Which journalist directed the Tour de France for decades after Henri Desgrange?

Jacques Goddet directed the Tour de France for decades after Henri Desgrange.

Goddet took over the race’s direction in 1936, when Desgrange became too ill to continue, and remained its central director through 1986. A sports journalist rather than a rider, Goddet helped shape the Tour’s identity through both race organization and influential newspaper coverage.

He was the son of Victor Goddet, a co-founder and finance director of L’Auto, the newspaper that had organized the first Tour in 1903. Jacques became editor-in-chief of L’Auto in 1931 and later helped guide the race through its postwar revival. He also became closely associated with L’Équipe, which succeeded L’Auto after the war.

Félix Lévitan is the most likely alternative answer because he shared organizational responsibilities with Goddet from 1965 and increasingly handled sponsorship and finances. However, Lévitan was Goddet’s partner and eventual successor, not the journalist who first followed Desgrange as Tour director.