André Mahé (18 November 1919 – 19 October 2010) was a French

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was a professional rider from 1945 until 1954. He jointly won the 1949 classic cycle race

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

with

Serse Coppi Serse Coppi (19 March 1923 – 29 June 1951) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist born in Castellania, Piedmont, Castellania. He was the younger brother of Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi. Professional career His greatest victory was 1 ...

in controversial fashion. In 1950 he won the classic

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

race.

Major results

;1946 :1st Tour du Finistère :3rd Grand Prix des Nations ;1947 :3rd Circuit de l'Aulne :1st stage 1, Tour de l'Ouest :2nd stage 1,

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

;1948 :1st Circuit "Maine-Normandie-Anjou" :2nd Paris-Nantes :2nd Tour de l'Ouest :3rd Grand Prix du Pneumatique à Montluçon ;1949 :1st

(jointly with

) :1st Grand Prix de l'Equipe ;1950 :1st

:2nd Grand Prix de "L'Echo d'Alger" ;1951 :1st Grand Prix de "L'Echo d'Alger" :2nd Paris-Saint Amand-Montrond ;1952 :1st Circuit des Deux-Ponts à Montluçon :3rd

;1953 :1st Montsauche :3rd Boucles de la Gartempe (1st on stage 3) :3rd Grand Prix du Maine ;1954 :1st Montsauche :1st Hennebont

The story of the 1949 Paris–Roubaix

The result of the 1949

took several months and two international conferences to sort out. André Mahé was first across the line, but his win was challenged on the grounds that he took the wrong course. Mahé was in a break of three riders that reached the Roubaix Velodrome in the lead, but was misdirected by officials. Mahé, Jacques Moujica and Frans Leenen were desperate to get inside the stadium and cross the finish line before the next riders arrived. Moujica damaged his bike in the process, but Mahé and Leenen got into the stadium by a back door. André Mahé was first and was awarded the race. Or so it seemed. Mahé acknowledged the crowds, took the bouquet, did a lap of honour and then headed to clean himself up at the track's showers. A few minutes later the bunch arrived using the correct route and

, brother of the more famous Fausto, won the sprint for what was assumed to be, the minor placings. When the Coppi brothers heard about Mahé's unconventional approach to the finish they protested, demanding he be disqualified or demoted and that Serse be named as the winner. The judges changed their minds and awarded Coppi the race. Five days later the French federation confirmed Mahé as the winner. The Italian federation then protested to the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

and the dispute became international. The UCI's response (in August 1949) was to declare the race null - no winner. However, they agreed to review their decision at a conference in November of that year. In November the Belgian federation sided with the Italians. After much internal politicking a compromise was reached. The final outcome - to reinstate the race and declare André Mahé and Serse Coppi as joint winners - was not popular with either side. The race was Serse Coppi's only classic win. In a 2007 interview, André Mahé still maintained that he should have been awarded the race. He said of

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...

: "Coppi wanted his brother to have a big victory. He was a great champion, Coppi, but to do what he did - to protest like that to get a victory for his brother - that wasn't dignified for a champion. That was beneath him."Woodland, Les. "Share Deal" an interview with André Mahé, '' Procycling'', Issue 97, April 2007, pp. 74-5

Other results

Mahé made his mark in the professional peloton in his second year, 1946, by winning the Tour du Finistère and coming third in the classic Grand Prix des Nations time trial. He finished the

only once (in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

), finishing 49th. After his win at

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

he went on to win the classic

race the next year (1950). In 1952 he came third in

despite puncturing and having to change his tyre during the race. He retired from racing in 1955.

Retirement

After retiring from cycling he went to work for his father-in-law's cable-making company in

. When the company moved to

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

in northern France (coincidentally, now the starting point of the Paris–Roubaix) he relocated to that area. After retiring he cut most of his links with cycling, apart from attending the

as a guest.

Bibliography

*Woodland, L. "Share Deal" - an interview with André Mahé about the 1949 Paris–Roubaix in ''Procycling'' Issue 97, April 2007

References

External links

*
Palmares at memoire-du-cyclisme.netLes Woodland on the 1949 Paris-Roubaix controversy at cyclingnews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahe, Andre French male cyclists 1919 births 2010 deaths Cyclists from Paris 20th-century French sportsmen