Algerian Zaaf’s intoxication on Tour and his subsequent escape from hospital

In a race as great and great as Tour de Francewhich is celebrating its 102nd edition this year, there is space for all sorts of stories and one of the most curious is the one starring the Algerian cyclist Abdel Kader Zaaf | in the edition of 1950 Tour de France.

Zaaf played on his second Tour defending the colors of a team from North Africa, North Africaat a time when he also ran the Tour of Switzerland, where he graduated at 45. On July 13 he began his participation in ‘Big Loop’ 1950. His best result came in the 12th period, where he finished 5th, 16’02 ”behind the Belgian Maurice Blomea result that probably gave him morale for the next day, where he did it all and was compelling along these lines.

The stage in question is the 13th – the more reason for superstitious people is actually more – and it consists of 215 kilometers, between the towns of Perpignan and Nîmes. Perhaps encouraged by the result of the previous day, Zaaf He put the direct and left the discipline of the group, along with his partner in North Africa, Marcel Molineswhich will end up winning the stage.

Success seems to be a matter of two, because Zaaf and Molines They were more than 30 minutes ahead of the group, but less than 20 kilometers from the finish line, the inexplicable happened. The Algerian began to feel worse, until he felt dizzy and fell off his bike. All caste and heart, and probably motivated by trying to be the first African cyclist to win a stage of the Tour, he returned to the bike, but after a few meters he fell again, due to fatigue, the stress of which his body was subjected and the intense heat was there, with over 40ºC.

This is what Mundo Deportivo read on July 28, 1950: “In the corresponding edition, Mundo Deportivo explained what happened in these words:“ We are approaching the sea and Zaaf and Molines are constantly increasing the distances. The heat The sun was burning, no leaves were moving in the trees and there were few runs and supporters who had to attend, appreciating the signs of heat stroke. Shortly after Montpelier, Zaaf, thirsty, asked for a drink and was given to him by a spectator. a bottle of fresh wine, drunk by the shiny ibis in one gulp. Moments later he fell off the bicycle, writhing in stomach pain. He was helped, but he could not continue and he stopped. “

He received the help of some spectators, but his condition was so precarious that he was finally admitted to a hospital. He appears to have recovered quickly, so he escaped from the hospital with the intention of competing the next day, not being allowed to direct the race.

the two versions

But what really happened ZahF. There are two versions. The ‘romantic’ points out that near Nimes a fan gave a bottle of wine from the Cornières area to Zaaf so that he could make up for it. He, who was Muslim and had not seen wine, drank it as they say in a gulp, while being served in the shade of a tree. And the fact of never having tasted wine, fatigue and heat will cause sudden dehydration. The second version narrates that the Algerian cyclist consumed amphetamines, which along with heat and effort, would lead to his collapse. After falling to the ground, he was found by some grape harvesters, who, without water, sprinkled him with wine, and the red color and the smell of the wine itself became the legend of ‘intoxication’ among the journalists found. he was lying in my usual way.

After what happened, Zaaf did not collapse and ended up starting over Tour de France of 1951 (his best result was 5th in the 23rd stage) and 1952, where he leaves after the 11th day, ending at the ski resort of sestriere. The cyclist born in Chebil will end up leaving the competition in 1955, in the range of Terrot-Hutchinsonas 10th place in the Grand Prix of Nations his last career, where victory corresponds to another legend: the Jacques Anquetil.