Team information | |
---|---|
Registered | France |
Founded | 1905 |
Disbanded | 1962 |
Discipline(s) | Road |
Team name history | |
1905–1912 1913–1914 1915–1921 1922–1931 1932 1933–1959 1961 1962 | Alcyon–Dunlop Alcyon–Soly Alcyon Alcyon–Dunlop Alcyon–Armor Alcyon–Dunlop Alcyon–Leroux Gitane–Leroux–Dunlop–R. Geminiani |
Alcyon was a French professional cycling team that was active from 1905 to 1959, [1] [2] and returned in 1961 and 1962. [3] [4] It was started by Alcyon, a French bicycle, automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.
The team won the Tour de France four times before World War I with François Faber in 1909, Octave Lapize in 1910, Gustave Garrigou in 1911 and Odile Defraye in 1912. Alcyon won the team prize at the Tour de France from 1909 to 1912 and then from 1927 to 1929. [5] In 1909, Calais is de manager of the team and Alphonse Baugé sports directeur. [6] Ludovic Feuillet takes over this position in 1910.
Immediately after the First World War, Alcyon like many other bicycle companies joined a Consortium that employed many riders under the La Sportive name. This consortium would win the Tour de France from 1919 to 1921. The Consortium stopped in 1922 and the member companies which included Automoto, Peugeot and Alcyon restarted up their separate cycling teams. Alcyon grew into a very strong team that dominated the Tour de France with three wins in with Nicolas Frantz in 1927 and in 1928 and Maurice De Waele in 1929.
Alcyon dominated the Tour de France during the 1920s. In the 1929 edition, Maurice Dewaele won the race despite the fact that he was sick when the race went through the Alps. This was because no one attacked the Alcyon rider there. [7] The organisers of the Tour de France decided in 1930 that the race would be disputed by national teams. It has been said that this was done to break the domination of some of the commercial teams, most notably Alcyon [8] As a result, Alcyon was unable to continue to dominate the race. However Alycon-Dunlop riders riding for the French national team were able to dominate the race, such as André Leducq, an Alycon-Dunlop rider who won the very first Tour that was disputed by national teams. [9] Leducq would win the Tour again in 1932, while another Alycon rider, Georges Speicher won the Tour again in 1933. [10] Belgians Romain Maes and Sylvère Maes were riders of the team when they won the Tour de France in 1935, 1936 and 1939.
After World War II, the team name changed to Alcyon-BP (1946–1949), which was followed by Alcyon-Dunlop (1950–1954). Alcyon stopped sponsoring the team after 1958, [11] although a team existed for 1961 and 1962, managed by former rider Georges Speicher. [3] [4]
Philippe Thys was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France.
Nicolas Frantz was a Luxembourgish bicycle racer with 60 professional racing victories over his 12-year career. He rode for the Thomann team in 1923 and then for Alcyon-Dunlop from 1924 to 1931. He won the Tour de France in 1927 and 1928.
Maurice De Waele was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer.
Sylvère Maes was a Belgian cyclist, who is most famous for winning the Tour de France in 1936 and 1939. In 1937, Maes left the 1937 Tour de France together with his Belgian team while he was leading the general classification, in response to actions from French spectators and decisions from the jury.
The 1910 Tour de France was the eighth edition of the Tour de France, taking place 3 to 31 July. It consisted of 15 stages over 4,734 kilometres (2,942 mi), ridden at an average speed of 28.680 km/h. It was the first Tour to enter the Pyrenees mountains. Two main candidates for the victory were 1909 winner François Faber, a sprinter, and Octave Lapize, a climber, both members of the powerful Alcyon team. Because of the points system, their chances for the overall victory were approximately equal. The race was not decided until the final stage, after which Lapize had won by a difference of only four points.
Odile Defraye was a Belgian road racing cyclist who won three stages and the overall title of the 1912 Tour de France, which was the last tour decided by a points system instead of overall best time. He was the first Belgian to win the Tour and was only invited to join Alcyon's all-French team at a late stage for publicity purposes.
The 1909 Tour de France was the seventh edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 5 July to 1 August. It consisted of 14 stages over 4,497 kilometres (2,794 mi), ridden at an average 28.658 km/h. The results were computed by points accorded finishing positions on each stage, the rider with fewest points at the end of the race winning the race. The stages were approximately the same as in the 1907 and 1908 Tour de France.
The 1912 Tour de France was the tenth running of the Tour de France. It consisted of 15 stages for a total of 5,289 kilometres (3,286 mi). The Tour took place from 30 June to 28 July. The riders rode at an average speed of 27.763 km/h (17.251 mph). After 4 stage wins during the Tour of Belgium, the Alcyon team hired Odile Defraye to help Gustave Garrigou repeat his win of the 1911 Tour de France. However, as the race progressed, it was clear that Defraye was the stronger rider, and he was made team leader. Defraye won the 1912 Tour de France, while Garrigou came in third place.
The 1928 Tour de France was the 22nd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 17 June to 15 July. It consisted of 22 stages over 5,376 km (3,340 mi).
The 1930 Tour de France was the 24th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 27 July. It consisted of 21 stages over 4,822 km (2,996 mi).
The 1933 Tour de France was the 27th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 27 June to 23 July. It consisted of 23 stages over 4,395 km (2,731 mi).
Karel Kaers was a Belgian professional cyclist with 30 wins.
Peugeot team was a French professional cycling team that promoted and rode Peugeot racing bikes.
Jean Goldschmit was a professional Luxembourgian road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1946 to 1953 and had 14 victories which included two stage wins and wearing the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification in the Tour de France for three stages. Other wins included cyclo-cross champion of Luxembourg in 1946 and 1947 and road race champion of Luxembourg in 1947 and 1950.
Victor Fontan was a French cyclist who led the 1929 Tour de France but dropped out after knocking at doors at night to ask for another bicycle. His plight led to a change of rules to prevent its happening again. He was also one of three riders who all wore the yellow jersey of leadership on the same day, the only time it has happened.
Marcel Bidot was a French professional road bicycle racer who won two stages of the Tour de France and became manager of the French national team. He led the team in 12 Tours and won six of them.
Saint-Raphaël was a French professional cycling team that existed from 1954 to 1964. Its main sponsor was French apéritif brand Saint-Raphaël. From 1959 to 1961, a sister team existed, Rapha–Gitane–Dunlop. One of its champion riders was Jacques Anquetil.
Rapha–Gitane–Dunlop was a French professional cycling team that existed from 1959 to 1961. It was created as a sister team of the Saint-Raphaël–R. Geminiani–Dunlop.
Media related to Alcyon (cycling team) at Wikimedia Commons