24-Hours Race, Professionals (Bol d'Or), Men

This was considered the great race of the professional meeting, the Bol d’Or, or Golden Bowl, in which riders raced for 24 consecutive hours on the velodrome, with the rider covering the greatest distance winning. This event had been held in France since 1894 and was a paced race, and had been won in 1894-95 and 1898 by Constant Huret, who was present in 1900 and likely favored, although Britain’s Albert Walters had won the event in 1899, and was also present at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Twelve riders started the race, which began at night, with distances recorded for the top eight. Huret, who had won the long-distance Bordeaux-Paris race in 1899, did not finish but Walters was a major factor throughout. He led for 19 hours, and set 16 world records en route, but had to withdraw from exhaustion in the 20th hour. Dutch rider Matthieu Cordang eventually won easily, by 62 km over German Thaddäus Robl. The total purse was 25,000 francs, with Cordang receiving over 7,000 francs, which consisted of a purse for winning and for various primes.

The leaders after each hour, with distances covered, were as follows:

1 Walters 55.525 km

2 Walters 106.150 km

3 Walters 151.560 km WR

4 Walters 200.018 km WR

5 Walters 248.455 km WR

6 Walters 295.300 km WR

7 Walters 338.210 km WR

8 Walters 384.566 km WR

9 Walters 428.520 km WR

10 Walters 473.400 km WR

11 Walters 517.440 km WR

12 Walters 562.900 km WR

13 Walters 600.050 km WR

14 Walters 641.313 km WR

15 Walters 682.455 km WR

16 Walters 724.725 km WR

17 Walters 759.800 km WR

18 Walters 794.550 km WR

19 Walters 827.285 km WR

20 Walters 829.900 km

21 Cordang 851.900 km

22 Cordang 885.200 km

23 Cordang 921.400 km

24 Cordang 956.775 km

Cordang’s mark of 956.775 km was well short of the record set by Walters, who recorded 1,020.977 km in 1899, but Walters’ mark was motor-paced (or electric tandem-paced). In 1900, the pacers were triplet bikes, as was true in 1898. The race had been tandem paced in 1894-97. The previous races had been held at other velodromes, not at Vincennes.

The Bol d’Or would not be held in 1901 but was held from 1902-13 continually, and then intermittently after the war. It was held in 1928 and then one more time in 1950. Huret returned to win again in 1902, but the greatest rider in the Bol d’Or would be Frenchman Léon Georget who won the event nine times, in 1903, consecutively from 1907-13, and after the war in 1919.