Icons: Vélodrome Buffalo

Once the principal track in Paris, the Buffalo attracted riders, fans and artists

Situated in the Neuilly-sur-seine suburb of north-west Paris, the Vélodrome Buffalo opened on May 29, 1892. Built under the name Société des Sports Français by a group of capitalists who wanted to construct a velodrome in the tradition of “the best English tracks,” the name Buffalo was decided on as it was set in grounds that had hosted the infamous ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody and his Wild West show during the Paris Exposition in 1889.

While not the first permanent cycling track in Paris — the short-lived Vélodrome Courbevoie was built the year before — the Vélodrome Buffalo, described variously as intimate, charming and chic, was the first to capture the affections of Paris. Under the sporting direction of the English racing cyclist and journalist Herbert Duncan, its inaugural meeting in May 1892 was deemed a huge success. Four months later it hosted an eagerly anticipated cycling match between two great French cyclists of the time: Henri Fournier and Georges Cassignard. Fournier won the event, later hailed as the first true great occasion at the velodrome.

Five years of memorable races saw records tumble year after year; in 1893 Henri Desgrange set the first officially ratified, un-paced, Hour record and a year later the velodrome hosted the first edition of the 24-hour Bol d’or. The artist Henri de Toulouse-lautrec was a frequent visitor.

By 1897 the velodrome had fallen on hard times. With a 333m essentially flat cement track, cyclists were not able to generate the speeds possible at banked tracks that had sprung up in Paris, such as the Vélodrome de la Seine. By 1898 the Vélodrome Buffalo was derelict and one year later it was torn down.

But that wasn’t the end. With cycling booming in France, three years later the Vélodrome Buffalo returned with a new track built on the same site in Neuilly. Built in wood with 38-degree banked turns, the new 300m track gained a reputation for speed.

For over a decade the new Buffalo track hosted racing in Paris, including the return of the Bol d’or to its boards, with the likes of Léon Georget, René Pottier and Lucien Petit-breton all claiming wins. Between 1905 and 1913 seven Hour records were set there.

During World War One the velodrome was demolished to make way for an airplane factory. In 1922 the Buffalo name returned to Paris with a combined stadium and velodrome built in the southern suburb of Montrouge.