Gérard Holtz (born 8 December 1946) is a French

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

Early life and education

Gérard Holtz 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 ...

and grew up in the area of Belleville. At the age of eight, he nearly died from an accident and contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. He was sent until the age of ten in a

sanitorium A sanatorium (from Latin ''wikt:sanare, sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a Hospital#Specialized, specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sa ...

in the department of

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

to be treated. The doctor diagnosed that he will stay with rachitis and will never be able to do sports again. Holtz will later determine that he will do anything else in life to show the contrary. Holtz graduated with a DESS of

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

and later studied at the

French Press Institute The French Press Institute (, commonly referred to as "IFP") is a public institution of research and higher education, which has served as the department for communication and journalism studies at Panthéon-Assas University since 1970. Founded ...

before graduating at the Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) of Paris in 1972.

Television career

Holtz attempted the contest for

Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...

but was not received. Claire Richet, director of the CFJ, let him join the ORTF in 1972 where he is a reporter for the news for 10 years. From 1976 to 1982, he hosted the daily news before becoming a well-known reporter for the sports on

Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

in 1982. From 1985 to 1992, he presents ''Stade 2'' where he comments the sport and is well known for his interviews after the race of the

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 ...

since 1985 and the comments of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

since 1994. He retired from covering the Tour de France after the 2016 edition, and during post-race interviews after stage 20 in

Morzine Morzine (; ), alternatively known as Morzine-Avoriaz (), is an alpine commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is located in the French-Swiss Chablais historical ...

race leader

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome, (; born 20 May 1985) is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d' ...

presented Holtz with an autographed yellow jersey as a gift. In 1999, he hosts ''Les cinglés de la télé'' on

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

, a game show based on television culture. He also co-hosts the ''Téléthon'' with Claude Sérillon and

Sophie Davant Sophie Davant (born 19 May 1963) is a French journalist and television presenter. Early life and education She was born in Bordeaux in the department of Gironde. She graduated with a master of foreign languages in both English and German in Bo ...

in 1991, 1998, 2002 and 2003. He hosted the ''Journal de 13 heures'' on

between September 2000 and July 2001 but also some of them in the evening. From 2005 to 2008, he hosted again ''Stade 2'' on Sundays on France 2, and right after the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. During the

, he hosts the ''Avant Tour'' since 2007 and the ''Après Tour'' since 2008 on

. He also hosts the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

Personal life

Gérard Holtz married Marie-Françoise Buart from 1979 to 2006, with whom he has two sons, Julien (born in 1979) and Antoine (born in 1987). He married again on 19 April 2013

Muriel Mayette Muriel Mayette (born 2 May 1964) is a French actress. Life and career At the age of 14, Mayette followed the lectures of Marcel Tassencourt in Versailles. From 1980 to 1982, she studied at the ''National School of Arts and Theatre Technique' ...

, the administrator of the Comédie Française.

Honours

Gérard Holtz was named Knight of the National Order of Merit by

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

on November 23, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holtz, Gerard 1946 births Living people French television presenters French sports journalists Journalists from Paris Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite French male non-fiction writers French people of German descent