the following year. The pair were replaced for a year by a cognac salesman called Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet, who in turn was replaced by Jean-Marie Leblanc. As a former rider and now a reporter for La Voix du Nord, Leblanc was one of those who questioned Lévitan the day he opened the books to reporters. On being appointed, he immediately got rid of Lévitan's many small sponsors. He said: "My first preoccupation has been to restore the Tour's sporting credibility. We have simplified the Tour, which had become incomprehensible to the public, and cut the trophies from 12 to six, with just four classifications: the yellow jersey, the winner of the stage, the polka dot jersey for the best climber and the green jersey for the points competition. Cutting the number of partenaires has increased their visibility, which means we can charge them higher prices. "We wanted to offer the sort of prizes offered in the greatest sports events in the world, like the Roland Garros tennis tournament." Honours Lévitan founded and was first president of the Union Syndicale des Journalistes Sportifs de France (1957–1965), then president of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (1964–1973). He was mayor of Auffargis, Yvelines. He was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1953 and promoted to officer of the Légion d'honneur in 1963. In 2003 he was elevated again to commander of merit of the Légion d'honneur. The legacy Apart from the fact that he saw the Tour through some of its trickiest financial times, the legacy that remains from the Lévitan days is the polka dot jersey worn by the leader of the mountains classification. Lévitan chose the design because it had appealed to him when he saw it as a teenager at the Vélodrome d'Hiver. The finish on the Champs-Élysées will also be a memorial. References 1911 births 2007 deaths Tour de France directors French sports journalists Cycling journalists French male non-fiction writers Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century French male writers