Garin was born the son of Maurice-Clément Garin and Maria Teresa Ozello in Arvier, in the French-speaking Aosta Valley in north-west Italy, close to the French border. The name Garin was the most common in the native village of Maurice, called "Chez-les-Garin",[7] belonging to five of the seven families.[8] They had four daughters and five sons, of whom Maurice was the first son.[8]
In 1885 the family left Arvier to work on the other side of the Alps, almost to the Belgian border.[clarification needed]
Garin worked as a chimney sweep.[9] He later moved to France. By the age of 15, he was living in Reims as a chimney sweep.[8][9] He moved to Charleroi in Belgium but by 1889 he was back in France, at Maubeuge.
Garin's younger brother, Joseph-Isidore, died in 1889. The father died shortly afterwards in Arvier. Garin's brothers François and César stayed in northern France and, with Maurice, opened a cycle shop in the lower end of the boulevard de Paris[7] in Roubaix in 1895. Brothers César and Ambroise also competed as professional cyclists.
Garin moved to Lens, Pas-de-Calais in 1902 and lived there the rest of his life.[8][9] He bought his first bicycle for 405 francs, twice what a forge worker would earn in a week of 12-hour days, in 1889.[9] Racing did not interest him but he did ride round the town fast enough to be called a madman — le fou.[9]
Until 2004, it was said that Garin had taken French nationality when he was 21, in 1892[3][8] but in 2004, the reporter Franco Cuaz found the naturalizing act and Garin took French nationality 21 December 1901.[10]
Amateur racingedit
He began racing in northern France in the same year when the secretary of the cycling club at Maubeuge persuaded him to enter a regional race, Maubeuge-Hirson-Maubeuge, over 200 km. Garin finished fifth despite suffering from the sun[9] and decided to ride more.
His first win was in 1893, in Namur-Dinant-Givet in Belgium. He had sold his first bike and bought a lighter one — still 16 kg but with pneumatic tyres — for 850 old French francs (approx €3,000 at 2008 values).[11] The race was over 102 km. He was leading by Dinant when he punctured. Spotting a soigneur waiting with a spare bike for a rival, Garin rested his own against the wall of a bridge, grabbed the soigneur's spare bike and rode off. At the finish, winning with ten minutes over the field, he gave back the bike and recovered his own the next day where he had left it.
Professional racingedit
Garin became a professional by chance. He planned to ride a race at Avesnes-sur-Helpes, 25 km from where he lived. He arrived to find it was only for professionals. Not allowed to compete, he waited until the riders had left, raced after them and passed them all. He fell off twice but finished ahead of the racers. The crowd was enthusiastic but the organisers less so. They refused to pay him the 150 francs (approx €525 at 2008 values)[11] due to the real winner, so spectators raised 300 francs (approx €1,050 at 2008 values)[11] among themselves. Garin became a professional.
His first true professional win was in a 24-hour race in Paris in 1893.[n 1] It was held on the Champ de Mars, site of the Eiffel Tower. The riders competed, as was the custom, behind a succession of pacers. The event took place in February and the cold drove out riders one after the other. Garin rode 701 km in 24 hours, beating the only other rider to finish by 49 km. While other riders would consume much strong red wine, Garin chose a more apt diet, and said he had survived on:[9]
In 1894 he won a 24-hour race in Liège, Belgium, and the following year set an hour record for cycling behind pacers.
1901 Advertisement with Paris–Brest–Paris winner Maurice Garin for "La Française"
The first Paris–Roubaix was in 1896; Garin came third, 15 minutes behind Josef Fischer. He would have come second had he not been knocked over by a crash between two tandems, one of them ridden by his pacers. Garin "finished exhausted and Dr Butrille was obliged to attend the man who had been run over by two machines," said the race historian, Pascal Sergent.[12]
As the two champions appeared they were greeted by a frenzy of excitement and everyone was on their feet to acclaim the two heroes. It was difficult to recognise them. Garin was first, followed by the mud-soaked figure of Cordang. Suddenly, to the stupefaction of everyone, Cordang slipped and fell on the velodrome's cement surface. Garin could not believe his luck. By the time Cordang was back on his bike, he had lost 100 metres. There remained six laps to cover. Two miserable kilometres in which to catch Garin. The crowd held its breath as they watched the incredible pursuit match. The bell rang out. One lap, there remained one lap. 333 metres for Garin, who had a lead of 30 metres on the Batave.
A classic victory was within his grasp but he could almost feel his adversary's breath on his neck. Somehow Garin held on to his lead of two metres, two little metres for a legendary victory. The stands exploded and the ovation united the two men. Garin exulted under the cheers of the crowd. Cordang cried bitter tears of disappointment.[12]
In 1898 he won Paris–Roubaix again, this time by 20 minutes, and in 1901 he won the second edition of Paris–Brest–Paris, finishing almost two hours ahead of Gaston Rivierre after covering 1,208 km in 52h 11m 1s.[13] He started by chasing another Frenchman, Lucien Lesna, who rode the first 600 km at 28kmh and had two hours' lead at Brest. At Rennes he stopped for a bath to recover from the tiredness, filth and heat, then found he could not get racing again into the headwind. Garin passed him at Mayenne and Lesna gave up shortly afterwards with 200 km to go. Garin finished 19h 11m better than Charles Terront ten years earlier.[14]
The Tour de France began to promote a new daily sports newspaper, L'Auto ahead of the largest paper in France, Le Vélo,[15] which sold 80,000 copies a day.[16] Some of Le Vélo's advertisers had disagreed with the paper's support for Alfred Dreyfus, a soldier found guilty on trumped up charges of selling secrets to the Germans but eventually acquitted after being sent to Devil's Island.[17] The Tour was to promote their new rival paper, L'Auto.
The editor, Henri Desgrange, planned a five-week race from 31 May to 5 July. This proved too daunting and only 15 entered. Desgrange cut the length to 19 days and offered a daily allowance.
The race began at the Au Reveil Matin café at a crossroads in Montgeron, south of Paris, and ended in Ville-d'Avray, another suburb, having circuited France in six days of racing over 2,428 km. One stage, between Nantes and Paris, was 471 km. Sixty riders started at an entry fee of 10 francs – €87.50 today with inflation[18] – and 21 finished. Garin won 3,000 francs[19] (approx €10,500 at 2008 values)[11] for finishing first in 94h 33m 14s, or 6,125 francs (approx €21,500 at 2008 values)[11] in all with his other prizes.[20]Lucien Pothier was second and Fernand Augereau third.
In the town which adopted Maurice Garin, at Lens, an immense procession was organised with the participation of all the notables of the region. Before leaving Paris on Monday evening, the day after the race finished, the winner paid a visit, out of politeness, to Henri Desgrange and, in a gesture without precedent, pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. It was an article 'in order to simplify the interview', he explained! There he gave his feelings during the race, gave his opinion on the formula by which the race was run, gave a word of congratulation to his rivals.[21]
Garin's written note said:
The 2,500 km that I've just ridden seem a long line, grey and monotonous, where nothing stood out from anything else. But I suffered on the road; I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was sleepy, I suffered, I cried between Lyon and Marseille, I had the pride of winning other stages, and at the controls I saw the fine figure of my friend Delattre, who had prepared my sustenance, but I repeat, nothing strikes me particularly.[21]
But wait! I'm completely wrong when I say that nothing strikes me, I'm confusing things or explaining myself badly. I must say that one single thing struck me, that a single thing sticks in my memory: I see myself, from the start of the Tour de France, like a bull pierced by banderillas,[n 3] who pulls the banderillas with him, never able to rid himself of them.[21]
1904 Tour de Franceedit
Of the 1904 race, Edward Boeglin asked: Was Garin the subject of an injustice? It's not impossible. But the rigour of the sanctions can be explained by the discredit into which professional cycling had (already!) fallen. An example had to be made of a champion. Garin was incontestably the strongest rider of the period, so he was first choice. He was 34. The suspension for two years ... broke his career. We never again saw him at the front of the peloton 'this little and stubborn rider of formidable consistency ... who won all the races that mattered', ... "this rider, intelligent, crafty, instinctive and calculating, ... the little chimney sweep from Arvier, in the Aoste valley near Mont Blanc'
Garin also won the 1904 Tour de France, by a small margin over Lucien Pothier, but was subsequently stripped of the title which was awarded to Henri Cornet. The race aroused a passion among spectators, who felled trees to hold back rivals and beat up others at night outside St-Étienne.[6] Garin was one of the mob's victims. Pierre Chany wrote:
In the climb of the col de la République, leaving St-Étienne, supporters of the regional rider, Faure, assault the Italian, Gerbi. He is thrown to the ground, beaten like plaster. He escapes with a broken finger...[6]
... A bunch of fanatics wielded sticks and shouted insults, setting on the other riders: Maurice and César Garin got a succession of blows, the older brother [Maurice] was hit in the face with a stone. Soon there was general mayhem: "Up with Faure! Down with Garin! Kill them!" they were shouting. Finally cars arrived and the riders could get going thanks to pistol shots. The aggressors disappeared into the night.[6]
Garin said: "I'll win the Tour de France provided I'm not murdered before we get to Paris."[23][24]
Misbehaviour was rife too between riders and nine were thrown out during the race for, among other things, riding in or being pulled by cars.[5] There were claims, too, that the organisers had allowed Garin to break rules — at one stage being given food where it was not permitted by its chief official — because his sponsor, La Française, had a financial stake in the race.[25]
The French cycling union, the Union Vélocipédique Française, heard from dozens of competitors and witnesses and in December disqualified all the stage winners and the first four finishers: Garin, Pothier, César Garin, and Hippolyte Aucouturier.[26] The UVF did not say precisely what had happened[27] and the details were lost when Tour archives were transported south in 1940 to avoid the German invasion and never seen again. Stories spread of riders spreading tacks on the road to delay rivals with punctures, of riders being poisoned by each other or by rival fans. Lucien Petit-Breton said he complained to an official that he had seen a rival hanging on to a motorcycle, only to have the cheating rider pull out a revolver.[28]
Tales were also said to include 'Garin taking a train', a claim confirmed by a cemetery attendant looking after his grave who, as a boy, heard Garin tell his stories as an old man.[4] In December 1904 Garin was stripped of his title and banned for two years.[4]
Retirementedit
Garin retired from cycling and ran his garage in Lens until his death. The garage is still there, although wholly changed from Garin's era. An unnamed writer recalled:
I remember Maurice Garin well. I met him and talked to him almost every day because we lived in the same area, 200 m from each other, at Lens. Le Père Garin, as my father and grandfather called him[n 4] used to bring out a chair in fine weather and sit in the doorway of the little office of the service station he owned at 116 rue de Lille in Lens, under the sign for Antar fuel and oil. My barber was in the neighbouring house and I used to go there once a month to have a crew cut, [couper en brosse] which was the fashion in those days. My friends and I were aged seven to ten and on our one-speed bikes we used to pin numbers on our back... and we never missed riding past Maurice Garin in a tight group so that he would see. It's strange that nobody thought to take a picture of me, the little kid, alongside the first great champion of the biggest race in the world. But life's like that.[29]
Maurice Garin was far from an adulated hero, even less a rich champion (he spent his retirement running the service station), and I don't remember any special celebration in his honour. Television crews didn't come from home and abroad to interview him. [They showed no interest] until he died in 1957. And the rue de Lille, where he lived, still hasn't been renamed the rue Maurice Garin.[29]
Garin kept his interest in cycling. He returned just once to his birthplace, in 1949, to see the Tour pass through. He began a professional team under his name after the Second World War. The Dutchman Piet van Est won Bordeaux–Paris in 1950 and 1952 in the team's red and white jersey. On the Tour's 50th anniversary in 1953, Garin was among several old stars waiting at the finish as part of a celebration.
Death and commemorationedit
He is buried in a family grave with his wife Desirée. The inscription on the headstone says:
Familles Brot, Garin et Darnet. Desirée Maille (1890–1952), — Épouse de Maurice Garin (1871–1957) Mme Vve Marie Brot, (1863–1948) Henri Darnet (1905–1970) Denise Darnet (1904–1982)
In 1933 the Stade Vélodrome Maurice Garin was built in Lens, and named in his honour.[1][n 5]
In 1938 Garin was awarded the gold medal of Physical Education by the Minister of Sport for France, Leo Lagrange.[2]
Garin is remembered as a short, determined man, even authoritarian. As an old man he became confused. His biographer, Franco Cuaz, said:
... He [Garin] wandered through Lens asking "Where is the control? Where is the control?" as his mind brought back images of the hotels where riders signed check sheets in the first Tours.[9][22]
... He regularly ended up at the town's police station, from where he was escorted back home. Often he was far from home, without knowing where he was or where he was going.[8][22]
In 2003 a street was named after him in Maubeuge on the 100th anniversary of his 1903 win in the Tour de France.
In 2004 Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix placed a cobblestone on his grave, a traditional trophy for winners of the Paris–Roubaix race.[7]
In Arvier, the village in Italy where he was born, there is a monument in his honour. His biographer, Franco Cuaz, said: "Every year, the municipality sends me French people who want to see the house where he was born. It's like a pilgrimage."[8]
^Races at the time were largely of extremes, velodrome races being short sprints or paced behind motorcycles, road races becoming ever-longer trials of endurance which culminated in the Tour de France, which Garin won
^In 2004 Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix marked Garin's victories in the Paris–Roubaix event by placing a cobblestone — traditional trophy for winners of the race, on his grave. See Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix, Manifestations, 3rd Mars, 2004, Hommage à Maurice Garin 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^Banderillas — the spears used to aggravate animals in a bull-fight
^The "Stade Vélodrome Maurice Garin" was razed and rebuilt in 1990, and re-opened by the Minister of Youths and Sports Roger Bambuck. It was again due for demolition in 2007 as part of the 'Lens Louvre' reconstruction project
^The yellow jersey image is symbolic, it was not used in the Tour de France before either 1913 or 1919. Garin wore a green armband.
Referencesedit
^ ab"Culture et traditions dans le Pas-de-Calais".
^ abSergent, Pascal (1997), trans Yates, D., A Century of Paris–Roubaix, Bromley Books, UK, ISBN0953172902
^. Paris-brest-paris.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
^Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme, vol 1, Nathan, France, p162
^Boeuf, Jean-Luc, and Léonard, Yves (2003), La République du Tour de France, Seuil, France, p. 23
^Nicholson, Geoffrey (1991) Le Tour, the rise and rise of the Tour de France, Hodder and Stoughton, UK
^Boeuf, Jean-Luc and Léonard, Yves (2003); La République de Tour de France, Seuil, France
^Wheatcroft, Geoffrey (2003), 'Le Tour: a history of the Tour de France, 1903–2003', Pocket Books, UK
^Augendre, Jacques (1996), Le Tour de France, Panorama d'un Siècle, Société du Tour de France, France, p7; for comparison, a kilo of bread cost 40 centimes
^Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p. 45
^ abcChany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p46
^ abcGarin. Il ciclismo di un secolo fa. (The cycling of a century ago). Musumeci, 1997.
^Chany, Pierre (1986), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p. 61
^Chany, Pierre (1986), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, vol. 1, La Martinière, France, p. 181
^Chany, Pierre (1986), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p62
^Augendre, Jacques (1996), Le Tour de France, Panorama d'un Siècle, Société du Tour de France, France, p8
^Chany, Pierre (1986), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, La Martinière, France, p65
^Chany, Pierre (1988), La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France, vol 1, Nathan, France, p184
^ abGrincheux Grave, 1st juillet 2006, Tour de France, Memories of Maurice Garin 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
External linksedit
Maurice Garin at Cycling Archives
March 17, 2024
maurice, garin, maurice, françois, garin, pronounced, mɔʁis, fʁɑ, ɡaʁɛ, moʁ, march, 1871, citation, needed, february, 1957, italian, french, road, bicycle, racer, best, known, winning, inaugural, tour, france, 1903, being, stripped, title, second, tour, 1904, . Maurice Francois Garin 2 pronounced mɔʁis fʁɑ swa ɡaʁɛ moʁ 3 March 1871 citation needed 19 February 1957 3 was an Italian French road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903 and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with eight others for cheating 4 5 6 He was of Italian origin but adopted French nationality on 21 December 1901 Maurice GarinGarin in 1897Personal informationFull nameMaurice Francois GarinNicknameLe petit ramoneur The Little Chimney sweep Born 1871 03 03 3 March 1871Arvier Aosta Valley ItalyDied19 February 1957 1957 02 19 aged 85 Lens France 1 Height1 62 m 5 ft 4 in Weight60 kg 132 lb Team informationDisciplineRoad and trackRoleRiderRider typeDistance riderAmateur team1892Maubeuge cycling clubProfessional teams1893 1904La Francaise1911La FrancaiseMajor winsGrand Tours Tour de FranceGeneral classification 1903 3 individual stages 1903 dd One day races and Classics Paris Roubaix 1897 1898 Paris Brest Paris 1901 Bordeaux Paris 1902 Maurice Garin Contents 1 Family life 2 Amateur racing 3 Professional racing 4 Tour de France 4 1 1903 Tour de France 4 2 1904 Tour de France 5 Retirement 6 Death and commemoration 7 Career achievements 7 1 Major results 7 2 Grand Tour general classification results timeline 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksFamily life edit nbsp Arvier in the Aosta Valley the birthplace of Maurice GarinGarin was born the son of Maurice Clement Garin and Maria Teresa Ozello in Arvier in the French speaking Aosta Valley in north west Italy close to the French border The name Garin was the most common in the native village of Maurice called Chez les Garin 7 belonging to five of the seven families 8 They had four daughters and five sons of whom Maurice was the first son 8 In 1885 the family left Arvier to work on the other side of the Alps almost to the Belgian border clarification needed Garin worked as a chimney sweep 9 He later moved to France By the age of 15 he was living in Reims as a chimney sweep 8 9 He moved to Charleroi in Belgium but by 1889 he was back in France at Maubeuge Garin s younger brother Joseph Isidore died in 1889 The father died shortly afterwards in Arvier Garin s brothers Francois and Cesar stayed in northern France and with Maurice opened a cycle shop in the lower end of the boulevard de Paris 7 in Roubaix in 1895 Brothers Cesar and Ambroise also competed as professional cyclists Garin moved to Lens Pas de Calais in 1902 and lived there the rest of his life 8 9 He bought his first bicycle for 405 francs twice what a forge worker would earn in a week of 12 hour days in 1889 9 Racing did not interest him but he did ride round the town fast enough to be called a madman le fou 9 Until 2004 it was said that Garin had taken French nationality when he was 21 in 1892 3 8 but in 2004 the reporter Franco Cuaz found the naturalizing act and Garin took French nationality 21 December 1901 10 Amateur racing editHe began racing in northern France in the same year when the secretary of the cycling club at Maubeuge persuaded him to enter a regional race Maubeuge Hirson Maubeuge over 200 km Garin finished fifth despite suffering from the sun 9 and decided to ride more His first win was in 1893 in Namur Dinant Givet in Belgium He had sold his first bike and bought a lighter one still 16 kg but with pneumatic tyres for 850 old French francs approx 3 000 at 2008 values 11 The race was over 102 km He was leading by Dinant when he punctured Spotting a soigneur waiting with a spare bike for a rival Garin rested his own against the wall of a bridge grabbed the soigneur s spare bike and rode off At the finish winning with ten minutes over the field he gave back the bike and recovered his own the next day where he had left it Professional racing editGarin became a professional by chance He planned to ride a race at Avesnes sur Helpes 25 km from where he lived He arrived to find it was only for professionals Not allowed to compete he waited until the riders had left raced after them and passed them all He fell off twice but finished ahead of the racers The crowd was enthusiastic but the organisers less so They refused to pay him the 150 francs approx 525 at 2008 values 11 due to the real winner so spectators raised 300 francs approx 1 050 at 2008 values 11 among themselves Garin became a professional His first true professional win was in a 24 hour race in Paris in 1893 n 1 It was held on the Champ de Mars site of the Eiffel Tower The riders competed as was the custom behind a succession of pacers The event took place in February and the cold drove out riders one after the other Garin rode 701 km in 24 hours beating the only other rider to finish by 49 km While other riders would consume much strong red wine Garin chose a more apt diet and said he had survived on 9 19 litres of hot chocolate seven litres of tea eight cooked eggs a mix of coffee and champagne 45 cutlets five litres of tapioca two kilos of rice and oysters In 1894 he won a 24 hour race in Liege Belgium and the following year set an hour record for cycling behind pacers nbsp 1901 Advertisement with Paris Brest Paris winner Maurice Garin for La Francaise The first Paris Roubaix was in 1896 Garin came third 15 minutes behind Josef Fischer He would have come second had he not been knocked over by a crash between two tandems one of them ridden by his pacers Garin finished exhausted and Dr Butrille was obliged to attend the man who had been run over by two machines said the race historian Pascal Sergent 12 In 1897 he won Paris Roubaix beating the Dutchman Mathieu Cordang in the last two kilometres of the velodrome at Roubaix n 2 Sergent said As the two champions appeared they were greeted by a frenzy of excitement and everyone was on their feet to acclaim the two heroes It was difficult to recognise them Garin was first followed by the mud soaked figure of Cordang Suddenly to the stupefaction of everyone Cordang slipped and fell on the velodrome s cement surface Garin could not believe his luck By the time Cordang was back on his bike he had lost 100 metres There remained six laps to cover Two miserable kilometres in which to catch Garin The crowd held its breath as they watched the incredible pursuit match The bell rang out One lap there remained one lap 333 metres for Garin who had a lead of 30 metres on the Batave A classic victory was within his grasp but he could almost feel his adversary s breath on his neck Somehow Garin held on to his lead of two metres two little metres for a legendary victory The stands exploded and the ovation united the two men Garin exulted under the cheers of the crowd Cordang cried bitter tears of disappointment 12 In 1898 he won Paris Roubaix again this time by 20 minutes and in 1901 he won the second edition of Paris Brest Paris finishing almost two hours ahead of Gaston Rivierre after covering 1 208 km in 52h 11m 1s 13 He started by chasing another Frenchman Lucien Lesna who rode the first 600 km at 28kmh and had two hours lead at Brest At Rennes he stopped for a bath to recover from the tiredness filth and heat then found he could not get racing again into the headwind Garin passed him at Mayenne and Lesna gave up shortly afterwards with 200 km to go Garin finished 19h 11m better than Charles Terront ten years earlier 14 In 1902 Garin won Bordeaux Paris a race of 500 km from south west France Tour de France edit1903 Tour de France edit nbsp Garin with his masseur and son in 1903The Tour de France began to promote a new daily sports newspaper L Auto ahead of the largest paper in France Le Velo 15 which sold 80 000 copies a day 16 Some of Le Velo s advertisers had disagreed with the paper s support for Alfred Dreyfus a soldier found guilty on trumped up charges of selling secrets to the Germans but eventually acquitted after being sent to Devil s Island 17 The Tour was to promote their new rival paper L Auto The editor Henri Desgrange planned a five week race from 31 May to 5 July This proved too daunting and only 15 entered Desgrange cut the length to 19 days and offered a daily allowance The race began at the Au Reveil Matin cafe at a crossroads in Montgeron south of Paris and ended in Ville d Avray another suburb having circuited France in six days of racing over 2 428 km One stage between Nantes and Paris was 471 km Sixty riders started at an entry fee of 10 francs 87 50 today with inflation 18 and 21 finished Garin won 3 000 francs 19 approx 10 500 at 2008 values 11 for finishing first in 94h 33m 14s or 6 125 francs approx 21 500 at 2008 values 11 in all with his other prizes 20 Lucien Pothier was second and Fernand Augereau third Pierre Chany wrote In the town which adopted Maurice Garin at Lens an immense procession was organised with the participation of all the notables of the region Before leaving Paris on Monday evening the day after the race finished the winner paid a visit out of politeness to Henri Desgrange and in a gesture without precedent pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket It was an article in order to simplify the interview he explained There he gave his feelings during the race gave his opinion on the formula by which the race was run gave a word of congratulation to his rivals 21 Garin s written note said The 2 500 km that I ve just ridden seem a long line grey and monotonous where nothing stood out from anything else But I suffered on the road I was hungry I was thirsty I was sleepy I suffered I cried between Lyon and Marseille I had the pride of winning other stages and at the controls I saw the fine figure of my friend Delattre who had prepared my sustenance but I repeat nothing strikes me particularly 21 But wait I m completely wrong when I say that nothing strikes me I m confusing things or explaining myself badly I must say that one single thing struck me that a single thing sticks in my memory I see myself from the start of the Tour de France like a bull pierced by banderillas n 3 who pulls the banderillas with him never able to rid himself of them 21 1904 Tour de France edit Of the 1904 race Edward Boeglin asked Was Garin the subject of an injustice It s not impossible But the rigour of the sanctions can be explained by the discredit into which professional cycling had already fallen An example had to be made of a champion Garin was incontestably the strongest rider of the period so he was first choice He was 34 The suspension for two years broke his career We never again saw him at the front of the peloton this little and stubborn rider of formidable consistency who won all the races that mattered this rider intelligent crafty instinctive and calculating the little chimney sweep from Arvier in the Aoste valley near Mont Blanc Edouard Boeglin Franco Cuaz 9 22 Garin also won the 1904 Tour de France by a small margin over Lucien Pothier but was subsequently stripped of the title which was awarded to Henri Cornet The race aroused a passion among spectators who felled trees to hold back rivals and beat up others at night outside St Etienne 6 Garin was one of the mob s victims Pierre Chany wrote In the climb of the col de la Republique leaving St Etienne supporters of the regional rider Faure assault the Italian Gerbi He is thrown to the ground beaten like plaster He escapes with a broken finger 6 A bunch of fanatics wielded sticks and shouted insults setting on the other riders Maurice and Cesar Garin got a succession of blows the older brother Maurice was hit in the face with a stone Soon there was general mayhem Up with Faure Down with Garin Kill them they were shouting Finally cars arrived and the riders could get going thanks to pistol shots The aggressors disappeared into the night 6 Garin said I ll win the Tour de France provided I m not murdered before we get to Paris 23 24 Misbehaviour was rife too between riders and nine were thrown out during the race for among other things riding in or being pulled by cars 5 There were claims too that the organisers had allowed Garin to break rules at one stage being given food where it was not permitted by its chief official because his sponsor La Francaise had a financial stake in the race 25 The French cycling union the Union Velocipedique Francaise heard from dozens of competitors and witnesses and in December disqualified all the stage winners and the first four finishers Garin Pothier Cesar Garin and Hippolyte Aucouturier 26 The UVF did not say precisely what had happened 27 and the details were lost when Tour archives were transported south in 1940 to avoid the German invasion and never seen again Stories spread of riders spreading tacks on the road to delay rivals with punctures of riders being poisoned by each other or by rival fans Lucien Petit Breton said he complained to an official that he had seen a rival hanging on to a motorcycle only to have the cheating rider pull out a revolver 28 Tales were also said to include Garin taking a train a claim confirmed by a cemetery attendant looking after his grave who as a boy heard Garin tell his stories as an old man 4 In December 1904 Garin was stripped of his title and banned for two years 4 Retirement editGarin retired from cycling and ran his garage in Lens until his death The garage is still there although wholly changed from Garin s era An unnamed writer recalled I remember Maurice Garin well I met him and talked to him almost every day because we lived in the same area 200 m from each other at Lens Le Pere Garin as my father and grandfather called him n 4 used to bring out a chair in fine weather and sit in the doorway of the little office of the service station he owned at 116 rue de Lille in Lens under the sign for Antar fuel and oil My barber was in the neighbouring house and I used to go there once a month to have a crew cut couper en brosse which was the fashion in those days My friends and I were aged seven to ten and on our one speed bikes we used to pin numbers on our back and we never missed riding past Maurice Garin in a tight group so that he would see It s strange that nobody thought to take a picture of me the little kid alongside the first great champion of the biggest race in the world But life s like that 29 Maurice Garin was far from an adulated hero even less a rich champion he spent his retirement running the service station and I don t remember any special celebration in his honour Television crews didn t come from home and abroad to interview him They showed no interest until he died in 1957 And the rue de Lille where he lived still hasn t been renamed the rue Maurice Garin 29 Garin kept his interest in cycling He returned just once to his birthplace in 1949 to see the Tour pass through He began a professional team under his name after the Second World War The Dutchman Piet van Est won Bordeaux Paris in 1950 and 1952 in the team s red and white jersey On the Tour s 50th anniversary in 1953 Garin was among several old stars waiting at the finish as part of a celebration Death and commemoration editHe is buried in a family grave with his wife Desiree The inscription on the headstone says nbsp Familles Brot Garin et Darnet Desiree Maille 1890 1952 Epouse deMaurice Garin 1871 1957 Mme Vve Marie Brot 1863 1948 Henri Darnet 1905 1970 Denise Darnet 1904 1982 Cimetiere Est section F3 Sallaumines near Lens 4 In 1933 the Stade Velodrome Maurice Garin was built in Lens and named in his honour 1 n 5 In 1938 Garin was awarded the gold medal of Physical Education by the Minister of Sport for France Leo Lagrange 2 Garin is remembered as a short determined man even authoritarian As an old man he became confused His biographer Franco Cuaz said He Garin wandered through Lens asking Where is the control Where is the control as his mind brought back images of the hotels where riders signed check sheets in the first Tours 9 22 He regularly ended up at the town s police station from where he was escorted back home Often he was far from home without knowing where he was or where he was going 8 22 In 2003 a street was named after him in Maubeuge on the 100th anniversary of his 1903 win in the Tour de France In 2004 Les Amis de Paris Roubaix placed a cobblestone on his grave a traditional trophy for winners of the Paris Roubaix race 7 In Arvier the village in Italy where he was born there is a monument in his honour His biographer Franco Cuaz said Every year the municipality sends me French people who want to see the house where he was born It s like a pilgrimage 8 Career achievements editSource Maurice Garin at Cycling Archives Major results edit 1893 Dinant Namur Dinant Paris 80km velodrome 1894 Liege 24hr velodrome Paris Saint Malo 1895 24hr Arts liberaux de Paris velodrome Guingamp Morlaix Guingamp World record 500km behind human pacer on the road 15h 2m 32s 1896 Paris Le Mans Paris Mons Liege Thuin 3rd Paris Roubaix 1897 Paris Roubaix Paris Royan Paris Cabourg Tourcoing Bethune Tourcoing 1898 Paris Roubaix Tourcoing Bethune Tourcoing Valenciennes Nouvion Valenciennes Douai Doullens Douai 50km Ostend velodrome 2nd Bordeaux Paris 1899 3rd Bordeaux Paris 3rd Bol d Or velodrome 1900 2nd Bordeaux Paris 2nd d Bol d Or 3rd Paris Roubaix 1901 Paris Brest Paris 1902 Bordeaux Paris 1903 Tour de France nbsp Winner overall classification n 6 Winner 3 stages dd Grand Tour general classification results timeline edit Grand Tour 1903 1904Tour de France 1 DSQGiro d Italia N A N AVuelta a Espana N A N ALegend 1 Winner2 3 Top three finish4 10 Top ten finish11 Other finishDNE Did not enterDNF x Did not finish retired on stage x DNS x Did not start not started on stage x HD Finished outside time limit occurred on stage x DSQ DisqualifiedN A Race classification not heldNR Not ranked in this classificationNotes edit Races at the time were largely of extremes velodrome races being short sprints or paced behind motorcycles road races becoming ever longer trials of endurance which culminated in the Tour de France which Garin won In 2004 Les Amis de Paris Roubaix marked Garin s victories in the Paris Roubaix event by placing a cobblestone traditional trophy for winners of the race on his grave See Les Amis de Paris Roubaix Manifestations 3rd Mars 2004 Hommage a Maurice Garin Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Banderillas the spears used to aggravate animals in a bull fight Pere father is a dated mark of respect The Stade Velodrome Maurice Garin was razed and rebuilt in 1990 and re opened by the Minister of Youths and Sports Roger Bambuck It was again due for demolition in 2007 as part of the Lens Louvre reconstruction project The yellow jersey image is symbolic it was not used in the Tour de France before either 1913 or 1919 Garin wore a green armband References edit a b Culture et traditions dans le Pas de Calais a b Wikipedia permanent dead link a b memoire du cyclisme net Archived from the original on 1 December 2008 a b c d The Unknown Tour de France by Les Woodland Van der Plas Publications ISBN 1 892495 26 0 a b Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France pp 54 55 a b c d Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme La Martiniere France p60 a b c Les Amis de Paris Roubaix Manifestations 3rd Mars 2004 Hommage a Maurice Garin Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine a b c d e f g Journal du Dimanche France 29 June 2003 a b c d e f g h i Journal L Alsace Le Pays 20 February 2001 Profile of Maurice Garin Archived 1 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine Coup de chapeau a Maurice Garin a b c d e This Chart showing Value of French franc in Euros says that 1 French franc was worth circa 3 5 Euros around 1900 a b Sergent Pascal 1997 trans Yates D A Century of Paris Roubaix Bromley Books UK ISBN 0953172902 Site officiel du Paris Brest Paris 2007 Paris brest paris org Archived from the original on 11 October 2007 Retrieved 2 October 2009 Chany Pierre 1988 La Fabuleuse Histoire de Cyclisme vol 1 Nathan France p162 Boeuf Jean Luc and Leonard Yves 2003 La Republique du Tour de France Seuil France p 23 Nicholson Geoffrey 1991 Le Tour the rise and rise of the Tour de France Hodder and Stoughton UK Boeuf Jean Luc and Leonard Yves 2003 La Republique de Tour de France Seuil France Wheatcroft Geoffrey 2003 Le Tour a history of the Tour de France 1903 2003 Pocket Books UK Augendre Jacques 1996 Le Tour de France Panorama d un Siecle Societe du Tour de France France p7 for comparison a kilo of bread cost 40 centimes Chany Pierre 1988 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France p 45 a b c Chany Pierre 1988 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France p46 a b c Garin Il ciclismo di un secolo fa The cycling of a century ago Musumeci 1997 Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France p 61 Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France vol 1 La Martiniere France p 181 Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France p62 Augendre Jacques 1996 Le Tour de France Panorama d un Siecle Societe du Tour de France France p8 Chany Pierre 1986 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France La Martiniere France p65 Chany Pierre 1988 La Fabuleuse Histoire du Tour de France vol 1 Nathan France p184 a b Grincheux Grave 1st juillet 2006 Tour de France Memories of Maurice Garin Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback MachineExternal links editMaurice Garin at Cycling Archives Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Maurice Garin amp oldid 1211240001, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
