Critérium International

The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years it was considered a sort of French national championship and was finally opened to non–French cyclists in 1979. Bernard Hinault is the only cyclist to win the race in both its forms. The race has been won by some of the most famous names in cycling, including Jacques Anquetil, Sean Kelly, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin, Stephen Roche, Joop Zoetemelk, Laurent Fignon, Jens Voigt, Cadel Evans and Chris Froome.

Critérium International
Race details
DateLate March
RegionArdennes, France (Until 2009)
Corsica, France (2010–2016)
English nameInternational Criterium
Local name(s)Critérium International (in French)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Europe Tour
TypeStage race
OrganiserAmaury Sport Organisation
Web sitewww.letour.fr/indexCRI_us.html Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1932 (1932)
Editions85 (as of 2016)
Final edition2016
First winner Léon Le Calvez (FRA)
Most wins Émile Idée (FRA)
 Raymond Poulidor (FRA)
 Jens Voigt (GER)
5 wins
Final winner Thibaut Pinot (FRA)

History and route

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The Critérium International is one of the few races in cycling, apart from the three Grand Tours, with no fixed attachment to a region. Upon its creation in 1932, it was held as a one-day race in the Vallée de Chevreuse, finishing in the Parc des Princes velodrome in Paris. From 1941 to 1943, two races were organized each year: one in Nazi-occupied France and one in the free French State. As of 1959, the race location changed every year. The edition of 1960 took place in Oran in French Algeria. From 1963 to 1966 the Critérium was held as a stage race for the first time, and again ever since 1978.

From 2001 to 2009 the race was organized in the Ardennes with all stages starting and finishing in or around Charleville-Mézières.[1] In 2010 the race moved to the island of Corsica, around the coastal city of Porto-Vecchio. In 2014 the ASO agreed a deal to extend the race's stay until at least 2016.[2] Because of its challenging route and usually mild weather conditions in early spring, the Critérium International is often contended by many general classification riders in their build-up towards the Grand Tours, notably the Tour de France.

November 18, 2016 the ASO announced that it would no longer organise the two-day event, ending its 85-year run.[3]

1997 horse incident

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In 1997, a horse jumped over a fence and joined the peloton, eventually passing it, leaving the race only 20 km from the finish line.[4] This scene was shown briefly in the movie Amélie, and is often mistaken for a scene from a Tour de France race.

Winners

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Year Winner Second Third
Critérium National de la Route
1932   Léon Le Calvez   Pierre Magne   Maurice Archambaud
1933   André Leducq   Georges Speicher   Jean Bidot
1934   Roger Lapébie   Jules Merviel   René Le Grevès
1935   René Le Grevès   René Vietto   Antonin Magne
1936   Paul Chocque   Fernand Mithouard   Arthur Debruyckere
1937   Roger Lapébie and
  René Le Grevès
  Pierre Cloarec
1938   Pierre Jaminet   Pierre Cloarec   Sauveur Ducazeaux
1939   André Deforge   Marcel Laurent   Pierre Jaminet
1940   Émile Idée   André Desmoulins   André Deforge
1941[5]   Yvan Marie   André Desmoulins   Albert Goutal
1941[6]   Benoît Faure   Pierre Cogan   Aldo Bertocco
1942[5]   Émile Idée   Raymond Louviot   Raymond Guégan
1942[6]   Aldo Bertocco   Joseph Soffietti   Marcel Laurent
1943[5]   Émile Idée   Georges Blum   Raymond Guégan
1943[6]   Louis Gauthier   Émile Rol   André Deforge
1944   Roger Piel   Louis Thiétard   Aimable Denhez
1945   Jo Goutorbe   Manuel Huguet   Émile Idée
1946   Kleber Piot and
  Camille Danguillaume
  Lucien Boda
1947   Émile Idée   Emile Carrara   Urbain Caffi
1948   Camille Danguillaume   Émile Idée   Victor Pernac
1949   Émile Idée   Raymond Lucas   Antonin Rolland
1950   Pierre Barbotin   Guy Lapebie   Louis Déprez
1951   Louison Bobet   Pierre Barbotin   Robert Desbats
1952   Louison Bobet   Robert Varnajo   Bernard Gauthier
1953   Robert Desbats   Jacques Dupont   Gilbert Loof
1954   Roger Hassenforder   Raoul Rémy   Bernard Gauthier
1955   René Privat   Pierre Molineris   Bernard Gauthier
1956   Roger Hassenforder   Louis Caput   Jean Forestier
1957   Jean Forestier   Louison Bobet   Serge Blusson
1958   Roger Hassenforder   Raphaël Géminiani   Claude Colette
1959   André Darrigade   Fernand Picot   Jean Graczyk
1960   Jean Graczyk   Claude Colette   Jacques Anquetil
1961   Jacques Anquetil   André Darrigade   Jean Gainche
1962   Joseph Groussard   Jean-Claude Annaert   Anatole Novak
1963   Jacques Anquetil   Raymond Poulidor   Joseph Velly
1964   Raymond Poulidor   Edouard Delberghe   Joseph Novales
1965   Jacques Anquetil   Raymond Poulidor   Jean-Claude Annaert
1966   Raymond Poulidor   Roger Pingeon   Jean-Claude Lebaube
1967   Jacques Anquetil   Raymond Poulidor   Raymond Delisle
1968   Raymond Poulidor   Jean Jourden   Roger Pingeon
1969   Gilbert Bellone   Raymond Delisle   Georges Chappe
1970   Georges Chappe   Lucien Aimar   Roland Berland
1971   Raymond Poulidor   Gilbert Bellone   Daniel Ducreux
1972   Raymond Poulidor   Alain Santy   Jean-Luc Molinéris
1973   Jean-Pierre Danguillaume   Alain Santy   André Mollet
1974   Bernard Thévenet   Christian Raymond   Raymond Delisle
1975   Jacques Esclassan   André Corbeau   Jean Chassang
1976   Patrick Béon   Yves Hézard   Raymond Martin
1977   Jean Chassang   Raymond Delisle   Roland Berland
1978   Bernard Hinault   Michel Laurent   Yves Hézard
Critérium International
1979   Joop Zoetemelk   Bernard Hinault   Sven-Åke Nilsson
1980   Michel Laurent   Jean-René Bernaudeau   Régis Ovion
1981   Bernard Hinault   Jacques Bossis   Régis Clère
1982   Laurent Fignon   André Chappuis   Marcel Tinazzi
1983   Seán Kelly   Jean-Marie Grezet   Joop Zoetemelk
1984   Seán Kelly   Pascal Simon   Stephen Roche
1985   Stephen Roche   Charly Berard   Seán Kelly
1986   Urs Zimmermann   Seán Kelly   Greg LeMond
1987   Seán Kelly   Stephen Roche   Pascal Simon
1988   Erik Breukink   Laurent Fignon   Robert Millar
1989   Miguel Induráin   Charly Mottet   Stephen Roche
1990   Laurent Fignon   Gilles Delion   Jean-Claude Leclercq
1991   Stephen Roche   Gérard Rué   Charly Mottet
1992   Jean-François Bernard   Gert-Jan Theunisse   Giorgio Furlan
1993   Erik Breukink   Tony Rominger   Alex Zülle
1994   Giorgio Furlan   Tony Rominger   Evgueni Berzin
1995   Laurent Jalabert   Vladislav Bobrik   Evgueni Berzin
1996   Chris Boardman   Michele Coppolillo   Mauro Gianetti
1997   Marcelino García   Laurent Jalabert   Pascal Lino
1998   Bobby Julich   Davide Rebellin   Bo Hamburger
1999   Jens Voigt   David Millar   Andrei Teteriouk
2000   Abraham Olano   Juan Carlos Domínguez   Alexander Vinokourov
2001   Rik Verbrugghe   José Alberto Martínez   Jens Voigt
2002   José Alberto Martínez   Lance Armstrong*   David Moncoutié
2003   Laurent Brochard   Jens Voigt   David Moncoutié
2004   Jens Voigt   José Iván Gutiérrez   Lance Armstrong*
2005   Bobby Julich   Thomas Dekker   Jörg Jaksche
2006   Ivan Basso   Erik Dekker   Andriy Hrivko
2007   Jens Voigt   Thomas Lövkvist   Alejandro Valverde
2008   Jens Voigt   Gustav Larsson   Luis León Sánchez
2009   Jens Voigt   František Raboň   Danny Pate
2010   Pierrick Fédrigo   Michael Rogers   Tiago Machado
2011   Fränk Schleck   Vasil Kiryienka   Rein Taaramäe
2012   Cadel Evans   Pierrick Fédrigo   Michael Rogers
2013   Chris Froome   Richie Porte   Tejay van Garderen
2014   Jean-Christophe Péraud   Mathias Frank   Tiago Machado
2015   Jean-Christophe Péraud   Thibaut Pinot   Fabio Felline
2016   Thibaut Pinot   Pierre Latour   Sam Oomen

*Results later voided for doping infringements

Multiple winners

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Riders in italic are still active.

Wins Rider Editions
5   Émile Idée (FRA) 1940 + 1942 + 1943 + 1947 + 1949
  Raymond Poulidor (FRA) 1964 + 1966 + 1968 + 1971 + 1972
  Jens Voigt (GER) 1999 + 2004 + 2007 + 2008 + 2009
4   Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 1961 + 1963 + 1965 + 1967
3   Roger Hassenforder (FRA) 1954 + 1956 + 1958
  Seán Kelly (IRL) 1983 + 1984 + 1987
2   Roger Lapébie (FRA) 1934 + 1937
  Camille Danguillaume (FRA) 1946 + 1948
  Louison Bobet (FRA) 1951 + 1952
  Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1978 + 1981
  Laurent Fignon (FRA) 1982 + 1990
  Stephen Roche (IRL) 1985 + 1991
  Erik Breukink (NED) 1988 + 1993
  Bobby Julich (USA) 1998 + 2005
  Jean-Christophe Péraud (FRA) 2014 + 2015

Wins per country

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Wins Country
58
  France
5
  Ireland,   Germany
4
  Spain
3
  Netherlands
2
  Italy,   United States,   United Kingdom
1
  Australia,   Belgium,   Luxembourg,    Switzerland

References

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  1. ^ "75th Critérium International".
  2. ^ "Critérium International to stay in Porto-Vecchio in 2015 and 2016". Critérium International 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-03-20.
  3. ^ "ASO announces end of Criterium International". Cyclingnews.com.
  4. ^ "www.cyclingnews.com news and analysis". cyclingnews.com.
  5. ^ a b c Zone occupée
  6. ^ a b c Zone libre
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