Pierre Matignon
Encyclopedia
Pierre Matignon was the French racing cyclist who held last place in the Tour de France
but won one of its most prestigious stages alone.
, the shorter version of the Tour de France for amateurs and semi-professionals. He had a modest career apart from that, with second and third places and a win at Brigueuil-le-Chantre in 1966 He then turned professional for a team run by the former rider, Louis Caput
, who entered him for the Tour de France in his first season.
, Rik van Looy
and Luis Ocaña
. The winner three years earlier, Lucien Aimar
, was more than an hour behind. Jan Janssen
, the winner in 1968, was at 48 minutes.
Those still riding, however, included Eddy Merckx
, who led the race, the Frenchmen Raymond Poulidor
and Roger Pingeon
and the Italian, Felice Gimondi
.
Matignon was 86th and last, three hours behind the leader. For much of the race he had competed not to win but to finish last, because the lanterne rouge
- the back light of the race - often profited from sympathy in the contracts for round-the-houses races that followed the Tour. In that competition, he was challenged by André Wilhem of the rival Sonolor team. On the 20th day, from Brive to the summit of the Puy-de-Dôme
near Clermont-Ferrand
, Wilhem realised he could not go slower than Matignon and so he attacked right from the start.
The others finally caught him, there was a lull before Pingeon tried an attack, and then the race settled into a long ride across the heat of central France. Everyone was grateful for a breather, said the reporter Jacques Augendre. The decision for the stars would come on the coiling road that ran like a helter-skelter up the old volcano
on which the day finished. They had only to watch each other.
Matignon had punctured while Wilhem was riding clear and, deemed unworthy of help from his team, had ridden on alone behind the race. Eventually he caught it, rode with it for a while, then attacked on the hill at Chavanon where the race slowed down with 66 km to go to take cloth bags of food. He gained three minutes in 20 km, the others taking him no more seriously off the front than they had when he was off the back. Four riders set off to chase when he had five minutes with 30 km left to ride but two were his own team-mates hindering rather than helping the chase. He had seven and a half minutes' lead with 20 km to go.
By Chapatte's Law, devised by the French commentator Robert Chapatte
, it takes a bunch 10 km to reduce a lone rider's lead by a minute. There was now every chance that the lowliest rider in the race would win a stage to the top of the Puy-de-Dôme, a mountain which entered the legend of the Tour five years earlier after a duel there between Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil
.
The Peugeot
team set off the real chase to defend Pingeon's second place as Matignon grew more tired. His lead with 10 km to go had fallen to two kilometres. Merckx joined the chase and rode so hard that only Poulidor and Matignon's team-mate, Paul Gutty from Lyon
, could stay with him. Merckx could see Matignon by the time he turned on to the private road that rose five kilometres at 12.5 per cent. Merckx accelerated again when he got to 500 metres and first Gutty and then Poulidor couldn't keep up. Matignon struggled, zigzagging to keep going on the slope. He never looked back until the hundred metres of flat road at the top, when he knew he had won. He raised one hand in brief salute, loosened his feet from the pedals and freewheeled across the line.
Pierre Chany
wrote:
Matignon finished the Tour 85th He rode once more, in 1972, and came 75th. He raced as a professional from 1969 to 1972 and died when he was 44.
1969
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...
but won one of its most prestigious stages alone.
Background
Pierre Matignon was a little-known rider in the Frimatic team during the Tour de France of 1969. As an amateur he had won a stage in the 1962 Tour de l'AvenirTour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Riders competed in national teams...
, the shorter version of the Tour de France for amateurs and semi-professionals. He had a modest career apart from that, with second and third places and a win at Brigueuil-le-Chantre in 1966 He then turned professional for a team run by the former rider, Louis Caput
Louis Caput
Louis Caput was a French professional racing cyclist and then team manager. He won Paris–Tours in 1948, and two stages of the Tour de France. He was national champion in 1946.-Career:...
, who entered him for the Tour de France in his first season.
1969 Tour de France
The 1969 Tour de France had been an exceptional race and more than a third of the 130 starters had already dropped out by the 20th stage. Among those who had gone home were stars: they included Roger De VlaeminckRoger De Vlaeminck
Roger De Vlaeminck is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as '"The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation"...
, Rik van Looy
Rik Van Looy
Henri van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period, nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals...
and Luis Ocaña
Luis Ocaña
Jesús Luis Ocaña Pernía was a Spanish road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1973 and the Vuelta a España in 1970.- Early professional career :...
. The winner three years earlier, Lucien Aimar
Lucien Aimar
Lucien Aimar is a French cyclist, who won the Tour de France in 1966 and the national road championship in 1968. He is now a race organizer. He was born in Hyères, France.-Amateur career:...
, was more than an hour behind. Jan Janssen
Jan Janssen
Johannes Adrianus Janssen, known as Jan Janssen is a Dutch former professional cyclist . He was world champion and winner of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He was the first Dutch rider to win the Tour de France.Janssen was born at Nootdorp, a small town near Rotterdam and Delft...
, the winner in 1968, was at 48 minutes.
Those still riding, however, included Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx
Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional cyclist. The French magazine Vélo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all...
, who led the race, the Frenchmen Raymond Poulidor
Raymond Poulidor
Raymond Poulidor , is a former professional bicycle racer. He was known as the eternal second, because he finished the Tour de France in second place three times, and in third place five times, including his final Tour at the age of 40...
and Roger Pingeon
Roger Pingeon
Roger Pingeon is a retired professional road bicycle racer from France. He raced as a professional from 1964 to 1974. In 1967, Pingeon won the Tour de France. In 1969, Pingeon won the Vuelta a España and came second behind Eddy Merckx in the Tour de France.-Major achievements:19641965...
and the Italian, Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi
Felice Gimondi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist.With his 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed "The Phoenix", was the second cyclist to win all three Grand Tours of road cycling: Tour de France , Giro...
.
Matignon was 86th and last, three hours behind the leader. For much of the race he had competed not to win but to finish last, because the lanterne rouge
Lanterne rouge
The Lanterne Rouge is the competitor in last place in a cycling race such as the Tour de France. The phrase comes from the French "Red Lantern" and refers to the red lantern hung on the caboose of a railway train, which conductors would look for in order to make sure none of the couplings had...
- the back light of the race - often profited from sympathy in the contracts for round-the-houses races that followed the Tour. In that competition, he was challenged by André Wilhem of the rival Sonolor team. On the 20th day, from Brive to the summit of the Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...
near Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
, Wilhem realised he could not go slower than Matignon and so he attacked right from the start.
The others finally caught him, there was a lull before Pingeon tried an attack, and then the race settled into a long ride across the heat of central France. Everyone was grateful for a breather, said the reporter Jacques Augendre. The decision for the stars would come on the coiling road that ran like a helter-skelter up the old volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
on which the day finished. They had only to watch each other.
Matignon had punctured while Wilhem was riding clear and, deemed unworthy of help from his team, had ridden on alone behind the race. Eventually he caught it, rode with it for a while, then attacked on the hill at Chavanon where the race slowed down with 66 km to go to take cloth bags of food. He gained three minutes in 20 km, the others taking him no more seriously off the front than they had when he was off the back. Four riders set off to chase when he had five minutes with 30 km left to ride but two were his own team-mates hindering rather than helping the chase. He had seven and a half minutes' lead with 20 km to go.
By Chapatte's Law, devised by the French commentator Robert Chapatte
Robert Chapatte
Robert Chapatte was a former Tour de France rider, the voice of the race on television and radio and the inventor of Chapatte's Law.- Racing career :...
, it takes a bunch 10 km to reduce a lone rider's lead by a minute. There was now every chance that the lowliest rider in the race would win a stage to the top of the Puy-de-Dôme, a mountain which entered the legend of the Tour five years earlier after a duel there between Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
.
The Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
team set off the real chase to defend Pingeon's second place as Matignon grew more tired. His lead with 10 km to go had fallen to two kilometres. Merckx joined the chase and rode so hard that only Poulidor and Matignon's team-mate, Paul Gutty from Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, could stay with him. Merckx could see Matignon by the time he turned on to the private road that rose five kilometres at 12.5 per cent. Merckx accelerated again when he got to 500 metres and first Gutty and then Poulidor couldn't keep up. Matignon struggled, zigzagging to keep going on the slope. He never looked back until the hundred metres of flat road at the top, when he knew he had won. He raised one hand in brief salute, loosened his feet from the pedals and freewheeled across the line.
Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany was a French cycling journalist. He covered the Tour de France 49 times and was for a long time the main cycling writer for the daily newspaper, L'Équipe.- Biography :...
wrote:
The night before, the photographers on the race had gone off to buy material with which to make a Chinese lantern they could offer to Louis Caput's novice. But the symbolic light changed destination: it hung instead from the saddle of Wilhem, the rider from Lorraine (region)Lorraine (région)Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
who had lost more than 10 minutes on Matignon and now occupied last place.
Matignon finished the Tour 85th He rode once more, in 1972, and came 75th. He raced as a professional from 1969 to 1972 and died when he was 44.
Palmarès
1966- Brigueil-le-Chantre
1969
- Tour de France1969 Tour de FranceThe 1969 Tour de France was the 56th Tour de France, taking place June 28 to July 20, 1969. It consisted of 22 stages over 4110 km , ridden at an average speed of 35.409 km/h...
:- Winner stage 20