André Darrigade

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André Darrigade

Personal information
Full name	André Darrigade
Nickname	Dédé
Date of birth	April 12, 1929 (1929-04-12) (age 80)
Country	France
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)1
1952-1955 1956-1960 1961 1962 1963-1965 1966	La Perle Helyett Alcyon Leroux-Gitane Margnat-Paloma Kamome
Major wins
World championship (1959) Tour de France green jersey (1959,1961) Giro di Lombardia (1956)
Medal record Competitor for  France Road bicycle racing World Championships Bronze 1957 Waregem Professional road race Bronze 1958 Reims Professional road race Gold 1959 Zandvoort Professional road race Silver 1960 Karl-Marx-Stadt Profesional road race
Infobox last updated on:
April 16, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

André Darrigade (born Narosse, 24 April 1929^[1]) was a French professional road bicycle racer between 1951 and 1966^[2]. Darrigade, a road sprinter won the 1959 world championship and 22 stages of the Tour de France. Five of those were on the first day.^[3] The record has never been equalled.^[4]

Contents 1 Origins 2 Professional career 3 Parc des Princes crash 4 Honours and personal life 5 Palmarès 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Origins

André Darrigade was born at Narosse, near Dax in the forested Landes region. He came to attention at the other end of the country and on the track by beating the future world sprint champion, Antonio Maspes^[5] in a meeting at the Vélodrome d'Hiver the night before the six-day race there.

His name immediately appealed to northern crowds. René de Latour said: "It is a very 'musical' name to [northern] French ears, especially when pronounced by a southerner who rolls his Rs like a Scotsman to make it sound like Darrrrrigade.^[6] De Latour said:

André Darrigade is heavily built and would have made a good football centre forward. He has blond hair, clear eyes, rosy cheeks, and is a bit on the shy side. When we first saw him in Paris soon after the war finished he was a novice, not a roadman at all. He had come to the big city to ride in the final of the famous Médaille race at the Vélodrome d'Hiver. When he arrived at the Vélodrome d'Hiver, he had no soigneur, no dressing gown^[7], nobody to hold him up at the start, pump his tyres or adjust his position to suit the high, frightening bankings. He was lonely — but courageous. And guess who was his principal victim — Antonio Maspes! ^[8]

Darrigade stayed in Paris and joined one of its leading clubs, the Vélo-Club d'Asnières-Courbevoie, at the invitation of Francis Pélissier, the former professional who was one of its officials. Darrigade rode again on the track at the Vél' d'Hiv, winning madisons and sprints, and won four races on the road. He turned professional in 1951 for a salary that barely covered his rent

[edit] Professional career

Raphaël Géminiani said: "Darrigade was the greatest French sprinter of all time and he'll stay that way for a long time. The mould has been broken. But he wasn't just a sprinter. He was an animateur who could start decisive breaks; he destroyed the imafe of sprinters who just sit on wheels."^[9] He began his sprints from a long distance from the line, challenging others to pass him. It endeared him to the French public, said de Latour.

Darrigade won 16 yellow jerseys and 22 stages. He won the opening stage of the Tour de France in 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1961. Darrigade lost time in the mountains, however, and his best final positions were 16th in 1956, 1959 and 1960. In single-day races, he won the national championship in 1955 and a year and a half later the Tour of Lombardy. He won the world championship at Zandvoort on 16 August 1959, breaking clear with the Italian, Michele Gismondi, and an unknown Dane, Retvig. Darrigade was at his best in the middle of the season and the spring races were too early and those in autumn too late. He did, however, come fourth in the 1957 Paris-Roubaix, 3rd in Milan-Sanremo and second in Paris-Brussels in 1960.

He said: "I was always considered a team man. I never had any pretensions to be anything else. In the days when the Tour had national teams, Marcel Bidot [the manager] always saw me as just that. Those wins never became dull or routine. Each one was an immense pleasure. What's more, I had the chance to race alongside such great champions as Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil." He was close to Anquetil, whom he called "bizarrely calm." He said: "Quite often, I had to say to him, 'If you don't get going, you'll lose the Tour."^[10]

[edit] Parc des Princes crash

The Tour in 1958 finished at the Parc des Princes in western Paris. The 70-year-old sécrétaire-général^[11] of the stadium, Constant Wouters^[12] ran across the grass in the centre of the ground to prevent photographers encroaching on the track^[13]. The journalists hid the riders and Wouters from each other and Darrigade rode into Wouters as he stepped on to the track. Darrigade was lifted from his bike and turned round and Wouters thrown into the air.^[14] Both fell heavily and were taken to hospital.

Wouters was treated at the nearby Boucicaut medical centre but died on 31 July.^[15] Darrigade cracked his skull and broke ribs.^[16] He was able to return to return before the end of the meeting to take a lap of honour.^[17][18][19]

[edit] Honours and personal life

Darrigade retired to run a newspaper shop in Biarritz. It was painted red in honour of the town's rugby team. A stadium in Dax is named after him.^[20] Darrigade's brother, Roger, six years younger, also rode as a professional.

[edit] Palmarès

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Memoire-du-Cyclisme: Palmares
• Critical injury in 1958 TdF
• Official Tour de France results for André Darrigade

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ercole Baldini	World Road Racing Champion 1959	Succeeded by Rik Van Looy

v • d • e Tour de France Green jersey winners 1953 Fritz Schär · 1954 Ferdinand Kübler · 1955-1956 Stan Ockers · 1957 Jean Forestier · 1958 Jean Graczyk · 1959 André Darrigade · 1960 Jean Graczyk · 1961 André Darrigade · 1962 Rudi Altig · 1963 Rik van Looy · 1964-1965 Jan Janssen · 1966 Willy Planckaert · 1967 Jan Janssen · 1968 Franco Bitossi · 1969 Eddy Merckx · 1970 Walter Godefroot · 1971-1972 Eddy Merckx · 1973 Herman van Springel · 1974 Patrick Sercu · 1975 Rik Van Linden · 1976 Freddy Maertens · 1977 Jacques Esclassan · 1978 Freddy Maertens · 1979 Bernard Hinault · 1980 Rudy Pevenage · 1981 Freddy Maertens · 1982-1983 Sean Kelly · 1984 Frank Hoste · 1985 Sean Kelly · 1986 Eric Vanderaerden · 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel · 1988 Eddy Planckaert · 1989 Sean Kelly · 1990 Olaf Ludwig · 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov · 1992 Laurent Jalabert · 1993-1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov · 1995 Laurent Jalabert · 1996-2001 Erik Zabel · 2002 Robbie McEwen · 2003 Baden Cooke · 2004 Robbie McEwen · 2005 Thor Hushovd · 2006 Robbie McEwen · 2007 Tom Boonen · 2008 Óscar Freire

v • d • e Tour de France Combativity award winners 1956: Darrigade | 1957: Barone | 1958: Bahamontes | 1959: Saint | 1960: Graczyk | 1961: Team West-Southwest | 1962: Pauwels | 1963: van Looy | 1964: Anglade | 1965: Gimondi | 1966: Altig | 1967: Letort | 1968: Pingeon | 1969–1970: Merckx | 1971: Ocaña | 1972: Guimard | 1973: Ocaña | 1974–1975: Merckx | 1976: Delisle | 1977: Knetemann | 1978: Wellens | 1979: Kuiper | 1980: Levavasseur | 1981: Hinault | 1982: Clère | 1983: Demierre | 1984: Hinault | 1985: Ducrot | 1986: Hinault | 1987: Delgado | 1988: Simon | 1989: Fignon | 1990: Chozas | 1991–1992: Chiappucci | 1993: Ghirotto | 1994: Poli | 1995: Buenahora | 1996–1997: Virenque | 1998–1999: Durand | 2000: Dekker | 2001–2002: Jalabert | 2003: Vinokourov | 2004: Virenque | 2005: Pereiro | 2006: de la Fuente | 2007: Txurruka | 2008: Chavanel