Roger Rivière
Rivière on a 1972 UAE stamp
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Roger Rivière |
| Born |
23 February 1936 Saint-Étienne, France |
| Died | 1 April 1976 (aged 40) Saint-Galmier, France |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Major wins | |
| World champion pursuit (3x) | |
Roger Rivière (23 February 1936, Saint-Étienne – 1 April 1976, Saint-Galmier) was a French track and road bicycle racer. He raced as a professional from 1957 to 1960.
Rivière, a time trialist, all-around talent on the road, and a three-time world pursuit champion on the track, lost his career to injury. He was considered to have a chance of winning the 1960 Tour de France but crashed on the Col de Perjuret descent of Mont Aigoual in the Massif Central while following leader Gastone Nencini. Rivière hit a guard-block on the edge of the road, falling 20 meters into a ravine. He landed in brush, breaking two vertebrae.
Rivière started as a track rider, at the old velodrome in St-Étienne. At 19 he beat Jacques Anquetil for the national pursuit championship at the Parc des Princes in Paris. He turned professional in 1957, when he beat Albert Bouvet to win the world pursuit championship at Rocourt, Belgium.
On the advice of his team manager, Raphaël Géminiani, and his agent, Daniel Dousset, Rivière attempted Ercole Baldini's hour record on 18 September 1957 at the Vigorelli track in Milan. He was still in national service in the army at Joinville, near Paris, although in a battalion which allowed the country's top athletes to train at public expense. He rode a 7.28m gear and took the record with 46 km 923m.
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