Francis Faure was a French

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

racer who captured the

world hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious reco ...

in July 1933 on a Vélocar. This prompted the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI) to restrict bicycle designs for all future competitions.

Early life

Francis was brother of Benoît Faure and Eugène Faure.

1933

On July 7, 1933, Faure rode a Vélocar developed by Charles Mochet in the

Vélodrome d'Hiver The Vélodrome d'Hiver (, ''Winter Velodrome''), colloquially Vel' d'Hiv', was an indoor bicycle racing cycle track and stadium (velodrome) on rue Nélaton, not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. As well as a Track cycling, cycling track, it was ...

in Paris, and he beat the hour record of 44.247 km set by

Oscar Egg Oscar Egg (2 March 1890 – 9 February 1961) was a Swiss track and road bicycle racer. He captured the world hour record three times before the First World War and won major road races and stages of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. ...

on August 18, 1914, by 0.808 km. At the time, Faure was considered a "second-rate" cyclist and was not Mochet's first choice. The unfaired, or "stock" recumbent record stood until it was broken in 2007 by an "unclassified" racer Sean Costin, who covered 48.80 km (28.46 mi) on the 382m outdoor concrete velodrome in Northbrook, Illinois. He rode a recumbent made by the Polish manufacturer Velokraft (model name NoCom), which he converted to a fixed-gear for the indoor event.

1938

In 1938, Faure rode an updated, streamlined Vélocar to become the first cyclists to exceed 50 km in one hour, but this record is unofficial because of the UCI ban on non-traditional designs. This record was not broken on a conventional bicycle until

Francesco Moser Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition. Moser ...

rode one for 51.151 km in 1984.

Postscript

Faure moved to Australia when WWII started, and died there in 1948.

References

French male cyclists Cyclists from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1910 births 1953 deaths Sportspeople from Puy-de-Dôme {{France-cycling-bio-stub