Henri Pépin (18 November 1864 – 31 December 1915) was an affluent French racing cyclist who once hired two riders to escort him leisurely through the Tour de France, in which they ate at good restaurants and spent the night in expensive hotels. When he had had enough, he paid his assistants – the first domestiques in cycle racing – what they would have earned had they won the Tour and went home by train.
Tour de France
The Tour which made Pépin celebrated started at the Porte Bineau in Paris on 8 July 1907. Pépin, whom reporters quickly turned into a count or a baron (see below) was rider number 59 in a peloton of 112. He had hired two riders, Jean Dargassies and Henri Gauban to ride with him. Far from competing with the favourites, Gustave Garrigou, Émile Georget and Lucien Petit-Breton, Pépin planned to treat the race as a pleasure ride, stopping for lunch when they chose and spending the night in the best hotels they could find.
The race left the Porte Bineau at 5.30am but without Pépin, Gauban and Dargassies. Pierre Chany reports that Pépin was in conversation with a lady, occasionally raising his hat to other women and blowing kisses. The bunch had already left for its eight-hour ride to Roubaix, but only when Pepin was ready did he say:
The three riders never separated, never hurried. They took 12 hours and 20 minutes longer than Georget on the stage from Roubaix to Metz – they were far from last – and the judges were powerless because the race was decided not on time but points. It mattered less what speed riders competed than the order in which they crossed the line. In an era when riders could be separated by hours, there was no point in hurrying after a rival who could not be caught and passed. The judges had to wait for everyone.
One day the trio came across another rider, not on the road but lying in a ditch.
Somewhere between Lyon and Grenoble on stage five – three times the direct distance the way the race went – Pépin pulled out the money he had promised his little team and set off for the train home. Dargassies joined Pépin on the train. Gauban carried on, finishing 36th in stage six, 27th on stage four. By stage eight he was only 36 minutes in arrears, but something happened on stage nine and he dropped behind by 2 hours and 12 minutes. Despite pulling back to an hour and six minutes on stage 10, where he finished 14th, he pulled out on the 11th. It was his fifth and final Tour.
It was also the last Tour for Dargassies, who had come 11th in 1903 and fourth in 1904 before abandoning in 1905 and 1907.
Nobility myth
Henri Pépin, because of his aristocratic-sounding story, is often described as a baron or a count. The Danish writer and television commentator, Svend Novrup, imagined a scene in which Pépin called his assistants to see him:
Two athletic young men entered the beautiful room of a castle near Toulouse. The gorgeous furniture, perfectly hand-crafted, tastefully complemented the decorations on the walls. They were impressed, but they were also curious. Who was this Count Pépin de Gontaud who had asked their help as cyclists? He didn't disappoint. He shone with idealism if one overlooked a bit of a belly. His dress was modern for 1907 and his handlebar moustache was well kept. He addressed his guests in a light tone ...
The confusion arose because of the trunk of belongings that Pépin carried with him through the Tour. On it was stenciled "Henri Pépin de Gontaud". The "de" gave the impression of aristocracy and that was what journalists concluded when they were intrigued by his dilettante manners. The truth was more prosaic: Henri Pépin was simply from a village called Gontaud-de-Nogaret, not near Toulouse but on the Toulouse side of Bordeaux. Far from being his name, it was his address.
The house is still there, in the main street. Pépin was described as a propriétaire, or house-owner. The house is substantial but not a château and there are no extensive grounds.
Nor was Pépin a novice to cycling. He rode seven stages of the 1905 Tour de France. He called it a day from Toulouse to Bordeaux, perhaps when he got close to Gontaud. Dargassies also rode the 1905 race and it was probably there they forged their alliance.