and roller skates ) have been banned since 2007 .

2007

For the 2007 Brevet from August 20 to 24, 2007, 5,317 participants registered, of which 5,162 started. The weather was rainy and sometimes with strong wind. 3609 cyclists crossed the finish line on time. That means a very high drop-out rate of more than 27 percent; in the past few years it was between 10 and 12 percent. The bad weather hit particularly those cyclists who started on the evening of August 20th, i.e. who had chosen the limit of 90 hours. 5068 ordinary bicycles and 249 special bicycles were registered, including 65 tandems and one triplet, as well as 21 mountain bikes . The rest consists of recumbents and velomobiles .

As in 2003, cyclists residing in France (2294) made up less than half of the field (43.2%). With 604 participants, the United States was most strongly represented among participants from abroad. 387 randonneurs came from Germany, 366 from Italy and 205 from Spain. The median age was 49.7 years.

2011

The Brevet Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 took place from 21st to 25th August 2011 with more than 5200 participants. The organizer expected that significantly more cyclists would register (more than 6000) and had therefore limited the number of participants per country. A maximum of 388 athletes were allowed to compete from Germany, 33 from Switzerland and 32 from Austria. These figures roughly correspond to the registrations from 2007. The position on the waiting list results from the longest brevet in 2010.

To reduce the rush at the checkpoints, additional refreshment stations and sleeping places have been set up. In addition, the time control was accelerated by a contactless recording.

During the night from Monday to Tuesday, a participant had a fatal accident in a collision with a truck.

2015

Björn Lenhard at the finish

On August 16, 2015, 5841 participants (with 6094 registrations) from 66 nations started. The oldest was Friedhelm Lixenfeld from Germany at the age of 84, but he broke off after more than 1000 km. The youngest participant at 18 years of age came from Russia , the oldest participant was a 63-year-old American . The Saxon ex- skibob driver Björn Lenhard was first at the finish with a total time of 42:26 .

2019

For the certification from 18. – 22. August 2019 the number of registrations was limited to 6,300, in the further registration process to 7,600. 6,673 participants started. The qualification was the same as in 2015. Most of the participants came from France, followed by 702 registrations and 681 starters from Germany.

See also

literature

  • Reinhard Schröder: Paris - Brest - Paris. 1200 kilometers non-stop. A personal memory of an extraordinary bike race , BoD GmbH, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-89811-544-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Laurent Mansart: Rambouillet: la Bergerie Nationale accueillera les 5000 coureurs du Paris - Brest - Paris. In: Le Parisien. Retrieved January 14, 2019 (French).
  2. ↑ Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 , on rsg-mittelpunkt.de
  3. ^ Paris-Brest-Paris. La course endeuillée , on letelegramme.com
  4. ↑ Paris-Brest-Paris 2015 ( Memento from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Stefan Simons: Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle marathon: everyone against everyone, everyone against himself. In: Spiegel Online . August 15, 2015, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Record-breaking: Insomniac from Paris to the Atlantic and back , on Freiepresse.de