Félix Lévitan
Encyclopedia
Félix Lévitan was the third organiser of the Tour de France
, a role he shared for much of the time with Jacques Goddet
. Lévitan is credited with looking after the financial side of the Tour while Goddet concentrated on the sporting aspect, but in the end Lévitan was fired while Goddet simply retired.
eight years after Maurice Garin
won the first edition of the race he would eventually organise. Lévitan's parents were shopkeepers. He played soccer as a child and tried cycle-racing after working at the Vélodrome d'Hiver
and the Parc des Princes
cycle tracks (velodromes) in the city. The Vél' d'Hiv' was the city's indoor track and the Parc the outside stadium where the Tour de France finished.
The racing inspired Lévitan to become a journalist. It was 1928 and he was 17. He started at the cycling magazine, La Pédale, and from there moved to the Parisien Libéré at the start of World War II
. By 1962 he was director-general, chief editor and head of sport
at Le Parisien Libéré. Among events he covered was the Tour de France, which since 1947 had been organised by Jacques Goddet as editor of the daily sports paper, L'Équipe
. L'Équipe found the organisation demanding and expensive and came to a deal in 1962 with the owner of Parisien Libéré, Émilion Amaury, to sponsor the Tour. In exchange, Lévitan, would become deputy organiser.
In 1988 Pedro Delgado
of Spain
won not only an apartment but a car, an "objet d'art" and only then cash: €82,000. Lévitan had already had to defend himself against charges that the Tour was drowning in bad taste and that it ought to be taken over by the state to save it. In 1981 Lévitan called journalists to open the books. He said not only would the multitude of small sponsors continue but that they would increase. In a speech lasting half an hour, he ran through them one by one, saying that the Tour cost "not a centime" in taxes. The implication was that taxpayers would foot the bill if the state took over.
Lévitan introduced the finish of the Tour at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées
in 1975. It had previously been at the Parc des Princes
and the Piste Municipale.
when in 1981 Jonathan Boyer, sometimes known as Jacques Boyer, became the first American
to ride the Tour. Lévitan capitalised on the transatlantic interest he expected by encouraging Boyer to ride not in his sponsor's jersey but in the stars and stripes
, normally reserved for the American national champion. Lévitan dreamed of a Tour of America, which was born in 1983 and died of enormous losses. The organisation had been delegated to Philippe Riquois, a business associate of Bernard Hinault
whose agency handled the TV rights to the Tour de France outside Europe
.
Lévitan had been a favourite with Émilien Amaury, who now owned not just Parisien Libéré but L'Équipe as well. But when he died, his son Philippe
, bitter over illegal inheritance arrangements that his father had tried to make, took a less charitable view of those his father had appointed.
On 17 March 1987 Lévitan was called to a meeting in the board room in which the Tour's first organiser, Henri Desgrange
had first had the suggested to him the words "Tour de France." A complicated financial discussion ensued. At stake was the losses entailed by the Tour of America. The claim was that it had been cross-financed by the Tour de France
. Lévitan insisted he was innocent but the lock to his office was changed and he arrived at work 17 March 1987, to find his job was over.
He went to live in his vacation house by the Mediterranean and appointed a lawyer to watch for defamatory mentions in newspapers. He stayed away from the Tour and never spoke of it to journalists. Only in 1998 did he return to the race, saying that he and the administration had "come to an understanding", but he refused to talk of his years as organiser or afterwards.
. As a former rider and now a reporter for La Voix du Nord
, Leblanc was one of those who questioned Lévitan the day he opened the books to reporters.
On being appointed, he immediately got rid of Lévitan's many small sponsors. He said:
. He was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
in 1953 and promoted to officer of the Légion d'honneur in 1963. In 2003 he was elevated again to commander of merit of the Légion d'honneur
.
worn by the leader of the King of the Mountains
competition. Lévitan chose the design because it had appealed to him when he saw it as a teenager at the Vélodrome d'Hiver. The finish on the Champs-Elysées will also be a memorial.
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
, a role he shared for much of the time with Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet
Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France from 1936 to 1986....
. Lévitan is credited with looking after the financial side of the Tour while Goddet concentrated on the sporting aspect, but in the end Lévitan was fired while Goddet simply retired.
Background
Félix Lévitan was born in the 13th arrondissement of ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
eight years after Maurice Garin
Maurice Garin
Maurice-Francois Garin was a 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.-Origins:Garin was born the son of Maurice Clément Garin and Maria Teresa...
won the first edition of the race he would eventually organise. Lévitan's parents were shopkeepers. He played soccer as a child and tried cycle-racing after working at the Vélodrome d'Hiver
Vélodrome d'hiver
The Vélodrome d'Hiver , colloquially Vel' d'Hiv, was an indoor bicycle racing cycle track and stadium on rue Nélaton, not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. As well as track cycling, it was used for ice hockey, wrestling, boxing, roller-skating, circuses, spectaculars, and demonstrations...
and the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
cycle tracks (velodromes) in the city. The Vél' d'Hiv' was the city's indoor track and the Parc the outside stadium where the Tour de France finished.
The racing inspired Lévitan to become a journalist. It was 1928 and he was 17. He started at the cycling magazine, La Pédale, and from there moved to the Parisien Libéré at the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. By 1962 he was director-general, chief editor and head of sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
at Le Parisien Libéré. Among events he covered was the Tour de France, which since 1947 had been organised by Jacques Goddet as editor of the daily sports paper, L'Équipe
L'Équipe
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
. L'Équipe found the organisation demanding and expensive and came to a deal in 1962 with the owner of Parisien Libéré, Émilion Amaury, to sponsor the Tour. In exchange, Lévitan, would become deputy organiser.
The drive for cash
Before long Lévitan became co-organiser. He began a drive to recruit as many sponsors as he could, sometimes accepting prizes in kind if he could not get cash. 1976 first prize included a seaside apartment given by the businessman Guy Merlin, sometimes with extra money but not always.In 1988 Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado Robledo , also known as Perico, is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989....
of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
won not only an apartment but a car, an "objet d'art" and only then cash: €82,000. Lévitan had already had to defend himself against charges that the Tour was drowning in bad taste and that it ought to be taken over by the state to save it. In 1981 Lévitan called journalists to open the books. He said not only would the multitude of small sponsors continue but that they would increase. In a speech lasting half an hour, he ran through them one by one, saying that the Tour cost "not a centime" in taxes. The implication was that taxpayers would foot the bill if the state took over.
Lévitan introduced the finish of the Tour at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
in 1975. It had previously been at the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
and the Piste Municipale.
The Tour of America
Lévitan continued to look for sponsors and saw a chance to attract money from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when in 1981 Jonathan Boyer, sometimes known as Jacques Boyer, became the first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to ride the Tour. Lévitan capitalised on the transatlantic interest he expected by encouraging Boyer to ride not in his sponsor's jersey but in the stars and stripes
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
, normally reserved for the American national champion. Lévitan dreamed of a Tour of America, which was born in 1983 and died of enormous losses. The organisation had been delegated to Philippe Riquois, a business associate of Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault is a former French cyclist known for five victories in the Tour de France. He is one of only five cyclists to have won all three Grand Tours, and the only cyclist to have won each more than once. He won the Tour de France in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985...
whose agency handled the TV rights to the Tour de France outside Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Lévitan had been a favourite with Émilien Amaury, who now owned not just Parisien Libéré but L'Équipe as well. But when he died, his son Philippe
Philippe Amaury
Philippe Amaury was a French publishing tycoon and entrepreneur who dominated the French media world. Amaury was the son of the publisher Émilien Amaury....
, bitter over illegal inheritance arrangements that his father had tried to make, took a less charitable view of those his father had appointed.
On 17 March 1987 Lévitan was called to a meeting in the board room in which the Tour's first organiser, Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set 12 world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France.-Origins:Henri Desgrange was one of two brothers, twins...
had first had the suggested to him the words "Tour de France." A complicated financial discussion ensued. At stake was the losses entailed by the Tour of America. The claim was that it had been cross-financed by the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. Lévitan insisted he was innocent but the lock to his office was changed and he arrived at work 17 March 1987, to find his job was over.
He went to live in his vacation house by the Mediterranean and appointed a lawyer to watch for defamatory mentions in newspapers. He stayed away from the Tour and never spoke of it to journalists. Only in 1998 did he return to the race, saying that he and the administration had "come to an understanding", but he refused to talk of his years as organiser or afterwards.
Change of administration
Lévitan was himself 76 and Jacques Goddet 80. With age and with the changing of the guard at L'Équipe and the Tour de France, Goddet retired the following year. The pair were replaced for a year by a cognac salesman called Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet, who in turn was replaced by Jean-Marie LeblancJean-Marie Leblanc
Jean-Marie Leblanc is a French retired professional road bicycle racer who was general director of the Tour de France from 1989 to 2005, when he reached pensionable age and was succeeded by Christian Prudhomme.He became a professional in 1966 and rode until 1971...
. As a former rider and now a reporter for La Voix du Nord
La Voix du Nord
La Voix du Nord is a regional daily newspaper of the North of France. The paper sponsors the GP de Fourmies bicycle race. It is owned by the Belgian company Rossel, who purchased it from Socpresse in 2006....
, Leblanc was one of those who questioned Lévitan the day he opened the books to reporters.
On being appointed, he immediately got rid of Lévitan's many small sponsors. He said:
- "My first preoccupation has been to restore the Tour's sporting credibility. We have simplified the Tour, which had become incomprehensible to the public, and cut the trophies from 12 to six, with just four classifications: the yellow jerseyYellow jerseyThe general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...
, the winner of the stage, the polka dot jerseyPolka dot jerseyThe Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
for the best climber and the green jerseyGreen jerseyThe green jersey is a term used in road bicycle racing and Grand Tour stage races in particular. The green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the leader in a subsidiary competition....
for the points competition. Cutting the number of partenaires has increased their visibility, which means we can charge them higher prices. - "We wanted to offer the sort of prizes offered in the greatest sports events in the world, like the Roland GarrosFrench Open (tennis)The French Open |Roland Garros]]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are...
tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament."
Honours
Lévitan founded and was first president of the Union Syndicale des Journalistes Sportifs de France (1957–1965), then president of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (1964–1973). He was mayor of Auffargis, YvelinesYvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
. He was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1953 and promoted to officer of the Légion d'honneur in 1963. In 2003 he was elevated again to commander of merit of the Légion d'honneur
.
The legacy
Apart from the fact that he saw the Tour through some of its trickiest financial times, the legacy that remains from the Lévitan days is the Polka dot jerseyPolka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
worn by the leader of the King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
competition. Lévitan chose the design because it had appealed to him when he saw it as a teenager at the Vélodrome d'Hiver. The finish on the Champs-Elysées will also be a memorial.