Robert Chapatte
| Robert Chapatte | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 October 1922 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Died | 19 January 1997 (aged 74) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Robert Chapatte (born 14 October 1922, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, d. 19 January 1997, Paris) was a French cyclist, voice of the Tour de France on television and radio and the inventor of Chapatte's Law.
Chapatte started cycling at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris, where he became popular with the crowd in madison races. In 1944, he won the amateur team pursuit championship with Roger Riol and, Jean Guegen and André Chassang. He was a professional for 11 seasons, from 1944 to 1954. He rode the Tour de France from 1948 to 1952, finishing 16th in 1949. He won the Circuit des Pyrénées in 1949 and the Grand Prix d'Espéraza in 1952. In 1949, riding for France in the Tour de France, he was the first rider to answer a live question on French television.
On retirement from cycling, he became a sports writer for L'Aurore and another daily paper, Le Provençal.
In 1955, he provided the commentary for the Tour de l'Ouest on Radio Monte Carlo. A technical error during the race led to his voice going out on a rival network. Engineers switched his commentary to the state channel, ORTF, and that of George Briquet to Radio Monte Carlo. The incident forged a friendship between the two men and Briquet was able to bring Chapatte to ORTF. He stayed there until 1959 and then moved to television. There he stayed until 1968, when he became one of many taken off the air in the shake-up that hit state television after the student riots and other political protests across France in May that year. He returned to radio, working for Europe 1.
Chapatte wrote from the end of his racing career for the sports magazine Miroir Sprint, particularly for its Tour de France issue. In January 1961 he joined the staff of a new monthly, Miroir du Cyclisme, writing "Robert Chapatte's Notebook", but his name vanished from the editorial committee in autumn 1962.
In 1975 he returned to television as head of sport at Antenne 2. He created the sports analysis programme, Stade 2, which is still broadcast on Antenne 2's successor, France 2. He presented the programme from 1975 to 1985, then became consultant commentator on the Tour de France with a man who eventually followed him as head of sport, Patrick Chêne.
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