José Bento Pessoa (7 March 1874 – 7 July 1954) was a Portuguese cyclist. He was the holder of the 500m world record, that in 1897 won the

Spanish National Road Race Championships The Spanish National Road Race Championships are held annually to decide the Spanish cycling champions in the road race discipline, across various categories. The event was first held in 1897 and was won by a Portuguese rider, José Bento Pesso ...

. José was also a founding partner of the ''Ginásio Club Figueirense''. The official name of

Estádio Municipal José Bento Pessoa Estadio Municipal Jose Bento Pessoa is a multi-use stadium in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (b ...

was given in his honor.

Career

From 1892 to 1905, with a break from 1902 to 1905, Pessoa raced in Spain; Paris; Ghent, Belgium; Geneva, Switzerland; Turin, Italy; Berlin; and Pará, Brazil. In Spain he raced in Vigo, A Coruña, Seville, Bilbao, Salamanca, Ávila, and Madrid. He lived in Madrid for eight months and in Paris for two years. In May 1897, at the inauguration of the Chamartín velodrome in Madrid, he won the international competition and beat the world record of the 500 meters, which belonged to Edmond Jacquelin, lowering the time from 34.6 to 33.2 seconds. In Spain, he became an idol, having won all 68 races he entered. On April 10, 1898, at the Velodrome of Geneva, before 20,000 people, he beat the Swiss champion

Théodore Champion Théodore Champion (14 February 1873 – 31 August 1954) was a Swiss cyclist, philatelist and stamp dealer, who was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1937.Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists September 2011', ...

. He would win other races in Paris, Berlin and perhaps the highest point of his career, the Zimmerman Grand Prix – at the time the most important cycling race in Europe, created in honor of

Arthur Augustus Zimmerman Arthur Augustus Zimmerman (June 11, 1869 – October 22, 1936) was one of the world's great cycling sprint riders and winner of the first world championship in 1893. His prizes as an amateur were a consideration in the establishment of the Intern ...

– beating the world champion

Willy Arend Willy Arend (2 May 1876 – 25 March 1964) was a German track cyclist. Next to cycling Arend had a cigarette business in Berlin. Major results ;1896 :1st National Sprint Championships ;1897 :1st World Sprint Championships :1st European Sprint ...

He won a large number of medals and art objects, and among the pecuniary prizes he obtained was what he won in Pará - 10.000 strong escudos (43.75£). When the news of the victories came to his land, the enthusiasm of the figueirenses spread in noisy and festive manifestations: the philharmonic came out, the facade of the Prince Theater illuminated, there were marches, au flambeaux - a madness. And when the champion came to rest - half Figueira was going to party him. He even went from the train station to home into the shoulders of the most enthusiastic. This happened, for example, when, shortly after the defeat of Bento Pessoa, at the feasts of St. John of 1901, he returned from Oporto, where he had twice overthrown José Dionísio at the Velodrome Maria Amélia. (...) On September 1, 1901, the country's cycling clubs paid tribute to the great champion. In order to receive a message and a toast, the cyclist-bureau "Lisboa-Figueira" was organized. José Bento Pessoa was not only a world champion, the greatest speed cyclist of his time, but also a competent coach.In, Cardoso, J. Sousa, Ginásio Clube Figueirense, subsídios para a sua história (1895-1944), Figueira da Foz, 1944

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pessoa, Jose Bento 1874 births 1954 deaths Portuguese male cyclists People from Figueira da Foz Sportspeople from Coimbra District

Career

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Further reading

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