Paris Brest Paris is the central event in the sport of randonneur cycling. It was first run in 1891 as a 1200 km race, but has become a mass participation amateur brevet or randonnée open to all cyclists who can complete a 200, 300, 400, 600 km brevet series. It is held every four years, most recently in August 2019 - there were 6385 starters, and 4420 finishers. [2023 numbers coming...]

Since 1931 Audax Club Parisien has organized the randonneur PBP (which ran alongside the PBP race in 1931, 1948, and 1951.) There is also another version of Paris Brest Paris - the 'audax' PBP organized by the Union des Audax Français - which I don't deal with much on these pages. [Eric Fergusson]

A brief overview: Sleepless en Paris ...et Normandie ...et Bretagne (1999) by Eric Fergusson
An informative history: A Short History of Paris-Brest-Paris (1999) by Bill Bryant