René de Latour (born New York, United States, 30 September 1906, died
Quiberon
Quiberon (; , ) is a commune in the French department of Morbihan, administrative region of Brittany, western France.
It is on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon. It is ...
, France, 4 September 1986) was a Franco-American sports journalist, race director of the
Tour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...
cycle race, and correspondent of the British magazine, ''
Sporting Cyclist'', to which he contributed to 120 of the 131 issues.
Background
René de Latour was born in 42nd Street, New York. His father was French, born in
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, and his mother Belgian, from
Verviers
Verviers (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the cent ...
. The family returned to France at the start of World War I, when de Latour was eight. He never lost a slight American accent when he spoke English.
The war was an exciting time for a young boy and de Latour made the most of that and his freedom. In 1917 he met American soldiers in Paris and became their interpreter and guide. He took them to the
Folies Bergère
150px, Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg">Walery, 1927
The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the arc ...
when he was 11.
[Woodland, Les (2003), Yellow Jersey Guide to the Tour de France, Yellow Jersey, UK p. 113] His American links gave him an interest in baseball but it was
cycling
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...
that filled his life.
Cycling
The venue for cycle-racing in the centre of Paris was the
Vélodrome d'Hiver, an indoor track close to the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889.
Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
. There he met the Canadian star, Willie Spencer, becoming not just interpreter and guide but his odd-job boy, or runner, during races.
He boasted that that was the last time he ever paid to enter the
velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...
.
De Latour shared a bike with his brother until he was 15. The next year he saved for his own and then joined the Club Sportif de
Montrouge
Montrouge () is a Communes of France, 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 agai ...
, in southern Paris. He became a modest racer but nothing better. At 20, French law gave him the opportunity to decide his nationality. He could be American through his birth in the USA or French through his father. He chose to be French and spent 18 months in the army.
He returned to the Vel' d'Hiv' on leaving
national service
National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
and again looked after Americans, including the motor-paced champion, Charlie Jaeger. That brought him a job with
Reggie McNamara during six-day races and eventually as trainer, or at any rate advisor, to
Hubert Opperman
Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, Order of the British Empire, OBE (29 May 1904 – 18 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s ...
in the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
.
It was in the Vel' d'Hiv, according to a report in ''The Bicycle'' that "Latour, cycling reporter" was held with other cycling officials and journalists as a suspected collaborator during the German occupation of France between 1940 and 1944.
Journalism
René de Latour's byline first appeared in ''
Paris-Soir
''Paris-soir'' () was a French newspaper founded in 1923 and published until 1944 when it was banned for having been a collaborationist newspaper during the war.
Publication history
The first issue of ''Paris-soir'' came out on 4 October 1923 ...
'' in 1932. He was recruited by the chief cycling writer, Gaston Benac. He helped Benac find the route for the first
Grand Prix des Nations
The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...
.
He moved to ''
L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
'', for which he not only wrote but directed the
Tour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...
for 10 years.
He said the highlight of his career was being taken for dinner by
Fausto Coppi
Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...
and hearing from him of his dispute and rivalry with
Gino Bartali
Gino Bartali, (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in ...
.
Personality
Jock Wadley, who recruited de Latour for ''
Sporting Cyclist'' and took him to ''
International Cycle Sport
''International Cycle Sport'' was a British cycling magazine that covered British and European road racing. It had 199 issues between May 1968 and December 1984.
History
''International Cycle Sport'' was the idea of Kennedy Brothers Publishing, ...
'' after ''Sporting Cyclist'' 's closure, described de Latour as "an undemonstrative man who may appear sullen. His humour is dry and, to an Englishman, rather stern;"
The British journalist Ron White once asked de Latour what happened to the British riders in the Tour de l'Avenir. De Latour answered, without looking up: "I don't know - I wasn't that far back."
De Latour often travelled by
scooter, usually a
Vespa
Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...
. He paced Fausto Coppi during his warm-up for the world hour record at the Vigorelli track in Milan. De Latour was the last editor of ''Vespa Journal'' while he was still working at ''L'Équipe''
He wrote a novel, ''Le Mort mène le Peloton'' (death leads the race) in 1951 and, in English, ''World Champions I Have Known''
[Kennedy Brothers, UK, 1970, ASIN: B0006C6X8K]
Retirement and death
De Latour retired at the start of the 1980s to a cottage with a library in
Quiberon
Quiberon (; , ) is a commune in the French department of Morbihan, administrative region of Brittany, western France.
It is on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon. It is ...
. He had a stroke and developed
dementia
Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
. He died aged 79.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latour, Rene De
1906 births
French sports journalists
Cycling journalists
Cycling writers
1986 deaths
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French male writers
American emigrants to France
French people of Belgian descent
Writers from Manhattan
Sportswriters from New York (state)