Jean Dargassies
Encyclopedia
Jean Dargaties, known as Jean Dargassies (born Grisolles, Tarn-et-Garonne
, France
, 15 July 1872, died Grisolles, 7 August 1965) was a French racing cyclist who rode the first Tour de France
because the man who sold him a bike told him he ought to. He rode it three times, coming 11th in 1903 and fourth in 1904. In 1905 he was part of Henri Pepin's
experimental team that 'voyaged' rather than 'raced' its way around France.
. The town's main industry was broom-making. The forge was at 4 avénue de la République. He was "not very tall but well built, with thighs and calves like the pillars of a cathedral." He had a spreading blond moustache. In a picture of the forge, he is posing beside a horse, a broad leather belt round his waist, a hammer in his hand. His mother wears an ankle-length striped dress and a bonnet. Two other men in the family, probably his brothers, are also there. All four are wearing wooden clogs.
Dargassies' father was also a blacksmith, his mother a housewife [ménagère]. Jean was the second son. The oldest brother, Jérome, was destined to take over the business.
, as far to the north as Toulouse was to the south. Nobody in the family had left the immediate area. The shop owner had heard of a new race, the Tour de France, to be promoted that summer. He looked him up and down and said: "You could ride that, with muscles like yours." Dargassies wrote to L'Auto to say he wanted to take part. By the days before the start, he had heard nothing. He went to Paris
anyway to meet the race director, Géo Lefèvre
.
There were few entrants from the south and Lefèvre, a Parisian, was entranced by Dargassie's country ways and his marked southern accent. He recounted the meeting in L'Auto:
Dargaties was the blacksmith's real name. Lefèvre misheard it. Jean Dargaties became known as Jean Dargassies.
Lefèvre asked: "Tell me, have you ever actually ridden a cycle race?" Dargassies replied: "No, but I've ridden from Grisolles to Montauban and back and I didn't even have to try. I'm a blacksmith; I'm not worried about tiredness."
, south of Paris. By Toulouse he was one of 30 left in the race. With them he left the city in the night and led the race as it passed through his village. Lefèvre reported: "The whole of Grisolles is by the side of the road. They're here to see Dargassies, the champion of the region. When he rode by, every voice shouted in encouragement, in a long avenue of people all the way to Montauban."
Dargassies was three minutes behind the leaders as he came through Montauban and his front fork had broken. As a blacksmith, he had no trouble finding a colleague to make a repair. In Paris he finished 11th, 13 hours behind the winner, Maurice Garin
. His prize: 145 francs. When he got home to Grisolles he sent a telegram to Lefèvre: "Got back home today. All my compatriots are crazy, crazier than me. Everybody at the station, music, flowers, speech. Fame! Fame!" He rode the Tour again in 1904 and finished fourth, lifted from 10th by disqualifications of the best riders for cheating. This time he won 1,000 francs.
]
Dargassies rode the Tour in 1905. There he met another rider, Henri Pépin
, a prosperous landowner from Gontaud-de-Nogaret
, east of Bordeaux
. The two made a deal that Dargassies and another rider, Henri Gauban, would pace Pépin round the 1907 event. Instead of racing, they would take their time, stop at good restaurants, spend the night in the best hotels they could find. In return, Pépin would pay his helpers what they would have received had they won the race.
As hired hands sacrificing their own hopes for their leader's, Dargassies and Gauban became cycling's first domestiques
, although the word wasn't coined until later.
The three riders never separated. They took 12 hours and 20 minutes longer than Émile Georget
on the stage from Roubaix
to Metz
and the judges were powerless because the race was decided not on time but points. It mattered not what speed riders managed than the order in which they crossed the line. The judges had to wait for everyone.
Pépin pulled out between Lyon
and Grenoble
on stage five, paid the money he had promised and set off for the train home. Dargassies joined him. Gauban pulled out on the 11th.
It was Dargassies' last Tour.
, Haute-Garonne
and at nearby Portet-sur-Garonne
. His bike is in the town museum at Montauban.
Grisolles, Tarn-et-Garonne
Grisolles is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-References:*...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 15 July 1872, died Grisolles, 7 August 1965) was a French racing cyclist who rode the first Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
because the man who sold him a bike told him he ought to. He rode it three times, coming 11th in 1903 and fourth in 1904. In 1905 he was part of Henri Pepin's
Henri Pépin
Henri Pépin was an affluent French racing cyclist who once hired two riders to escort him leisurely through the Tour de France, in which they ate at good restaurants and spent the night in expensive hotels...
experimental team that 'voyaged' rather than 'raced' its way around France.
Background
Jean Dargassies was a blacksmith in the village of Grisolles, north of ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
. The town's main industry was broom-making. The forge was at 4 avénue de la République. He was "not very tall but well built, with thighs and calves like the pillars of a cathedral." He had a spreading blond moustache. In a picture of the forge, he is posing beside a horse, a broad leather belt round his waist, a hammer in his hand. His mother wears an ankle-length striped dress and a bonnet. Two other men in the family, probably his brothers, are also there. All four are wearing wooden clogs.
Dargassies' father was also a blacksmith, his mother a housewife [ménagère]. Jean was the second son. The oldest brother, Jérome, was destined to take over the business.
Entering the Tour de France
Legend says that Dargassies bought a bicycle so that he could ride 25 km to MontaubanMontauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, as far to the north as Toulouse was to the south. Nobody in the family had left the immediate area. The shop owner had heard of a new race, the Tour de France, to be promoted that summer. He looked him up and down and said: "You could ride that, with muscles like yours." Dargassies wrote to L'Auto to say he wanted to take part. By the days before the start, he had heard nothing. He went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
anyway to meet the race director, Géo Lefèvre
Géo Lefèvre
Géo Lefèvre was a French sports journalist and the originator of the idea for the Tour de France.He suggested the idea for the Tour at a meeting with Henri Desgrange, editor of the daily newspaper L'Auto as a way to boost circulation. Desgrange recruited Lefèvre from the rival daily sports paper,...
.
There were few entrants from the south and Lefèvre, a Parisian, was entranced by Dargassie's country ways and his marked southern accent. He recounted the meeting in L'Auto:
- "My name is Dargassies and I've come from Grisolles."
- "Where?"
- "From Grisolles, near Montauban, and I've come to make inquiries."
- "About?"
- "Inquiries about the Tour de France."
- "But... You're already entered, I think.
- "Heavens, yes, [pardi], I've entered! I just wanted to know what's going to happen."
- "You haven't read L'Auto?"
- L'Auto? I don't think anyone reads that in Monnetaubanne." (Lefèvre took pleasure in reproducing Dargassie's pronounce-every-letter southern accent.)
- "Where?"
- "Monnetaubanne, Tarn-et-GaronneTarn-et-GaronneTarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
." - "Oh, Montauban!"
- "Yes. The man who sold me my bike told me there was a Tour de France race and he said: 'Dargaties, you're made for that.'"
Dargaties was the blacksmith's real name. Lefèvre misheard it. Jean Dargaties became known as Jean Dargassies.
Lefèvre asked: "Tell me, have you ever actually ridden a cycle race?" Dargassies replied: "No, but I've ridden from Grisolles to Montauban and back and I didn't even have to try. I'm a blacksmith; I'm not worried about tiredness."
Riding the Tour de France
The first Tour de France started at MontgeronMontgeron
Montgeron is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Inhabitants of Montgeron are known as Montgeronnais.-Transport:Montgeron is served by Montgeron – Crosne station on Paris RER line D....
, south of Paris. By Toulouse he was one of 30 left in the race. With them he left the city in the night and led the race as it passed through his village. Lefèvre reported: "The whole of Grisolles is by the side of the road. They're here to see Dargassies, the champion of the region. When he rode by, every voice shouted in encouragement, in a long avenue of people all the way to Montauban."
Dargassies was three minutes behind the leaders as he came through Montauban and his front fork had broken. As a blacksmith, he had no trouble finding a colleague to make a repair. In Paris he finished 11th, 13 hours behind the winner, Maurice Garin
Maurice Garin
Maurice-Francois Garin was a road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903, and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with eight others, for cheating.-Origins:Garin was born the son of Maurice Clément Garin and Maria Teresa...
. His prize: 145 francs. When he got home to Grisolles he sent a telegram to Lefèvre: "Got back home today. All my compatriots are crazy, crazier than me. Everybody at the station, music, flowers, speech. Fame! Fame!" He rode the Tour again in 1904 and finished fourth, lifted from 10th by disqualifications of the best riders for cheating. This time he won 1,000 francs.
The first domestique
[Main article: Henri PépinHenri Pépin
Henri Pépin was an affluent French racing cyclist who once hired two riders to escort him leisurely through the Tour de France, in which they ate at good restaurants and spent the night in expensive hotels...
]
Dargassies rode the Tour in 1905. There he met another rider, Henri Pépin
Henri Pépin
Henri Pépin was an affluent French racing cyclist who once hired two riders to escort him leisurely through the Tour de France, in which they ate at good restaurants and spent the night in expensive hotels...
, a prosperous landowner from Gontaud-de-Nogaret
Gontaud-de-Nogaret
Gontaud-de-Nogaret is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.-People:The village was the home of Henri Pépin, a prosperous houseowner and cycling enthusiast who employed two helpers to pace him around the Tour de France in 1906. Pépin—sometimes wrongly described...
, east of Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. The two made a deal that Dargassies and another rider, Henri Gauban, would pace Pépin round the 1907 event. Instead of racing, they would take their time, stop at good restaurants, spend the night in the best hotels they could find. In return, Pépin would pay his helpers what they would have received had they won the race.
As hired hands sacrificing their own hopes for their leader's, Dargassies and Gauban became cycling's first domestiques
Cycling domestique
A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader. The French domestique translates as "servant". In Italy and Spain, the term gregario is used, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the term knecht or helper are used...
, although the word wasn't coined until later.
The three riders never separated. They took 12 hours and 20 minutes longer than Émile Georget
Émile Georget
Émile Georget was a French road racing cyclist. Born in Bossay-sur-Claise, he was the younger brother of cyclist Léon Georget.He died at Châtellerault.- Tour de France :...
on the stage from Roubaix
Roubaix
Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...
to Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
and the judges were powerless because the race was decided not on time but points. It mattered not what speed riders managed than the order in which they crossed the line. The judges had to wait for everyone.
Pépin pulled out between Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
on stage five, paid the money he had promised and set off for the train home. Dargassies joined him. Gauban pulled out on the 11th.
It was Dargassies' last Tour.
Retirement and death
Dargassies retired and ran first a food shop and then a bike shop, at the junction of the rue Faugère and the rue de Lumel in Grisolles. He died 1965, when he was 93. He is buried in the town's cemetery under his original name, Dargaties. Schools are named after him in EaunesEaunes
Eaunes is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
, Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
and at nearby Portet-sur-Garonne
Portet-sur-Garonne
Portet-sur-Garonne is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
. His bike is in the town museum at Montauban.
Teams
- 1903: Gladiator (France)
- 1904: Gladiator
- 1905: Alcyon - Dunlop (France)
- 1906: Unknown
- 1907: Unknown