André Darrigade

André Darrigade

Personal information
Full name	André Darrigade
Nickname	Dédé
Born	(1929-04-24) April 24, 1929 (age 83) Narosse, France
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
1952-1955 1956-1960 1961 1962 1963-1965 1966	La Perle Helyett Alcyon Leroux-Gitane Margnat-Paloma Kamome
Major wins
Tour de France Points classification (1959, 1961) World Championship (1959) 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

André Darrigade (born Narrosse, 24 April 1929^[1]) was a French professional road bicycle racer between 1951 and 1966.^[1] 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.^[2] The record has never been equalled.^[3]

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^[4] 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.^[5] 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,^[6] 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! ^[5]

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

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 image of sprinters who just sit on wheels."^[7] 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, 1959 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 – San Remo 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."^[3]

Parc des Princes crash

On July 19, 1958 the Tour finished at the Parc des Princes in western Paris. The 70-year-old sécrétaire-général^[8] of the stadium, Constant Wouters^[9] ran across the grass in the centre of the ground to prevent photographers encroaching on the track.^[10] 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.^[11] Both fell heavily and were taken to hospital.

Wouters was treated at the nearby Boucicaut medical centre but died on 31 July.^[12] Darrigade cracked his skull and broke ribs.^[3] He was able to return before the end of the meeting to take a lap of honour.^[13][14][15]

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.^[16] Darrigade's brother, Roger, six years younger, also rode as a professional.

Palmarès

References

External links

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

v t e UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race 1927 Alfredo Binda 1928–1929 Georges Ronsse 1930 Alfredo Binda 1931 Learco Guerra 1932 Alfredo Binda 1933 Georges Speicher 1934 Karel Kaers 1935 Jean Aerts 1936 Antonin Magne 1937 Éloi Meulenberg 1938 Marcel Kint 1946 Hans Knecht 1947 Theo Middelkamp 1948 Briek Schotte 1949 Rik Van Steenbergen 1950 Briek Schotte 1951 Ferdi Kübler 1952 Heinz Müller 1953 Fausto Coppi 1954 Louison Bobet 1955 Stan Ockers 1956–1957 Rik Van Steenbergen 1958 Ercole Baldini 1959 André Darrigade 1960–1961 Rik Van Looy 1962 Jean Stablinski 1963 Benoni Beheyt 1964 Jan Janssen 1965 Tom Simpson 1966 Rudi Altig 1967 Eddy Merckx 1968 Vittorio Adorni 1969 Harm Ottenbros 1970 Jean-Pierre Monseré 1971 Eddy Merckx 1972 Marino Basso 1973 Felice Gimondi 1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Hennie Kuiper 1976 Freddy Maertens 1977 Francesco Moser 1978 Gerrie Knetemann 1979 Jan Raas 1980 Bernard Hinault 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Giuseppe Saronni 1983 Greg LeMond 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Joop Zoetemelk 1986 Moreno Argentin 1987 Stephen Roche 1988 Maurizio Fondriest 1989 Greg LeMond 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991–1992 Gianni Bugno 1993 Lance Armstrong 1994 Luc Leblanc 1995 Abraham Olano 1996 Johan Museeuw 1997 Laurent Brochard 1998 Oscar Camenzind 1999 Óscar Freire 2000 Romāns Vainšteins 2001 Óscar Freire 2002 Mario Cipollini 2003 Igor Astarloa 2004 Óscar Freire 2005 Tom Boonen 2006–2007 Paolo Bettini 2008 Alessandro Ballan 2009 Cadel Evans 2010 Thor Hushovd 2011 Mark Cavendish

v t e Tour de France points classification 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 2009 Thor Hushovd 2010 Alessandro Petacchi 2011 Mark Cavendish

v t e Tour de France combativity award winners 1956 André Darrigade 1957 Nicolas Barone 1958 Federico Bahamontes 1959 Gérard Saint 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 Team West-Southwest 1962 Eddy Pauwels 1963 Rik van Looy 1964 Henry Anglade 1965 Felice Gimondi 1966 Rudi Altig 1967 Désiré Letort 1968 Roger Pingeon 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971 Luis Ocaña 1972 Cyrille Guimard 1973 Luis Ocaña 1974–1975 Eddy Merckx 1976 Raymond Delisle 1977 Gerrie Knetemann 1978 Paul Wellens 1979 Hennie Kuiper 1980 Christian Levavasseur 1981 Bernard Hinault 1982 Régis Clère 1983 Serge Demierre 1984 Bernard Hinault 1985 Maarten Ducrot 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Régis Clère 1988 Jérôme Simon 1989 Laurent Fignon 1990 Eduardo Chozas 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Massimo Ghirotto 1994 Eros Poli 1995 Hernán Buenahora 1996–1997 Richard Virenque 1998–1999 Jacky Durand 2000 Erik Dekker 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003 Alexander Vinokourov 2004 Richard Virenque 2005 Óscar Pereiro 2006 David de la Fuente 2007 Amets Txurruka 2008 Sylvain Chavanel 2009 None 2010 Sylvain Chavanel 2011 Jérémy Roy