Jean Bobet, brother of the famous Louison, winner in the 50s, dies at the age of 92

Jean Bobett, who writer Antoine Blondin dubbed ‘the man in the brother’s mask’, has died at the age of 92, as announced this Saturday by the National Union of Professional Cyclists (UNCP), of which he was one of the founders.

Bobet is the brother of Louison, famous for being one of the first to win the Tour de France three times in a row between 1953 and 1955.

“He was a special cyclist,” said the youngest Bobet, born in 1930, five years after his brother. “First of all, it is a curiosity described as intellectual. It is written on my face: I wear glasses. And then, I am the brother of one. It is written everywhere: Louison Bobet is THE champion.”

Winner of Paris-Nice in 1955, third in Milan-Sanremo the same year, Jean Bobet nevertheless had a very distinguished career, with two participations in the Tour de France (14th in 1955, 15th in 1957) and three at the Giro, before hanging up the bike in 1959.

“I had a lot more moods than successes,” he admitted in one of a dozen books he wrote with beauty (he won the Grand Prize for Sports Literature), finesse and precision.

After his career, he dedicated himself to journalism (L’Équipe, RTL, where he was head of the sports department) and was even approached for a while to direct the Tour de France. But he couldn’t resist the call of his brother, who started a thalassotherapy business.

After Louison’s death in 1983, Jean Bobet became the guardian of the memory of the Breton champion. As vigilant as when he rejected the philosopher and literary critic Roland Barthes, on the afternoon of the Ventoux stage of the 1955 Tour, by closing the door of his room. “After the job as a member of the road team, I took another job at the finish line, that of the watchman integrated into the close protection of the champion.”