1923: The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession

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I entered that into Google and it gave the simple response 1923, stage 4, but that wasn’t the end of the story. I didn’t know this at the time but for five years after the end of the First World War the Tour de France route was identical – of course now it changes every year. So my next confusion was that the film could have been from any one of five years and I had to figure out which one – that was hard work.” one of the most intelligent sporting books i have come across...the writing is compulsive, eloquently conveying the twists and turns of the story as it unfolds...excellent -- thewashingmachinepost Yes, that’s right. Yet another cycling book that flogs the dead horse of Alfred Jarry. And, better still, Ernest Hemingway gets to make an appearance too! Wherever Boulting looks, death is to be found. It’s almost like he’s living out a Fast Show sketch.

Or how about the first woman of the Hour, Mlle de Saint-Sauveur? Several people have tried to find out more about her but all we’ve been able to learn at this stage comes from a couple of races before her Hour record and a couple of races after. We don’t even know her first name. The genesis for the entire project was the chance arrival in my life of a reel of ancient Tour de France film, of uncertain provenance, and unclear origin. It’s only 2 and a half minutes long, but it contains enough material for to fill not just one book, but many. It’s that rich, because if you stare hard enough at any moment of recorded time, it will reveal shards of both the past and the future. Its present tense is only the visible part of the iceberg. Now with the ability to examine the film minutely, the author displays impressive research skills as he launches into what is a truly obsessive pursuit. In a world so narrowed by the pandemic, his desk becomes the nerve centre of this project as he goes through the film second-by-second. Even in the cycling-fanatical town he lived all his life in east Flanders, which is the heart of professional road racing, no one has heard of him.” Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), or visit OPGR.org (OR) or www.1800gambler.net (WV).

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If it were possible, if it didn’t make me sound insane, I would have to say that I fell in love with a year. I fell in love with a moment in time. I fell in love with a single event that is bigger than everything I have ever imagined. This is my testament to a race that is bigger in scope than even its creator imagined possible. This is my love letter to the Tour de France.

Ned's captivating book explores one man's obsession with this magnificent event and casts an intriguing light on a tiny fragment of a race long gone by The film’s condition meant two to three months of sourcing the right specialist help but a facility in east London proved up to the task.I have no idea how Boulting managed to get this so wrong, missed Gallica’s captions and somehow dated the pictures to 1925. But wrong he got it. And then he went and compounded the error by making a mystery out of it, with eagle-eyed Ned spotting something he thinks significant in the picture with the bouquet: In the autumn of 2020 Ned Boulting (ITV head cycling commentator and Tour de France obsessive) bought a length of Pathé news film from a London auction house. All he knew was it was film from the Tour de France, a long time ago. Once restored it became clear it was a short sequence of shots from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. No longer than 2.5 minutes long, it featured half a dozen sequences, including a lone rider crossing a bridge. a b Marquand, Rupert (11 August 2013). "Winning over the cycling audience". Bedfordshire on Sunday. Boulting was also in a strange situation of possessing what turned out to be the only copy of this news reel in existence but with intellectual rights belonging to Pathé Cinema France. A sensible trade-off was reached with Boulting taking on the rights but Pathé then having a copy for its archives. Other Pathé newsreels from this era exist and you can see many of the same people in them, including the likes of Henri Desgrange, Ottavio Bottecchia and Henri Pélissier. You’ve probably seen some if you’ve ever watched any of the French TV programmes celebrating the Tour’s history. But this one is a fresh discovery.