Independent (cycling)

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As Independent (French Independants , Dutch Onafhankelijken) were cycling earlier cyclist referred to their status, neither amateurs nor professional drivers were. For a while, the independents formed their own license class in cycling.

status

The independents were racing cyclists who, upon request, were given their own license for this class by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

This license allowed them to compete in both (certain) amateur and professional bike races . The licenses were issued by the national cycling associations, which decided on the applications of the cyclists. The independent class did not exist in all countries or cycling associations. These licenses were issued in Belgium , France , Great Britain , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Austria , Spain , Saarland and Switzerland .

The decisive point for the riders was that although they did not have the status of professional riders (who got their living income from cycling; competing in cycling races was their job), they could still race for cash prizes or receive remuneration under contracts. Amateurs, on the other hand, were not allowed to accept cash prizes and usually practiced cycling in their free time and pursued a regular professional activity (the so-called " state amateurs " from Eastern European countries were also formally amateurs).

As a rule, the independents had to take care of all logistical and organizational issues themselves when they started in the professional driver's races. This concerned the material, travel, accommodation, food , insurance, etc. The independents could get support from professional cycling teams (formerly also called racing teams ), conclude contracts with them and start for them (permanently for the contract period or also for individual races ).

Historical

The Independent class existed from around 1909 to 1966.

In addition to the right to start for the amateurs and professional drivers, there were also races reserved for the independents. So in 1910 and 1911 each one found Tour de France des Independants held that by Frenchman René Guénot and Philippe Thys obtained from Belgium. In the Tour de France , launched in 1903 , the Independents drove from 1909 under the name "Isoles", "Touristes-Routiers" or "Individuels" (last time in 1937).

In Belgium, too, there was a Tour de Belgique indépendants , which was reserved for the independents and was held from 1911 to 1964.

From 1922 to 1965 , the Tour of Flanders was held separately from the monuments of cycling for the independents. In the Paris-Roubaix race , there were also conditions for the independents, for example in 1911 René Guénot won this class, and in 1913 and 1914 Frank Henry , both French.

The associations of Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands held national championships for the independents. In Belgium these took place from 1911 to 1965, in the Netherlands from 1929 to 1943, in Luxembourg from 1913 to 1950. There were also national championships of this class on the track, so championships in track sprint were held in Belgium from 1911 to 1952.

The first championship took place in Luxembourg in 1913 and was held with a few interruptions until 1965. The independents started together with the amateurs (but drove longer distances) or the professional drivers and were rated separately.

Among the well-known races reserved for the Independents

  • Brussels – Liège
  • Trois Jours de la West Flandre
  • Tour de Morbihan
  • Almond-Lys-Escaut
  • Nice – Turin (temporarily)

and other.

After the Second World War , the importance of this license class increasingly decreased, as on the one hand a relatively large number of professional teams emerged and these riders were looking for new sponsors , and on the other hand an increase in races for professional riders developed (which was due to the documentation of the races in the various contemporary cycling yearbooks such as Velo or Le Cyclisme ). This led to the fact that the independents were increasingly only starting with very young drivers who wanted to become professionals and older drivers who had no prospect of a contract in a professional team.

In 1966 the independent class was abolished.

Independents and amateurs

In some countries, the national cycling federations protected their amateurs to a certain extent, in that the independents (who mostly trained like professional riders and often also with them) were only allowed to take part in races advertised by the federations for their class with a joint start by amateurs were. So they could not take part in all amateur races. This was explicitly regulated in Belgium and the Netherlands. In Belgium, amateurs who wanted to become professionals had to start as independents for a while. But there were exceptions such as Eddy Merckx or Rik van Looy , who could become professionals straight away. Benoni Beheyt only needed one start in this class to be able to become professional afterwards. In the 1960s, independents were frequent participants in tours such as the Route de France and the Tour de l'Avenir. The French federation saw this as an opportunity to increase the performance of its best amateurs.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Bering, Albert van Laethen (ed.): Le Cyclisme . Brussels 1958, p. 138-145 (French).
  2. ^ Paul Bering, Albert van Laethen (ed.): Le Cyclisme . Brussels 1957, p. 137-144 (French).
  3. ^ Memoire du Cyclisme. Retrieved February 24, 2020 (French).
  4. ↑ Joel Godaert, Robert Janssens, Guido Cammaert: Tour Encyclopedie 1903-1929 . Uitgeverij Worldstrips, Gent 1997, p. 38 ff .
  5. ↑ Joel Godaert, Robert Janssens, Guido Cammaert: Tour Encyclopedie 1933-1953 . Uitgeverij Worldstrips, Gent 1998, p. 2 ff .
  6. ^ Tour de France des Indépendants. In: memoire-du-cyclisme.eu. Retrieved February 20, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Ronde van Vlaanderen, Onafhankelijken. In: dewielersite.net. Retrieved February 20, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Histoire / History / History. In: sax-reneguenot.monsite-orange.fr. November 20, 1911, accessed February 20, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Franck Henry. In: cyclistes-dans-la-grande-guerre.fandom.com. Retrieved February 20, 2020 (French).
  10. ↑ a b Harry Van den Bremt, Rene Jacobs: Velo Plus . Ed .: Velo. Dendermonde 1988, p. 12-25 .
  11. ↑ Harry Van den Bremt, Rene Jacobs: Velo Plus . Ed .: Velo. Dendermonde 1988, p. 275 .
  12. ^ Henri Bressler, Fernand Thill: The history of Luxembourg cycling . tape 1 . Editions Schortgens, Esch-sur-Alzette 2011, ISBN 978-2-87953-115-1 , p. 283-286 .
  13. ^ Paul Bering, Albert van Laethen: Le Cyclisme . Brussels 1959, p. 130-134 .
  14. ↑ Fred De Bruyne: Rik van Looy . G. Kolff, Mechelen 1963, p. 5 (Flemish).
  15. ^ Raymond Feys, Johan Feys: Werviks Wieler Wel En Wee . Tanghe Printing, Komen 1995, pp. 20th ff . (Dutch).