The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists.[1] Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship of the world and as a Classic cycle race. The race was the idea of a Parisian newspaper editor called Gaston Bénac. The beret-wearing sports editor was looking for a race to make a name for Paris-Soir, the biggest French evening paper before the war.
He and his colleague Albert Baker d'Isy had been inspired by the world road race championship in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1931. That, unusually, had been run as a time trial, and the two were impressed and also, they said, aware that a time-trial cost less to organise than a conventional road race. Baker d'Isy decided the name Grand Prix des Nations.[2]
The introduction of an official time trial champion at the UCI Road World Championships in 1994 and an Olympic individual time trial championship (1996) reduced its importance. With the introduction of the UCI ProTour in 2005, the event was removed from the calendar. Since 2006, Chrono des Nations (formerly Chrono des Herbiers) has effectively taken the place of GP des Nations in the calendar.[4]
History
Race distances have varied. Until 1955, it was approximately 140km; six years later, the distance was 100km; from 1965 onwards the distance rarely exceeded 90km, with many events run of around 75km. The events were in the Vallée de Chevreuse in the Paris area, then near Cannes on the French Riviera; for five years from 1993, it was held at the Madine Lake in the Meuse; from 1998, it has taken place in Seine-Maritimedépartement, two circuits of 35km around Dieppe.
