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Victor Dupré (11 March 1884 – 7 June 1938) was a French track cyclist who won the sprint event at the 1909 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. That same year, he also claimed the French national sprint championship, as well as victories at the Grand Prix de Reims and the Grand Prix de Buffalo. He won the Buffalo event again in 1914. On the road, Dupré competed in the inaugural 1903 Tour de France, though he withdrew during the first stage.
Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor (26 November 1878 – 21 June 1932) was an American professional cyclist and is widely recognized as the first Black American global sports superstar. He turned professional in 1896 at age 18 and quickly made his mark in East Coast track events, including six-day races. By 1897, Taylor focused on sprint racing and rapidly rose through the national circuit. Between 1898 and 1899, he set multiple world records at distances ranging from a quarter-mile to two miles.
In 1899, Taylor won the one-mile sprint at the world championships, becoming the first Black American world champion and the second Black athlete to win a world title in any sport, following Canadian boxer George Dixon in 1890. Taylor was also U.S. national sprint champion in 1899 and 1900. He competed internationally across the United States, Europe, and Australia from 1901 to 1904. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, he made a comeback from 1907 to 1909 before retiring to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1910.
Émile Louis Friol (9 March 1881 – 16 November 1916) was a dominant French track cyclist. He won the UCI World Sprint Championship twice, in 1907 and 1910, and took a bronze medal in 1906. He was European Sprint Championin both 1907 and 1910 and claimed the French national sprint title five times: in 1904, 1906, 1907, 1910, and 1913. Friol also won numerous prestigious races, including the Grand Prix de Paris (1905, 1907, 1909, 1910), Grand Prix de Reims (1907, 1910), Grand Prix de l’UVF (1908, 1910, 1911), and the Grand Prix de Buffalo in 1910.
He died during World War I in 1916, killed by a bomb while serving as a motorcycle dispatch rider on the Western Front.
Thorvald Ellegaard (7 March 1877 – 27 April 1954) was Denmark’s first true sporting idol and one of the most accomplished track cyclists of the early 20th century. He won the world professional sprint title six times, along with three European championships and 24 national titles. He also triumphed in the Grand Prix de Paris in 1901 and 1911. Over a 31-year career, Ellegaard competed in 1,560 major races, winning 925 of them.
La Française Diamant was a prominent French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles, founded in 1890 by Victor Besse and François Tripier. The company sponsored a successful professional cycling team and was known for producing high-performance “Diamant” racing bicycles. They frequently promoted their products with lithographic posters showcasing their champion riders and French engineering excellence.
Pierre Gonzague Privat (1880–1915) was a French artist and cyclist. An avid racer himself, he participated in the 1906 and 1907 Tours de France. Privat later became known for his commercial artwork and poster designs, including the 1909 La Française Diamant cycling poster. Tragically, he was killed in action during World War I.
Hutchinson Bicycle Tires
Hiram Hutchinson, an American living in France, acquired the European patent for rubber vulcanization from Charles Goodyear in 1853 and established the brand “À l’Aigle” (a nod to the American eagle). In 1890, Hutchinson began manufacturing bicycle tires in Châlette-sur-Loing, France.
By 1906, Hutchinson engineers had developed a new single-filament casing technology called Monofil, which was advertised as “stronger than steel” and quickly adopted by elite racers. In 1909, cyclist Léon Georget secured Hutchinson’s first major racing victory using Monofil tires.
Over the next several decades, Hutchinson became synonymous with elite cycling, with champions such as Louison Bobet—winner of the Tour de France in 1953, 1954, and 1955—and Jacques Anquetil, who won five Tours between 1957 and 1964, all riding on Hutchinson tires.
In 2020, Hutchinson celebrated 130 years of cycling history. It remains the only bicycle tire manufacturer still producing its products in France.
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