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A fact from George William Beatty appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 12 September 2009 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Latest comment: 9 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion
"By 1923, he constructed a racing motorcycle that won the Tour de France." Does anyone know anything more about this claim (which seems to be taken from the earlyaviators.com article)? The Tour de France has always been a (pedal) cycling race. I've never heard of a motorcycling element, and although I'm prepared to believe there was one in the 1920s (there are things I've never heard of), it isn't mentioned in the wikipedia articles in either English or French, and I can't find anything by googling. However, the two winning cyclists were both sponsored by Automoto, a motorcycle manufacturer (see 1923 Tour de France). It sounds like there might have been some confusion. GrindtXX (talk) 19:02, 7 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
The "Tour de France" usually referes to the cycling race. But in early years, there have been other races with that name, not using bicycles but other transport. While doing research for the cycling articles, I sometimes stumbled upon a newspaper article on those other races, but I did not save them. I remember reports of a Tour de France for airplanes and a Tour de France for cars. For 1923, I could quickly find this text: (source: Le Figaro, 19 april 1923, page 7)
"Le Tour de France - Le Tour de France automobile et motocycliste commencera lundi prochain, 23 avril, et se terminera le 6 mai. Comme chaque année, de nombreuses coupes et challenges seront mis en compétition durant l'épreuve."
Roughly translated:
"The Tour de France - The Tour de France for cars and motorcycles will start next Monday, 23 April, and will end on 6 May. Like each year, several prizes and challenges will be be set during the race."
I know that in 1911 there was also a Tour de France for cars and motorcycles that was organised by l'Auto, the same newspaper that organised the Tour de France for bicycles, but I don't know if they still organized it in 1923. So: yes, it is possible that Beatty constructed a motorcycle that won a Tour de France in 1923, but it was not the cycling race but a different race.--EdgeNavidad (Talk · Contribs) 10:27, 21 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
Thank you for that. It sounds as if the statement is correct, but we clearly need more information, so for the time being I will remove the link to the cycle race and add a "clarification needed" tag. GrindtXX (talk) 01:30, 23 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
