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Louis Caput
Louis Caput
Born	23 January 1921; Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, France
Died	1 January 1985 (aged 63); Paris, France
Resting place	Ivry Cemetery, Ivry-sur-Seine
	Cycling career
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider and manager
Professional teams
1942-1944	Dilecta-Wolber
1945	Genial Lucifer
1946-1947	Metropole-Dunlop
1948-1950	Olympia-Dunlop
1951	Dilecta-Wolber
1952	Carrara-Dunlop
1953	Gitane-Hutchinson
1954	Rochet-Dunlop
1955	Arliguie-Hutchinson
1956	Saint-Raphael-R. Géminiani
1957	Essor-Leroux
Managerial teams
1966-1967	Kamomé-Dilecta
1968-1969	Frimatic-Viva-De Gribaldy
1969	Frimatic-Viva-de Gribaldy-Wolber
1970-197	Fagor-Mercier
1972-1975	Gan-Mercier
1976	Gan-Mercier France
1977-1978	Miko-Mercier
Major wins
	2 stages Tour de France; Paris–Tours (1948)

Louis Caput (23 January 1921 - 1 January 1985) was a French professional racing cyclist and then team manager. He was born in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, and won Paris–Tours in 1948,^[1] and two stages of the Tour de France. He was national champion in 1946.^[1]

Career

Caput rode as a professional from 1942 to 1957. René de Latour said:

Everybody liked Louis Caput, who became known to the crowds as P'tit Louis. And not only was Caput a likeable rider, he was a clever one who knew his job perfectly and I don't think I have ever seen him make a serious mistake on the road. Whenever he got into a break, he was the boss, the ruler of it. Little Louis was a great general of the pelotons, shouting encouragement, picking the right length for the relays and giving orders to his companions of the breakaway.^[2]

He rode the Tour de France nine times between 1947 and 1956, failing to finish six times but coming 45th in 1951, 54th in 1955, and 56th in 1956.^[3] He won stages in 1949 and 1955. He came third in the Tour of Flanders of 1950.^[4]

Retirement

Caput stopped racing in 1957 and went into the real estate business in Vincennes, an eastern suburb of Paris. In 1966 he became directeur sportif of a new team, Kamomé-Dilecta,^[5] sponsored by a maker of Japanese washing machines and a French bicycle company that had last had a team in the 1930s. The team soon ran into trouble and riders were no longer paid.^[6] "We were paid à la musette,^[7] which means only if we won. Kamomé was in financial difficulties," said one of the riders, Raymond Lebreton.

The French businessman, Jean de Gribaldy, took over sponsorship the following year with Frimatic, another maker of washing machines, as main backer. Caput went with him to run the team but, said, Lebreton, his organisation was chaotic. "The de Gribaldy team was badly organised. We were told we were to ride raced only a few hours before they started. It was a bazaar, and I wanted to leave."^[6] Caput ran the team from 1968 to 1969. The following year Antonin Magne retired from running the Mercier team, which had lost BP as secondary sponsor.^[8] Fagor, a Spanish maker of refrigerators and other household goods, took over. An incidental effect of Caput's arrival as manager is that Raymond Poulidor and the other riders were allowed zips at the necks of their jerseys, something Magne had always thought unhealthy.

Death and memorial

Louis Caput died in Paris on the first day of 1985 and is buried at Ivry Cemetery, Ivry-sur-Seine. A cycling event is organised annually in his honour.^[9]

Major results

1942

Circuit d'Auray

1946

France national road race championship

Paris-Reims

1948

Paris–Tours

1949

Ain-Temouchent

GP de l'Echo d'Oran

Tour de France:

Winner stage 9

1952

GP de la Bicicleta Eibarresa

1955

Paris - Limoges

Arras

Tour de France:

Winner stage 14

1956: Montluçon; Circuit des Deux Ponts

References

^ ^a ^b "Cyclisme : la fiche coureur de LOUIS CAPUT". www.lequipe.fr. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
^ Sporting Cyclist, UK, undated cutting
^ "Louis Caput dans le Tour de France". www.ledicodutour.com. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
^ "Cycling - Louis Caput (France)". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
^ It seems unusual that a Japanese company would have an accent in its name but that is how it was printed on the jerseys: http://www.mairie-tourlaville.fr/fr/tourisme/tourisme_et_patrimoine/dossiers_en_consultation/fichiers/lebreton.PDF
^ ^a ^b "Erreur 404" (PDF). www.mairie-tourlaville.fr. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
^ A cycling expression meaning to be given a jersey and a bike and bonuses for successes but no retainer
^ velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/
^ "Document sans-titre". Archived from the original on 2009-01-02. Retrieved 2008-12-02.