Frédéric de Civry

Frédéric de Civry (21 August 1861 – 15 March 1893) was a French track cyclist who generally competed over 20 to 50 miles. He rode most frequently in professional races in England, but was considered an amateur rider in his native France. He was the French national sprint champion in 1881 and 1882, and the national stayer champion in 1886 and 1887. In 1883, he won the 50-mile Championships in Leicester, which were reported in some newspapers as deciding the champion of the world.

Life and career

Marie Othon Robert Fréderic Auguste Du Collin De Barizien De Civry was born in Paris on 21 August 1861 into a French noble family; his mother Elisabeth Wilhelmine von Colmar was a natural daughter of Charles II, Duke of Brunswick and Lady Charlotte Colville. Civry´s father was Pierre Antoine Eugène du Collin, comte de Civry the son of Pierre du Collin, chevalier de Barizien, comte de Civry and his second wife Marie-Marguerite-Sophie Bertaud de La Tramerie.

A year after the couples marriage,the comte de Civry was forced to sell all of his estates, compounded in 1860 by Civry´s father and uncle facing criminal allegations of abuse of a blank cheque. They were first found guilty and sentenced to several months in prison, before finally being acquitted on appeal after being defended by the noted lawyer Charles Lachaud.

Civry´s mother tried to claim her rights as the daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and sued her father for a pension and alimony. This claim was however rejected and the duke won the case in 1865. These circumstances left the Civry family in an impoverished state. In order to support the family, Civry´s mother took up writing, founding a literary journal "The salon Belge" as well as authoring several books. and was considered a professional by the English press. He competed in the 1881 Grand Prix of Angers, finishing as the overall champion, and the sprint champion. In the same year, he became the French National Sprint Champion and was second overall at the Blois road race. The second was a scratch 20-mile race at the same venue. Keen again retired, after 11 miles, and De Civry completed the race in 1 hour 4:21, beating the professional record by just over five seconds.

De Civry repeated his successes in Angers and at the French national championships in 1882, The following year on 24 March 1883, de Civry competed in a 50-mile race, once again in Leicester, variously entitled the "Championship of England", or the "Fifty Miles Professional Bicycle Championship of the world". Ten miles into the race, de Civry opened a lead of half a lap, and continued to increase it throughout the race. He won, completing the distance in 3 hours, 13:40, over three minutes ahead of the next competitor. In April the following year, de Civry competed for the 50-mile championship once again, but was involved in a collision with Wood, which took them both out of the race. He also took part in the one and ten mile championships, but did not win either.

During 1885, de Civry won the Grand Prix of Angers once again, and finished second in the French national sprint championships. During his cycling career, he won 211 of his 331 races. Due to his worsening health, Civry retired from competing in races in 1887. For the first three years Civry acted as the manager for bicyclist racer Joseph Jiel-Laval aged 32 at Asnières.