Trophée des Grimpeurs

In 1931, Gaston Rivierre won the poly at the age of 68.

The Trophée des Grimpeurs (French, German climbers trophy), until 1970 as Polymultipliée (French, German about: gear shift) or Poly de Chanteloup was a one-day race in France that was held from 1913 to 2009.

history

"Poly" is an abbreviation of "Polymultipliée", which means something like "with gear shift". This term in the name of the race indicates that the focus of this race was not on the drivers, but on the wheels and their technology. The event served as a “product test” for gear shifting and to popularize the already existing forms of shifting. At that time gear shifts were not without controversy in cycling; so their use was not permitted in the Tour de France until the end of the 1930s .

The "Poly" was created by Louis Roudaire , chairman of the Audax Club parisien , and the magazine Cyclotourisme . The race was on a circuit of 10.3 kilometers in Chanteloup-les-Vignes ( Yvelines department ) near Paris , on muddy roads at the time with a maximum gradient of 14 percent and an altitude difference of 390 meters in order to be able to use the gears effectively ; this route had to be covered ten times.

The race was held for the first time on April 6, 1913, and the best bike was that of the rider named Géo Bimbenet, even though he was only twelfth. The fastest driver of 59 participants in the first edition was Pierre Fusier , who needed four hours and three minutes for the 103 kilometers.

Over the years, the rules of the race have been further developed, new categories such as tandems have been added and handicaps have been incorporated so that both professionals and, for example, “everyone” could take part. In 1931, 68-year-old Gaston Rivierre , a world class driver from before the First World War , won the race. Over time, the "Poly" became more and more popular, and in 1951 around 100,000 spectators are said to have stood by the route. The French cyclist Lyli Herse , who was French road champion eight times in the 1950s and 1960s, took part regularly in the "Poly" from 1944 onwards. She preferred to ride in second position on tandems that her father, the renowned French bicycle designer René Herse , had built.

In the 1960s, however, the interest decreased, so that the race was held for the last time in 1969 in Chanteloup-les-Vignes. The one-day race Polymultipliée de l'Hautil , held in 1997 and 1998, each ended in Chanteloup.

In 1970, another event took place under the name Polymultipliée before the race was held as the Trophée des Grimpeurs after a one-year break in the outskirts of the municipality of Sannois in the Val-d'Oise department . After Sannois ended the patronage for the race after the 2008 edition, Argenteuil, also in the Val-d'Oise department, took over the event for one year in 2009 , but then decided not to support the event any further.

After the introduction of the UCI Europe Tour in the 2005 season, the Trophée des Grimpeurs was part of this racing series and classified in the UCI category 1.1. The race was also part of the Coupe de France , a series of French one-day races. Record winners are Pierre Bachellerie and Didier Rous , who each won the race three times.