Engineers switched his commentary to the state channel, ORTF, and that of George Briquet to Radio Monte Carlo.
There he stayed until 1968, when he became one of many taken off the air in the shake-up that hit state television after the student riots and other political protests across France in May that year.
Chapatte wrote from the end of his racing career for the sports magazine Miroir Sprint, particularly for its Tour de France issue.
In January 1961 he joined the staff of a new monthly, Miroir du Cyclisme, writing "Robert Chapatte's Notebook", but his name vanished from the editorial committee in autumn 1962.
He presented the programme from 1975 to 1985, then became consultant commentator on the Tour de France with a man who eventually followed him as head of sport, Patrick Chêne.
Anything less and the break would fail, as when Bjarne Riis was caught a few hundred metres before the line when he held 56 seconds rather than a minute on the Gap stage of the 1993 Tour de France.
While a lone rider would ride hard to the end, a group will ease up to gather breath for the sprint and to watch each other for surprise attacks.