René de Latour

René de Latour (born New York, United States, 30 September 1906, died Quiberon, France, 4 September 1986) was a Franco-American sports journalist, race director of the Tour de l'Avenir cycle race, and correspondent of the British magazine, Sporting Cyclist, to which he contributed to 120 of the 131 issues.

René de Latour was born in 42nd Street, New York. His father was French, born in Lyon, and his mother Belgian, from Verviers. The family returned to France at the start of World War I, when de Latour was eight. He never lost a slight American accent when he spoke English.

The war was an exciting time for a young boy and de Latour made the most of that and his freedom. In 1917 he met American soldiers in Paris and became their interpreter and guide. He took them to the Folies Bergère when he was 11. His American links gave him an interest in baseball but it was cycling that filled his life.

The venue for cycle-racing in the centre of Paris was the Vélodrome d'Hiver, an indoor track close to the Eiffel Tower. There he met the Canadian star, Willie Spencer, becoming not just interpreter and guide but his odd-job boy, or runner, during races. He boasted that that was the last time he ever paid to enter the velodrome.

De Latour shared a bike with his brother until he was 15. The next year he saved for his own and then joined the Club Sportif de Montrouge, in southern Paris. He became a modest racer but nothing better. At 20, French law gave him the opportunity to decide his nationality. He could be American through his birth in the USA or French through his father. He chose to be French and spent 18 months in the army.

He returned to the Vel' d'Hiv' on leaving national service and again looked after Americans, including the motor-paced champion, Charlie Jaeger. That brought him a job with Reggie McNamara during six-day races and eventually as trainer, or at any rate advisor, to Hubert Opperman in the Tour de France.

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