Tour de France During The Second World War - Aftermath

Aftermath

The Course du Tour de France, L'Équipe's race, was better organised and appealed more to the public because it featured national teams which had been so successful before the war, when French cycling was at a high. In late 1946, both organisers intended to organise their race again in 1947, this time at the same time. The UCI then decided in December 1946 to give L'Équipe the right to organize the 1947 Tour de France. After their main rival Sports objected to this, the rights were instead given to La Societé du Parc du Princes, because this was thought to be a neutral choice. In early 1947, it became clear that the organisation of the Tour de France was difficult financially without a newspaper and, in June 1947, one month before the 1947 Tour de France would start, the Societé du Parc du Princes transferred the rights to L'Equipe.

Émile Besson, communist sports writer and a member of the Resistance from 1943 when he was 17, called L'Équipe's victory political. Besson, who was a member of the national study into French sport under the Occupation, set up by Marie-George Buffet when she was sports minister between 1997 and 2002, said:

It was a bit much to have given them the right to run the Tour again after all that . Goddet had the keys to the Velodrome d'Hiver when in the round-up of Jews in July 1942. After the Liberation, the battle between Left and Right had the Tour as one of its prizes.

Goddet had to defend his wartime behaviour at an inquiry in Algiers. He pointed to the way he had allowed Resistance workers to print anti-German tracts at his newspaper and called Émilien Amaury in his defence. Amaury had a blameless record in the Resistance. He was also a right-wing businessman; his ideals close to Goddet's. It was with Amaury and his paper, Le Parisien Libéré, that Goddet ran La Course du Tour de France. It was Amaury's reputation that landed Goddet the Tour. That, says Besson, and because the rival candidate was two magazines with a communist background and President Charles de Gaulle was determined to limit communist influence. De Gaulle had spent much of his time during the war trying to prevent communist domination of the Resistance. Communists held many key positions in France just before and after Liberation but De Gaulle refused even to thank them for their work. Albert Bourlon, who won the 14th stage of the 1947 Tour de France, told Jean Bobet that he was convinced that his membership of the Communist Party denied him access to the race afterwards.

Amaury eventually took control of both the paper and the Tour de France, and as of 2012 is still the organiser of the Tour de France, under the name Amaury Sport Organisation.

Jean Leulliot was tried for his role in organising races under German patronage but he was cleared after fellow journalists, including Goddet, spoke in his favour.