Paris (AFP)

Nephew of actor Henri Crémieux, he has covered some 55 Tours de France: Jacques Augendre, who celebrates his 95th birthday on Tuesday, is the doyen of the followers of the Great Loop, a privileged witness to more than half of the editions run since 1903 A record of its kind.

In his house in Val d'Oise, the former collaborator of L'Equipe, Le Monde, Midi Libre and Le Télégramme remembers. Champions he accompanied from 1949, the first of his 55 Tours de France. Exploits, behind the scenes, leaders of the Tour.

In his own way, all thoughtfulness and good manners, he is also worried about the next edition postponed by his director Christian Prudhomme at the end of the summer: "Christian Prudhomme seems very optimistic to me, I would like him so much be right! "

. The origins

"I was born and raised in a family of cyclists. I remember going to see the Tour in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône in 1935. As I lived in Franconville, I took my bike and I went to see the passage. At 10 years old, it was my first real contact with the Tour, I was already reading it in L'Auto (organizing newspaper). My father had seen the riders of the first Tour in 1903 in Saint-Pierre -le-Moûtier (Nièvre). He was 12 years old and never in his life, he has never forgotten the excitement that reigned, the over-excited atmosphere, the astonishment, the runners who spend the whole night. "

. Le Tour 1947

"I lived it from a distance. I was part of the team that stayed in the newspaper (L'Equipe) to reread the copy. But this atmosphere! For us who remembered the old Tours as Marcel Proust remembered his madeleines, It was an intense moment of happiness. It was the Tour of rediscovered peace, of rebirth. People rediscovered the joy of living. And it was a very beautiful Tour, one of the most beautiful in history. When we arrived at the Parc des Princes, everyone was up. "

. Tour directors

"Jacques Goddet (director of the Tour from 1947 to 1986), a monument to the press and cycling, was the man with two faces, that of the organizer and that of the journalist and, as such, an extremely rigorous man. Jean-Marie Leblanc, who succeeded him (from 1989 to 2006), saved the Tour in 1998. Calm, reasoned, with common sense, he was the man for the job, the only one who could speak the language of the riders and organizers. In its place, Desgrange (founder of the Tour) would have broken everything ... "

. The great exploits

"Two really marked me. I am convinced that we have never done better than Koblet (135 km breakaway in the Brive-Agen stage of the Tour 1951). He was, with Anquetil, one of the most beautiful stylists in history. But, unlike Coppi and Merckx, it did not last. And Bobet in the Izoard in 1953. "

Throughout his works (including "Jacques Augendre, the memory of the Tour de France", Cristel editions) and his interviews, Jacques Augendre has proven to be an expert on the great characters of cycling. Anthology:

Vietto? "a Pagnol in the peloton". Robic? "a special character, he always went beyond measure, he always gave in excess." Koblet? "Jean Marais on a bike". Coppi? "the inventor of modern cycling". Bobet? "through ambition, seriousness, method, courage and selflessness, exemplary fulfillment". Anquetil? "an extraordinary man, a runner out of series. He pedaled + useful +, to win races and earn money". Merckx? "the greatest. His exploits are beyond comprehension."

Poulidor? "certainly the runner on which we wrote the most untruths. He was a serene and humorous man. Upon returning from the 1974 world championship he finished second at the age of 38 behind Merckx , I hear him answer to the journalists: + Yes, I am very happy. In poker, on the return plane, I managed to prick 5000 balls at Anquetil and Merckx, it is the greatest victory of my career! + "

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