Q&A Serge Laget

The veteran French cycling historian and award-winning author discusses his enduring passion for the Tour de France

- Words Felix Lowe Photography Oliver Knight

Cyclist: What are your earliest memories of the Tour?

Serge Laget: I first discovered the Tour in my village of Langogne in the Cévennes in 1954, when I was seven. I remember as if it were yesterday. The small town was all asleep and then the caravane suddenly sped through with all the klaxons, and we were like, 'Damn, what the hell is this?' I found it intoxicating. I hold on to this precious memory like a magic necklace. Fast-forward 30 years, I became friends with many of those riders who passed in front of me.

Cyc: Which riders were you closest to?

SL: I was friends with André Darrigade and I would bump into Louison Bobet because I was close to his brother, Jean. I was friends with Victor Cosson, who came third in the 1938 Tour. In his old age we had lunch together every week and he told me lots of stories.

Cyc: What kind of stories?

SL: The most fabulous was from 1930 involving Louis Peglion, a guy from Marseille everyone called 'the Olive Gardener'. He was the only rider who didn't puncture in the stage from Cannes to Nice. Why? Because his friends told him they would throw nails on the left side of the road, so he rode on the right. There's something romantic and poetic about this.

Cyc: How did you become so passionate about cycling history?

SL: After my military service I almost became a teacher, then a nurse. I was an apprentice surveyor, mushroom picker, bric-à-brac salesman, until a small advert brought me into cycling in 1970 at the new National Museum of Sport. After 18 years working in the archives, I became a journalist at L’Équipe in 1987.

Cyc: How many books have you written to date?