Marcel Bidot was the son of a failed café owner,[2] a former racing cyclist who then ran one of the clubs in his home town of Troyes, in the Champagne region.

His son, Marcel, worked for the Crédit Lyonnais bank in the town and rode for his father's club.

He turned professional in 1923[3] and at Alcyon earned 2,000 francs a month, ten times his pay at the bank.

His freewheel broke in the Pyrenees and he could no longer turn the wheel - in the absence of a derailleur, which Desgrange had also banned - to ride a lower gear.

The weather was so bad that only half the field reached the end of the stage at Luchon and officials had to search inns and houses along the route to see what had happened to the others.