Paul Dangla

Léopold-Marie "Paul" Dangla (Laroque-Timbaut, Aquitaine, 16 January 1878[3][1] – Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, 18[1] or 25[2] June 1904) was a French professional road bicycle racer.

Paul Dangla
Paul Dangla (1903)
Personal information
Birth nameLéopold-Marie Dangla[1][2]
NationalityFrench
Born16 January 1878[3]
Laroque-Timbaut, Aquitaine, France[1][2]
Died(1904-06-18)June 18, 1904[1] or (1904-06-25)June 25, 1904[2] (22 or 26)
Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, Germany[1][2]
Resting placeDolmayrac, France[1][2]
Years active1899-1904[2]
Sport
SportRoad bicycle racing

Paul Dangla was born to Marie Pelegrin and Ferdinand Dangla. Ferdinand, a former gendarme, worked as a garde champêtre (rural guard) in his birthplace, Le Passage. A brother had died a year before Dangla's birth at the age of nine months. From 1896 Dangla gained a reputation in his home region as a good amateur in sprint and tandem races.[1]

Paul Dangla behind pacemaker Marius Thé at the Vélodrome d'Hiver (1903/04)

In 1899 Paul Dangla, actually a trained accountant,[4] went to Paris to start as a professional in motor-paced racing and became a popular local hero.[2] He competed in non-medal cycling events at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and placed second in the sprint event at the 1901 Grand Prix d'Angers.[5]

After Dangla had beaten all the world records of the German Thaddäus Robl on 16 August 1903, he became a "national hero".[2] On 18 October, he again set an hour record behind pacemakers over 84.577 kilometres (52.554 mi) at the Parc des Princes, as the August record had now been beaten by Tommy Hall of England.[1][2][6]

In 1903 Dangla placed second in the motor-paced event at both the European Championship and French Championship.[5] In April 1904, he was injured in a fall and unable to race for a month.[4] On 12 June 1904, Dangla crashed at a speed of nearly 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) while racing in Magdeburg,[4][7] shortly after winning the "Goldenen Rad von Magdeburg" (Golden Wheel of Magdeburg).[4] He died two weeks later.[7]

In Agen, a school was named after Dangla, "Collège Paul Dangla". As of 2016 the school still bore this name.[8] For many years, the bicycle Dangla was riding when he had his fatal accident stood on his grave in the cemetery of Dolmayrac; on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death, it was to be placed in a glass display case. After this was announced in the press, the bike was stolen.[2][9]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Dangla.
  1. "Laroque Timbaut - Ses illustres" (PDF) (in French). Syndicat d'Initiative de Laroque-Timbaut. pp. 9–13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. "Paul Dangla". Cycling Archives. de Wielersite. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. Birth certificate
  4. "In Memoriam Paul Dangla". Portraits: Veteranen. Cycling4Fans (in German). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  5. "Paul Dangla". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  6. "Dangla recordman de l'heure: Le Challenge de la "Vie au grand air"" [Dangla record holder of the hour: The "Vie au grand air" Challenge]. La Vie Au Grand Air (in French). 23 October 1903. p. 782. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  7. Homan, Andrew M. (2011). Life in the Slipstream: The Legend of Bobby Walthour Sr. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59797-685-5. Retrieved 13 October 2021 – via Google Books.
  8. "Présentation du collège Paul Dangla" [Presentation of Collège Paul Dangla]. colleges47.org (in French). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  9. "De Verzamelaar" [The Collector]. Stuyfssportverhalen (in Dutch). 23 February 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
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