Description
Paris-Brussels
Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur event over a distance of 397 km. Belgian Andre Henry took the inaugural victory from compatriot Charles Delbecque, with France’s Fernand Augenault coming in third. The race did not return to the racing calendar until 1906, when it was run as a two-day event on 3 and 4 June. The first stage of this 1906 event was run from the Paris suburb of Villiers-sur-Marne to Reims, covering 152 km, and was won by France’s Maurice Bardonneau. Albert Dupont took the more challenging second stage on the following day from Reims to Brussels, over 239 km, to take the overall race victory from compatriots Jules Patou and Guillaume Coeckelberg. The following year, the race reverted to being a one-day race and quickly established itself as one of the Spring Classics with a date towards the end of April, between Paris–Roubaix and Gent–Wevelgem. The event lost its prestige during the 1960s when the race was beset by traffic problems between the two capitals, and the Dutch-promoted Amstel Gold Race took its place on the classics calendar. The race was not run between 1967 and 1972.
When the race returned in 1973, it was staged on a midweek date towards the end of September, just before Paris-Tours. The 1973 race was won by Eddy Merckx. In 1996, the race was switched from its midweek date back to a Saturday. The most individual wins stood at three for a long time: by Octave Lapize (France) and Félix Sellier (Belgium). Lapize won in 1911, 1912, and 1913, and Sellier in 1922, 1923, and 1924. Lapize could have been a four-time winner but was disqualified after crossing the line first in the 1910 race when he and two other riders did not observe a mid-race neutralised section. Maurice Brocco, who crossed the line in fourth place, was declared the eventual winner. In 2007, Robbie McEwen broke the record by winning his fourth race, and bettered this again with a fifth win in 2008.
In 2005, the race was set to change its name to the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx after the race organisers reached an agreement to amalgamate the two events. However, the deal fell through at the last minute, and Paris–Brussels retained its name, and the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx, a two-rider time trial event, disappeared from the racing calendar
Memorable Races and Victories
Octave Lapize’s second victory in 1912 had an element of good fortune about it. Lucien Petit-Breton and Cyrille van Hauwaert had broken away, and the race looked certain to be decided between them when both riders were knocked off their bikes by a police horse, allowing Lapize to overtake and claim victory. The 1921 race, won by Frenchman Robert Reboul, was controversial because a group of riders chasing a 15-man breakaway (including Reboul) was sent down the wrong route by the race director. One of the riders sent the wrong way in that 1921 race was Felix Sellier, who made up for that disappointment by triumphing in the next three editions of the race. His three victories were not without difficulties, however. In 1922, he survived a fierce attack from a cloud of insects; in 1923, he had to catch a break that had gained a fifteen-minute advantage; and in 1924, he suffered two punctures in the latter part of the race just as the vital break was forming.
The victory by Belgian Ernest Mottard in 1930 featured one of the great escapes in the history of the race. Mottard broke away from the peloton with 130 miles (210 km) remaining and stayed away until the finish. Ireland’s Shay Elliott was particularly unfortunate in 1958, he had a lead of over a minute with only three miles remaining when he smashed the frame of this bike with no team car near at hand, he was offered a touring bicycle by a spectator but was quickly caught by the chasing bunch and finished well down the field with Belgium’s Rik Van Looy taking final victory. The 1963 edition of the race was made memorable by a small breakaway forming well before the border into Belgium, which was a rare event in itself. The break established a 13-minute lead and included Britain’s Tom Simpson who was expected to win, being the best sprinter in the break, however his gears slipped in the final sprint and he lost out to France’s Jean Stablinski.
The 1966 edition of Paris–Brussels was to be the last for seven years, as the race was beset by traffic problems to the route and a loss of prestige as the Amstel Gold Race took its place on the Spring Classics calendar. However, the 1966 race was made memorable by Italian Felice Gimondi who had won the 1965 Tour de France and seven days earlier had triumphed at Paris–Roubaix. Gimondi was the favourite for the race and a marked man, he lived up to his billing by breaking away with the help of teammate Dino Zandegu and winning the race in what was then a record time. Marc Demeyer claimed a close victory from Roger De Vlaeminck and Roger Rosiers in 1974 in the town of Alsemberg which hosted the finish of the race between 1973 and 1980. Gimondi’s record time lasted until 1975 when Freddy Maertens won the race in what was then a record average speed for a professional race and being awarded the Ruban Jaune for averaging 46.11 km per hour throughout the 285.5 km course. Felice Gimondi won again in 1976, ten years after his first victory, once more breaking away while the sprinters watched each other.
The 1983 race saw Sweden’s Tommy Prim become the first Scandinavian rider to win a classic race. The 1994 race saw a breakaway by Sean Yates, Rolf Sørensen and Franco Ballerini, animosity existed between Yates and Sørensen after a shirt pulling incident in the Tour de France of that year, however, Sørensen dropped his breakaway companions and triumphed. The 1983 victory by Prim saw the start of the trend of the Paris–Brussels winner coming from more diverse nationalities from non traditional cycling nations with victories going to riders from Germany, Holland, Denmark, Latvia, Australia and Luxembourg in the ensuing years. 2010 saw the first victory in the race by a Spaniard when Francisco Ventoso took victory as the race finished in the Uccle municipality of Brussels for the first time.
Excerpt from Wikipedia.org – read the full article here
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The Musette: A Simple Cloth Bag and Icon of Cycling
We see riders wrapped in spare tubes with goggles firmly in place, carrying the unmistakable fabric food bag from bicycle racing’s earliest photographs. This simple but vital musette bag takes its name from the nose bag often seen hanging around horses’ necks.
Getting food and water to riders has always been a tricky but crucial part of racing. In the early days, riders often raided bars and cafes to supplement what a rider could carry in a musette, leaving bills for race organizers to settle later. Formal feed zones were introduced to racing in 1919, but riders still had to stop to take on provisions from large tables. By the 1950s, the random cafes and tables of food began to be replaced by team staff on the side of the road handing off the musettes to riders who did not need to stop and risk losing valuable time. As cycling technology advances, with innovations like radios and wireless shifting, the proven and straightforward musette bag remains a vital method for riders in the peloton to get food and drinks.
In the early days, musettes were not available for fans to purchase. They were highly prized and collected, especially when a favorite brand or race was featured.
This item is one of a kind; please look carefully at the photos to determine the condition.
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