René Vietto

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René Vietto in the Buffalo Stadium (1934)
The tomb of René Vietto on the Col de Braus in France

René Vietto (born February 17, 1914 in Rocheville- Le Cannet , † October 14, 1988 in Orange ) was a French cyclist .

In 1934 René Vietto won the Wolber Grand Prix , a race for young French drivers. Then the 20-year-old Vietto started the Tour de France , won four stages, the dotted jersey for the best climber and came fifth overall.

There are all sorts of legends about Vietto's participation in the tour: Before his cycling career, Vietto is said to have worked as a lift boy in the Hotel Majestic in Cannes . When he won the stage to Cannes in 1934, he was received there with special cheers. He is said to have swapped bikes with his captain and eventual winner Antonin Magne twice because he had a defect and thus enabled him to win. Vietto therefore lost valuable time, but was especially loved by cycling fans. In the book Sweat of the Gods , published in 2011, this information is exposed as myths: In reality, Vietto had not worked as a lift boy, but less glamorously at a telegraph office, he had not exchanged his bike with Magne, but with Georges Speicher , and the photo was on which he was shown lonely and sobbing after changing the wheel, had been edited (the people around him had been cut off). But: “A legend is born and no one will dare to attack it. It is touching, ” wrote a journalist at the time. After Magne had won the tour, he had to take Vietto with him on his lap of honor at the Prinzenparkstadion in Paris at the request of the spectators .

In 1935 Vietto was eighth of the tour after two stage wins. He then had a difficult time as a racing driver, as success went to his head and he became light-hearted and moody. He had problems finding a team and being admitted to the tour. “Almost nobody in the cycling environment could stand him” .

In 1939, however, Vietto started again on the Tour, won the yellow jersey for 14 days and finished second. In 1947 he was the leader in the overall standings for 15 days and finally finished fifth. This time, too, a defect cost him victory, albeit on his own bike. Vietto started the tour eight times and is the driver, after Fabian Cancellara , who wore the yellow jersey for the second longest time without ever winning the tour.

In 1935 Vietto won Paris – Nice and was fourth at Paris – Roubaix . In 1938 he won the Polymultipliée . During the Second World War he was still active as a racing driver, in 1941 he won the French road championship (in the unoccupied zone ) and in 1943 the Circuit du Midi . In 1946 he won the Grand Prix de la République .

After the end of his cycling career, Vietto ran a farm in the hinterland of Cannes. He is buried with his wife Giselle on the Col de Braus , his local mountain. There he won the mountain classification on the 1934 Tour.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Benjo Maso : The Sweat of the Gods. The history of cycling. Covadonga, Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-936973-60-0 , pp. 106f.
  2. ↑ Beate Boßdorf, Hagen Boßdorf : 100 Highlights Tour de France. 1930-2003. Sportverlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-517-06681-8 , p. 36 f.
  3. ↑ Benjo Maso: The Sweat of the Gods. The history of cycling. Covadonga, Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-936973-60-0 , p. 107.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Vietto, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Rocheville - Le Cannet
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1988
Place of death orange