The History of PBP 1891 In the first long cycle race, the 600 km Bordeaux-Paris, the British unexpectedly took the first three places by riding without rest , G P Mills being the winner in under 27 hours. The event made a great impression on the French public. Later that year, Pierre Giffard promoted the 1200km Paris-Brest-Paris to demonstrate the praciticality of the bicycle. Cycles were sealed at the start to ensure riders used the same maschine throughout and entries from foreign riders and women were refused. 207 cyclists on September 6th, including 10 tricycles, 2 tandems and an ordinary - believed to be the only one to complete the PBP so far , ridden by M. Duval. Both amateurs and professionals took part, the pros employing crews to carry their gear and 10 pacers each. Charles Terront won , riding without sleep for 71h22m, and 99 riders finished, soame taking serveral days having Stopped at inns overnight. In the following years the Bordeaux-Paris was held annually. Inaugural Ninne-Berlin , liege-Bastogne-Liege, Rennes-Brest, Spa-Bastogne-Spa, Geneve-Bern, Milan-Turin, Paris-Besancon, Lyon-Paris-Lyon and Paris-Roubaix took place. 1901 Henri Desgranges divided the entry into `coureurs de vitesse` , professional road racers, and ´touristes routiers ´, hard riding tourists, with prizes of 10,000F for theformer and 2,000 for the latter. At 0453 on 16th August the 41 pros started, followed 17 minutes later by the touristes routiers. Garin won in 52h 11m and Rosiere was the first Tourist back in 62h26m. 72 tourists finished, including 65 year old Rousset who took 202 Hours. The PBP was held every 10 years since the distance was so great that the pros could not adequately train for PBP and conventional road races. In 1903 Henri Desgranges organised the first Tour de France using stages Which allowed the riders to rest. Tis event was to supplant the PBP as the premier road race. 1911 The rules were changed to ban pacers and assistance to riders between controls. The pros changed Their tactis and stayed together in a pack to Brest. 13 coureurs de vitesse and 120 touristes routiers took part, the winner being Georget in a time of 50h13m. The first tourist back was Heusghen, who was then disqualified for receiving help en route leaving Ringeval and Garin (the 1901 pro) with the best times in that category. 1921 On September 2nd 43 pros and 63 touristes routiers started the event. The number of secret controls Had been increased. Mottiat won in 55h07m and the eighth place went to the tourist Ernest Paul, who had Ridden as pro 1911, with a 62 hour time. 1931 Twenty-eight pros and over 100 tourists entered. The touristes routiers werw, for the first time, given a 90 hour limit, called´ randonneurs´, and divided into the állure libre´administered by Audax Club Parisien and ´audax´riders administered by the Union des Audax Cyclistes Parisiens. The Australian, Hubert Oppermann won in 43h23m and the first randonneurs were Tranchant, Cottard and Ruard with a time of 68h30m. Four women finished on mixed tandems (Danis, Pitard, Gorgeon and Du Bois) and Mile Vassard became the first solo women to complete the PBP. The Pitards were also to ride in 1948 and 1951. 1949, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966. In 1948 52 pros, all team members, Started but only 11 finished. Hendrickx won in a time of 41h36m42s. In 1951 only 41 pro in 10 teams entered and Diot won in 38h55m, the all-time record. The first randonneurs were Coutelier and Chetiveau. The event was calendared as a professional race in 1956 And1961 but cancelled due to lack of interest. The randonneurs, however, rode as usal with Baumann Finishing first in 1956 with 52h19m and Fouace in 1961 with 49h15m . Briton, Barry Parslow, the first randonneur On trike, rode in 1966. The fastest time that yaer was 44h21m. 1971 This was the last year, until the centenary , shared by audax and allure libre randonneurs. 330 audax riders, split into 17 groups, started 4 days before the main PBP at 0400 and all finished inside 90 hours. The 328 randonneurs set off wiht a massed start at 1600 on Monday September 6th. TheBritisch riders were Georg Davis Barry Parslow not on trike, the frame had broken- Colin Philips and Jock Wadley. ( Seven cyclists finished the audax PBP and started again the next aftermoon as randonneurs, Plaine doing this second trip in 55h42m.) There was a Record to Brest, 20h26m, from Bonny, and first back was the Belgian Herman de Munck in 42h39m, the first woman being simone Astie wiht 79h38. 1975 The randonneur event was now every 4 years, the audax riders retaining the 5 years interval. This was the first time that qualifications were requierd ( a 600 km ridden that year ) and the last PBP to run mainly on main roads as, tragically , two riders were killed. There were 714 starters, of whom 19 Britisch. First back were De Munck and 2 French riders, Cohen and Truchi, in 43h27m, and the first women were Chantal de la Cruz and Nicole Chabriand with a 57 hour time. Steve Nicholas gives a detailed account of the Britisch riders in his article reproduced in Arriveé number 20, New Year 1988. 1979 The entry qualification became a full Super Randonneur series. 1766 riders started and the start time was split with the 90 hour riders off at 4.00 am. 1573 finished, including 54 British.AUK was awarded the George Navet Trophy for the club with the largest number of brevets de randonneur registered with ACP and the Coupe de la Ville de Paris for the club with the most finishers. First back were Piguet and Baleydier in under 45h. 1983 The 10th PBP ranonneé. 2106 started and 1903, including 77 british. AUK was awarded the Challenge ACP for The club with the greatest number of brevets de randonneus and the Coupe de Madame le Ministre du Temps Libre, Jeunes´se et Sports for the club with the greatest number of finishers under 25 years of age (12) and over 55 (3). AUKs Paul Castle had a succesful ride but died shortly afterwards in a road accident wihle riding back to the coast. First in were the Belgian, De Munck, and France´s Bernard piguet with under 44 hours. The first woman was American Sue Notorangelo, setting the woman´s record at 54h40m. In all 15 countries took part. 1987 2957 started and 2117 finished, including 94 British.AUK was awarded the Coupe de monsieur le secre´taire dÉtat a la jeunesse et aux Sports for the greatest number of finishers under 25 and over 55 years of age (15), AUK Souht the Coupe de la Fe´de´ration Sportive et Culturelle de France for having a large number of finishers, AUK South West the Coupe Bulte-Detee for having the most tandem riders (2) , Willesden CC the Coupe Diversey France For being The English club, outside AUK, with the greatest number of finishers, AUK`s Debbie Liewellyn was presented with a watch for being the youngest rider, and AUK South East were given one of the Fanions de la Ville de Brest. AUK`s Barry Parslow and Mark Brooking became the first riders to complete the PBP on tandem trike, with an 83 hour time , and Fliss Beard the first woman to complete the PBP on solo trike , with a 70 hour time. First back was Amercan Scott Dickson, just over 44 hours. 1991 The Centenary eddition, once again audax and allure libre riders shared the road. 3281 randonneurs started And about 2500 finished, including 3 Allemagne ARA* ( Claus Czycholl , Ulf Roeper and Andreas Gruner ) and 149 British.The new venue at St Quentin-en Yvelines, SW of Paris, was popular but a high abandonment was blamed on larter start times of 20.00,22.00, and 05.00, Compounded by a Compulsory afternoon " Prologue " into Paris. Nicole Chabriand of France was first woman back in 59h43 and Scott Dickson agin first in 43h42. * Audax Randonneurs Allemagne 1995 The 13th PBP randonneè, with a slightly reduced entry, Though overseas interest increased and 25 Allemagne finished ARA . Two significant changes in the regulations - tri-bars were banned, while the rule requiring mudguards, was removed. Benign weather Conditions saw a group of nine finish in 43h20, a randonneur record. The woman`s record was demolished when Brigitte Kerlouet came in shortly after the leaders in 44h14. 1999 Saw a record number of riders from 28 countries. 3573 started, the maximum ACP could accommodate, of which 17% abandoned. German riders had average finish time of 70 h 22 min, 76 out of 80 riders finished, a 95,0% success rate, which reflects the ARA self-sufficiency ethos.The course was recognised as over distance and an extra two hours allowed. First back were two Frenchmen, Deplay and Bocquet in 44h22m. First woman,American,Melinda Lyon in 53h plus.Two French male tandems set a new record of 46h23m. Adrian Harris and Jodi Groesbeck, Americans, set a new mixed tandem record of 49h3m.