A couple of hours before the passage of the peloton, the public waiting in the ditches of the Tour enjoy a unique show, with a traveling circus: the publicity caravan. More than 200 vehicles are spread over ten kilometers of road displaying the promotional showcase of the Grande Boucle. Nearly 600 people are in charge of making this ‘train’ work and distribute gifts and advertisements among the fans. In France, fans of the race seek out a site by the roadside each summer, waiting for both the caravan and the cyclists. Everything in the Tour is spectacle. The July party. The caravan was officially born in 1930. Although earlier, in 1924, the Wolber tire manufacturer had already shown its good commercial nose by distributing information about its products to the public. The official baptism, six years later, was forced by a change. Henri Desgrange, skipper of the event, decided to end the teams sponsored by commercial brands and fill the Tour grid with national teams and from the regions of France. He thus wanted to put an end to what, in his opinion, was the excessive influence that bicycle manufacturers had on the outcome of the races. By removing these sponsors a problem arose: the financing of the gala round. Therefore, Desgrange created the caravan. He thus offered an advertising showcase to all the brands that wanted to join the Grande Boucle. On those roads where it was unlikely to come across a vehicle, the motorized row of the Tour seemed like a trip to the future in deep France between the wars. The Menier chocolate firm, for example, distributed half a million tablets during the 1930 edition. As if the Three Wise Men arrived in July. It turned out to be a growing success. In 1937, the singer and actress Joséphine Baker promoted French bananas on the roads of the Tour. Eleven years later, the Ricard brand organized festivals with singers of the time, such as Tino Rossi and Charles Trenet. And already in the sixties the great star of the caravan appeared, Yvette Horner, the accordionist of the Tour. Child prodigy she had been a child prodigy. At the age of 11, she obtained a pianist diploma at the Toulouse Conservatory. Music was her life, but not in the way she believed. Her mother changed her course. She saw that there were many pianists and no accordionists. And she forced the girl to change keys. Despite her initial dislike, Yvette also developed her talent on the accordion. She became world champion with that instrument in 1948. But who knows the best accordionist on the planet? Almost nobody. Instead, the Tour makes even the smallest big. Yvette Horner’s life was transformed when she got into the Suze brand vehicle that was part of the publicity caravan of the gala round. With her heavy instrument and held through the roof of the car, her figure toured France in the 1950s and 1960s playing popular songs that the public chanted. She ended up exhausted and as dirty as the cyclists. And happy. «I am French. I love my country. I adore it as I adore the Tour, which is my home », she repeated. Thanks to that promotion, she sold more than thirty million records. Dressed in the colors of the French flag and with her accordion, she made France dance. At the end of the stages she continued with her animation. The great cycling champions posed with her. She was part of the Tour. “This race will forever be an indelible memory that will accompany me to the grave,” she thanked. She died in 2018, at the age of 95. After her passage through the Grande Boucle, she continued her musical career until she gave two thousand concerts. She was also the muse of the couturier Jean-Paul Gaultier. But, beyond her awards and success, she remains in the memory of the country as the accordionist of the Tour, the race that is preceded at each stage by a caravan full of illusion and which, according to a survey, has become the reason why the one in which 40% of the spectators of the gala round are encouraged to fill the gutters.
2023-04-29 22:35:51
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