Alfred Mottard and the Tour de France

June 27, 1920 was the highpoint of Belgian Alfred Mottard's (1892–1945) cycling career. On this day, he was among the 113 cyclists starting in the 14th Tour de France in Paris. However, the race ended quickly for him. During the first leg of the race, which extended across 380 kilometres from Paris to Le Havre, he fell and had to give up.

Alfred Mottard, in period cycling clothes on his bicycle. He has a characteristic large mustache. — Alfred Mottard in the 8/16/1921 issue of La dernière heure, no date.

©La dernière heure

Alfred Mottard was born in a working-class family in 1892 in Jemelle near Namur. In his early youth, the enthusiastic cyclist trained with his brothers at a nearby track. Little is known about his career as a professional cyclist. In the 1920s he took part in races in Belgium and Luxembourg. As a family man, he earned his living with a small bicycle shop. Later he worked as a welder and taxi driver.

During the war, he fell into the hands of the Gestapo. As a political prisoner, he was held in different prisons in Belgium. In May 1944, he was sent to Buchenwald from Fort Breendonk, the central detention centre of the Gestapo in Belgium. He was assigned to a range of work details. In January 1945, the SS sent him to the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp, where he soon died on January 24, 1945. Alfred Mottard was 52 years old.