Joseph Louis Laval

Joseph Jiel-Laval, real name: Joseph Marie François Laval or Pierre-Joseph Laval, Around 1887 , he was sponsored by the French bicycle manufacturer Clément Cycles and his career was managed by retired fellow bicyclist and champion Frédéric de Civry.

In May 1891, Jiel-Laval finished fifth at the first edition of Bordeaux-Paris. On 6 September of the same year he started on a Clément bicycle at the first edition of the 1200-kilometer race Paris-Brest-Paris. First, he led an hour ahead of Charles Terront, but could not hold this because he had to take a break due to exhaustion. Terront's manager H.O. Duncan, however, instructed his rider to drive around the hotel where Jiel-Laval was sleeping in order not to be seen by his companions. When Jiel-Laval woke up, he learned that Terront was two hours ahead of him. Charles Terront ended up winning in 71 hours and 37 minutes, Jiel-Laval finishing second in 80 hours four minutes.

Jiel-Laval died in 1917 at the age of 61. The funeral speech at the funeral was held by well-known journalist Maurice Martin. A year later, his widow left the bike on which her husband lost Paris-Brest-Paris to the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. The city of Bordeaux named the Rue Jiel Laval after him.

Publications Une course à bicyclette. In: Philippe Tissié: Guide de Vélocipediste pour l’Entrainement. Bordeaux 1892. S. 227.

Literature Didier Rapaud: Le temps de la vélocipédie (1876–1892) ou l'inoubliable Jiel Laval. 2015