Paris – Roubaix 1919

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Race result
winner Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Pélissier 12h 15 '
2. BelgiumBelgium Philippe Thys equal time
3. Third French RepublicThird French Republic Honoré Barthélémy equal time
4th BelgiumBelgium Louis Heusghem + 1:00 min.
5. BelgiumBelgium Alexis Michiels equal time
6th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Francis Pélissier + 10:00 min.
7th BelgiumBelgium Jean Rossius + 15:00 min.
8th. BelgiumBelgium Émile Masson + 15:30 min.
9. Third French RepublicThird French Republic Eugène Christophe + 16:00 min.
10. BelgiumBelgium Alfred Steux + 24:00 min.
Henri Pélissier

The one-day race Paris – Roubaix 1919 was the 20th edition of the cycling classic and took place on Sunday, April 20th, 1919.

Due to the devastating consequences of the First World War , the route had to be relocated to the north, as the previously used road between Doullens and Arras was completely destroyed. During a preview of the route with cyclist Eugène Christophe , Victor Breyer , a journalist for the newspaper L'Auto , exclaimed in horror: “Mais c'est l'Enfer!” (“That's hell!”). This gave rise to the name “Hell of the North” for the Paris – Roubaix race .

At this event, the drivers had to pay three francs entry fee, provide proof of address, date and place of birth and their license number of an association that belonged to the UCI World Cycling Association . From Friday the bikes were marked, the drivers had to be photographed and indicate the brand of their bike and that of their tires. On the day of the race, she had to be there at 3:30 a.m. to confirm her registration. Then they were given a meal. Before it was 5:00 off, one was minute's silence held. There were other checkpoints on the route where the drivers had to register. The pens often disappeared in order to prevent the following drivers from signing or to delay it. In view of these race preparations and controls, the organizing committee was now correspondingly large and was supported by members of the Audax Club parisien and the Vélo-Club de Levallois and other clubs.

The race went over 280 kilometers from Suresnes in cold rain , the starting point was in front of the famous Moulin Rose restaurant . 77 racing drivers started, 25 of whom were able to place. The winner Henri Pélissier completed the race at an average speed of 22.86 km / h .

Shortly after the war ended, many racing drivers were out of shape. Philippe Thys and Henri Pélissier pulled away, but a delay at an intersection meant that Honoré Barthélémy was able to catch up with them. When they reached a railroad crossing where a train stopped without going any further, the three of them shouldered their bikes and climbed through the train to the other side. On the following route there were constant violent attacks among each other, but the three drivers reached the finish together on Avenue de Jussieu in Roubaix , where Pélissier won the sprint. The race did not end in the velodrome as it was destroyed by the Germans during the war .

The first race after the war was a great success with the public: 100,000 spectators were counted on the ten-kilometer route between Forest-sur-Marque and Roubaix alone .

Web links

Commons : Paris – Roubaix 1919  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ The times were rounded off in the official result lists.
  2. ^ A b c Philippe Conrate / Pascal Sergent: Entre Paris et Roubaix. Petites histories d'une grande classique . Editions Alan Sutton, Saint-Cyre-Sur-Loire 2006, ISBN 2-84910-411-6 , p. 47 .
  3. ^ Paris - Roubaix 1919. In: radsportseiten.net. Retrieved May 31, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b 1919 Paris - Roubaix bicycle race complete results. In: BikeRaceInfo. Retrieved May 30, 2015 .
  5. ^ Philippe Conrate / Pascal Sergent: Entre Paris et Roubaix. Petites histories d'une grande classique . Editions Alan Sutton, Saint-Cyre-Sur-Loire 2006, ISBN 2-84910-411-6 , p. 55 .