The Vélodrome Buffalo and Stade Buffalo were cycling tracks in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The first existed from 1892 until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The second from 1922 until 1957. The name derives from the showman

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

Cody, whose circus played on the grounds of the first velodrome.

The first velodrome

The Vélodrome Buffalo was not far from the

Porte Maillot The Porte Maillot (also known as the porte Mahiaulx, Mahiau or Mahiot after a Paille-maille court, or the Porte de Neuilly Alfred Fierro, ''Histoire et dictionnaire de Paris'', Robert Laffont, 1580 pages, 1996 ; page 848 : "the porte de Neuill ...

, at

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

.INAUGURATION OF THE BUFFALO VELODROME."
''Sporting Life'', Wednesday 09 April 1902, p.8. The British Newspaper Archive: Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited in partnership with the British Library. Retrieved 27 October 2020. It had been built by May 1892, and originally had a track surface made from cement. The first races took place there on 4 June 1892. BUFFALO, PARIS."
'Sporting Life'', Saturday 28 May 1892, p.8.The British Newspaper Archive: Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited in partnership with the British Library. Retrieved 25 October 2020. On Monday 4 July 1892, Arthur DuCros, representing Ireland, won the ten kilometre scratch event for the Silver Buffalo Challenge Cup at this velodrome. DuCros won by a length from A.E.Good, of London. This race was a ten kilometre race between the British champions. Several world records were set in this velodrome. On 4 July 1892, in a race contested between the French amateur champions,

Henri Fournier Henri Fournier (14 April 1871, in Le Mans – 18 December 1919) was a French racing driver. Fournier began his career on motorcycles and tricycles. In 1901 he came to the Mors racing team and was the most successful driver of this year, as he wo ...

set the world record for ten kilometres, with a time of fifteen minutes and fifteen seconds. This beat the previous world record by 1 second. On 13 July 1892, Auguste Stéphane had cycled 631 kilometres in 24 hours. This distance beat the English record over 24 hours held by Holbein, by 49 kilometres. And it beat the American record held by Waller, by 46 kilometres.

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. Yo ...

set the first ratified

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 re ...

on 11 May 1893 covering 35.325 km. In May 1893 a rider called Cassignard set the world kilometre standing start record at 1 minute and 28 seconds. On 27 September 1893 French cycling star

Charles Terront Charles Terront (9 April 1857 – 31 October 1932) was the first major French cycling star. He won sprint, middle distance and endurance events in Europe and the United States. In September 1891 he won the first Paris–Brest–Paris cycle ra ...

left

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

to cycle the across Poland and Germany before arriving at the Vélodrome Buffalo after 14 days and 7 hours. The

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

24-hour race began at the track in 1894 and was frequently run there. On 19 May 1895, the Welsh rider

Jimmy Michael Jimmy Michael (18 August 1877 – 21 November 1904) was a Welsh world cycling champion and one of the top riders in the sport for several years. Origins Jimmy Michael was tall. He was born in Aberaman, Cynon Valley, Wales. His parents had a b ...

broke the 100 miles cycling record and registered a time of 4 hours, 2 minutes and 45 seconds. The French champion

Constant Huret Constant Huret, nicknamed "le Boulanger" (the Baker) (26 January 1870, in Ressons-le-Long – 18 September 1951, in Paris) was a French long distance track cycling, track racing cyclist. He was a professional from 1894 to 1902. Major achievemen ...

was second place in this race, 5 minutes and 12 seconds behind Michael. On 8 June 1895, Jimmy beat his own time over 100 miles at the same track, during a 6 hour race against Gaston Rivierre, Tom Linton,

Lucien Lesna Lucien Lesna (11 October 1863 – 11 July 1932) was a French racing cyclist. He won the 1901 and 1902 Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing i ...

, The, Charles Lucas, and Aries. The writer

Tristan Bernard Tristan Bernard (7 September 1866 – 7 December 1947) was a French playwright, novelist, journalist and lawyer. Life He studied law, and after his military service, he started his career as the manager of an aluminium smelter. In the 1890s, ...

was director of the track in 1895. He is supposed to have introduced the practice of ringing a bell to announce the last lap of a race. The track was renovated in 1902 to accommodate 8,000 spectators. This new renovation was completed on the same site as the old track, within five minutes walk of the Porte Maillot. The lap was reduced to 330 yards (301.752 metres), and laid with a new surface made from wood. The velodrome opened again on 6 April 1902.RACING AND RECORD BREAKING IN 1902. GOOD FRIDAY."
''Sporting Life'', Monday 24 November 1902.p.7.The British Newspaper Archive: Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited in partnership with the British Library. Retrieved 26 October 2020. The original velodrome was demolished during

and the land used for an aeroplane factory.

The second velodrome

Le Stade Buffalo was near Paris, at

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

. It opened on 24 September 1922 and was demolished in 1957. It could accommodate 30,000 spectators for football matches and 40,000 for boxing matches. It housed a concrete cycling track. It continued to occasionally host the

Bol d'Or cycle race The Bol d'Or was a bicycle track race that ran in France between 1894 and 1950. It was a paced, 24-hour endurance event. It has been won by several notable cyclists including Constant Huret (4 times), the Australian Hubert Opperman and three tim ...

. This stadium hosted three international football matches: on 13 January 1924 France beat Belgium 2–0 in front of 27,000 spectators; on 21 February 1921 they beat Ireland 4-0 and on 7 December 1930 they drew 2–2 with Belgium. On 2 January 1938 the stadium hosted the inaugural

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

test match between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, won 35-6 by Australia.

References

External links

velodromes at bikecult.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velodrome Buffalo Velodromes in France Sports venues in Paris Cycling in Paris Sports venues completed in 1892 Sports venues completed in 1922 Sports venues demolished in 1957 Defunct sports venues in France Demolished buildings and structures in France