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Christopher S. Thompson
What is striking about the socio-professional identities of club members is the
extent to which the bourgeoisie, petty-bourgeoisie, and artisans mingled within
them, reproducing on a microcosmic scale the composition and hierarchy of local
society. There were, however, some exceptions to this rule. Sometimes members
of a given profession, generally located in a fairly large town or city, would form
their own club, as, for example, the barbers of L’Union Vélocipédique des
Coiffeurs de Rennes. 41 On the other hand, certain groups were conspicuous by
their absence from cycling clubs, particularly agricultural workers who had little
time or money to devote to organized leisure activities and who, because of their
relative isolation, were exposed to the bicycle later than their urban compatriots.
The case of industrial workers is more diverse: while they too had relatively little
money and free time for such activities, some did participate in cycling clubs. In
some cases, like the afore-mentioned barbers, industrial workers founded cycling
clubs drawn exclusively from their own ranks: all seven members of the organizing
committee of La Tucquegnieutoise were miners, strongly suggesting that the entire
membership was drawn from that profession. 42 As for women, they were simply
excluded from active membership but were usually allowed to participate in the
club’s annual banquet and family outings. Otherwise they were relegated to secondary
roles as spectators or club patrons. 43 Sport – particularly one as demanding as
cycling – was seen as a largely masculine endeavor in Belle Epoque France.
The remarkable development of cycling clubs throughout France in the three
decades preceding World War I cannot simply be explained by the increased access
to leisure time among the lower classes of society and the steadily decreasing price
of the bicycle. It was also the result of a concerted effort on the part of Republican
politicians actively to promote associationism. Laws passed in 1884 (on professional
associations) and in 1901 (on other associations) established the official
status of such clubs. As a result, the sports associative movement, building on the
happy coincidence of Republican political ideology and social policy with the new
aspirations of the lower classes, experienced its golden age between the end of the
nineteenth century and World War I. 44
Republicans believed associations (including sports clubs) would form responsible
citizens by providing members with an activity and an environment in
which they would experience the workings of democracy actively, directly and
voluntarily. The sports club functioned as a Republican microsociety complete
with executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. Elections for club positions and
deliberations about club-related issues were held, attendance at meetings was
required as was the payment of membership dues, and all political and religious
discussion was forbidden. The club was conceived as a school where tolerance,
discipline, obedience, and civic values would be inculcated to all members, and
where inappropriate behavior would be penalized. It provided a model of voluntary
and orderly collective life, which in turn would contribute to the construction of a
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