Ruban Jaune
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The Ruban Jaune ''(English; Yellow Ribbon)'' is a cycling title created in 1936 by
Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (; 31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French cycle sport, bicycle racer and Sports journalism, sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first o ...
, awarded to the rider recording the fastest average speed in a professional cycling race or stage longer than 200 km. The name is thought to have come from comparison with the
Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...
accolade awarded to the passenger liner crossing the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
in record time. Desgrange changed the colour to yellow to reflect the
newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...
of L'Auto, the sports newspaper he edited. The current holder of the Ruban Jaune is
Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the 2012 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two rid ...
.


History

The first holder of the Ruban Jaune was Gustave Danneels of Belgium, who won the 1936
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 ...
in 41.455 km/h. Paris–Tours was long associated with the Ruban Jaune because its flat course, often coupled with a tailwind, makes for a fast speed; changes to the course from 2018, introducing gravel sections and hills in the latter stages, make it less favourable now. Jules Rossi of Italy took the record in 1938 when covering 251 km at an average of 42.1 km/h in Paris–Tours. The suspension of professional cycling during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
meant Rossi’s record stood for ten years until April 4, 1948, when Rik Van Steenbergen won Paris–Roubaix with an average speed of 43.6 km/h. The race had a violent tailwind. Van Steenbergen attacked at
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6 km from the finish, caught Emile Idée and Fiorenzo Magni and then beat Idée in a sprint in Roubaix Velodrome. In 1955 the record returned to Paris–Tours when Jacques Dupont covered the 253.7 km with an average speed of 43.8 km/h. Dupont held the record until 1962 when Jo de Roo won Paris–Tours with an average speed of 44.9 km/h over 267.5 km. However, the previous year saw two unratified claims. Jean Anastasi won a 218 km stage of the 1961 Paris–Nice between St Etienne and
Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
with an average speed of 44.9 km/h. The record was not recognised because the course had not been properly measured. Also in 1961 Walter Martin of Italy won Milano–Torino with an average speed of 45.1 km/h but this too was not accepted. In 1964 Peter Post claimed the Ruban Jaune in winning Paris–Roubaix with an average speed of 45.1 km/h. The race took off very fast. The high average speed can be further explained by the final break at Attiches 33 km from the finish. It contained two riders from the Flandria team and three from Weils-Groene-Leeuw and they worked together to keep a high speed with the race decided in a sprint.''"A Century Of Paris–Roubaix"'', Pascal Sergent, , Gives details of 1948 and 1964 editions of Paris–Roubaix. Post’s record stood for more than a decade although the 1969 Milano–Vignola was initially won by Roger Kindt with a record average speed of 46 km/h before he was disqualified at the medical control and victory was awarded to Attilio Rota. Post’s record was beaten by Freddy Maertens in the 1975 Paris-Brussels, with an average speed of 46.1 km/h over 285.5 km.''"European Cycling: The 20 Greatest Races"'', Noel Henderson, , pp129-130, Gives history and details of 1975 Paris-Brussels. Maertens held the record for more than 20 years, before Andrei Tchmil set a record in 1997 when he won the 254.5 km Paris–Tours with an average speed of 47.2 km/h. The race covered 49.3 km in the first hour and 48.9 km in the second. Tchmil beat
Max Sciandri Maximilian Sciandri (born 15 February 1967) is a retired Great Britain, British road racing cyclist of Italy, Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the ...
in a sprint after the two had broken away 5 km from the finish. Cyclingnews.com
Gives details of 1997 edition of Paris–Tours.
Erik Zabel set a new best in the 2003 Paris–Tours of 47.6 km/h over 257 km, a brisk tailwind pushing the race over 51 km in the fourth hour along the
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valley. Zabel eventually won the race in a bunch sprint in
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
. Cyclingnews.com
Gives details of 2003 edition of Paris–Tours.
On October 10, 2010 Óscar Freire broke the record yet again in Paris–Tours, taking advantage of a favourable wind over a new shortened course of 233 km, he covered the distance in 4 hours 52 mins 54 seconds at an average speed of 47.7 km/h. Cyclingnews.com
Gives details of 2010 edition of Paris–Tours.
Two Italian riders then took the title at further editions of Paris–Tours: Marco Marcato in
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and Matteo Trentin in
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, with an average speed of .
Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the 2012 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two rid ...
is the current holder of the honour, after winning stage 17 of the
2019 Vuelta a España The 2019 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain, Andorra and France between 24 August and 15 September 2019. The race was the 74th edition of the Vuelta a España and is the ...
at an average speed of . That stage saw the peloton breaking up into echelons in the first part of the course, with various parts of the peloton chasing after each other. A strong tailwind in the second part ensured that the high pace was maintained until the finish in Guadalajara.


Holders of the Ruban Jaune


References

{{Reflist Road bicycle racing terminology International sports trophies and awards Cycling records and statistics Awards established in 1936