Lucien Michard

Lucien Michard (born Épinay-sur-Seine, France, 17 November 1903, died 1 November 1985) was a French racing cyclist and Olympic track champion. He won four successive world championships and lost a fifth even though he crossed the line first. He won a gold medal in the sprint at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Origins Lucien Michard was the son of a garage owner—"a stocky, severe-looking man whose bowler hat could be spotted a mile away"—in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis He worked for his father but spent much of his time training at the Parc des Princes or the Cipale velodrome in Vincennes. He started racing in 1921, winning the Médaille competition for novices at the Vélodrome d'Hiver, "a frail and timid lad of 17...who would dominate the world scene for many years", as René de Latour described him.

World championship upset Michard won the world professional championship in four successive years, starting at Cologne in 1927. In fact he won five, but amid unusual circumstances. Michard beat Jef Scherens in the semi-final of the championship at Copenhagen in 1931 and reached the final against the local rider, Willy Falk Hansen. Hansen had, like Michard, won the world sprint championship and Olympic kilometre in 1928, but he was not seen as a contender against Michard.

Michard finished half a metre ahead of Hansen and appeared to have become world champion for a record fifth year. He and Hansen circled the track together and Hansen raised Michard's arm in acknowledgement of victory. Moments later, the announcer said it was Hansen who had won. There was immediate commotion around the chief judge, Alban Collignon, who was president of the Belgian Cycling Association. He quickly realised his mistake.

He had watched the riders start the run to the line and had seen Hansen on the inside of the track and Michard outside him. The winner crossed the line on the inside of the track and Collignon announced him as Hansen. The two riders had, however, changed position and it was Michard who won.

Collignon was willing to change his decision but the rules prevented it. The rule was that the judge's decision, once announced, was final. It was intended to stop riders disputing a result. That was what it prevented for both Hansen and Michard, but the Union Cycliste Internationale hadn't foreseen that a judge might wish to change his mind.

Michard challenged the UCI but the court ruled the event was out of its authority

The episode ended Michard's career at the top. He was displaced by another little sprinter, Jef Scherens of Belgium, to whom Michard finished second in 1931 and 1933. He did, however, win national championships in 1933, 1934 and 1935, before a strike with other riders against what they saw as poor payments at the Parc des Princes and Vélodrome d'Hiver led to a newspaper campaign which prompted his retirement. He began selling bicycles made under his name

A road is named after him in Aiguillon, where he lived most of his life.

Achievements

Record 500m flying start: 29" 800, 1932 Record kilometre flying start: 1' 07" 200, 1931 Record ½m: 56" 200, 1931 Record ¾m: 1' 29" 200, 1931 Record tandem 500m (with Louis Chaillot): 34" 800, 1938 Record tandem ½m (Chaillot): 52" 800, 1938 Record tandem ¾m (Chaillot): 1' 08", 1938 Olympic sprint: 1924 World championship sprint: 1923 (amateur), 1924 (amateur), 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 Coupe d'Europe: 1935 National sprint champion: 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1935 National sprint champion juniors: 1923, 1924 National sprint champion military: 1924 Critérium International: 1936 Critérium National: 1934, 1936 Critérium National d'hiver: 1937 Challenge Victor Goddet: 1932, 1935 GP Riguelle: 1922 GP Paris: 1922, 1924, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936 GP UVF: 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932 GP de la République: 1925, 1927, 1929, 1932 GP de la Toussaint: 1926 GP Copenhagen: 1927, 1929, 1930 GP Angoulême: 1928 GP Clermont: 1928, 1932 GP UCI: 1929, 1930, 1933, 1937 GP Brest: 1934 GP Amiens: 1934, 1935 GP Reims: 1934 GP Algiers: 1935 GP Cologne: 1935 GP Cognac: 1936