Roger Lapebie was born on the 16th of January 1911 in Bayonne (France).
He made his Tour de France debut with a stage win (Stage 12) in 1932. He was part of the French national team again in the two subsequent years. In 1934 he won five stages and finished third in the general classification.
Roger Lapebie was infamous for his conflict with Henri Desgrange, the founding father of the Tour de France. Due to this feud, the cyclist, despite his promising performance, wasn’t selected into the national team, and he rode as an independent rider. He skipped the race next year.
No wonder, that his biggest success, the winning of the Tour de France happened in 1937, the first year after Desgrange’s retirement from the race director position. Nevertheless, this edition happened to be one of the most scandalous editions in the history of the famous race. (Read more here>>>)
Roger Lapébie died on the 12th of October in 1996.
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Philippe Thys
The first 3-time winner of the Tour de France, Philippe Thys was born in Anderlecht on the 8th of October 1889. He won the first Belgian cyclo-cross championship (1910) and some road stage races before he turned professional. Also, he was the best independent rider at the Tour de France in 1911. Philippe Thys won … Read more
Mini Cyclibng Who’s Who: Miguel Poblet
miguel Poblet was born at Montcada i Reixac in the northern suburbs of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain on 18 March 1928. He was encouraged by his father (a bicycle shop owner) to take up racing seriously and turned professional in 1944 at the age of 16. The late forties, early fifties were a difficult time to … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Roger Walkowiak
Roger Walkowiak was born on the 2nd of March in 1927. He started his career as a professional cyclist in 1951 and retired in 1960. His biggest victory was to win the Tour de France 1956, almost his only one success of his entire career. (He also won 2 Vuelta a Espana stages in 1956 … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Antonin Magne
Antonin Magne, the two-time winner of the Tour de France was born on the 15th of February 1904 in Ytrac, France. He attended the Tour de France first in 1927. In 1931 André Leducq, the defending champion was the team leader of the French squad, but he was out of shape, so Magne became the … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Odiel Defraeye
The first Belgian Tour de France winner, who meant to be the first Belgian Tour de France winner. Odiel Defraeye was born on 14th July 1888, his professional career started in 1909. He was the protégé of the Belgian star cyclist Cyrille van Hauwaert, who was hoping Defraeye would be the first Belgian Tour de … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Maurice Garin
Maurice Garin, the winner of the first Tour de France was born on the 3rd of marc 1871 in Arvier, Aosta Valley, Italy. Garin became a professional rider by chance. He was already racing as an amateur (he won his first race in 1893) when he decided to ride a race nearby his home. He … Read more
Cycling Who’s Who: Jacques Marinelli
Jacques Marinelli was born on the 15th December of 1925 in Blanc-Mesnil, France. He was a professional rider between 1948 and 1955. He rode the Tour de France six times between 1948 and 1954, his most successful year was 1949 when he was wearing the yellow jersey for six days. That Tour de France was … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle was born on the 25th of August in 1954 in Lembeye, France. He was racing as a professional rider between 1977 and 1995. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle was a specialist of Paris-Roubaix, which he won twice: 1992 and 1993. He is the oldest winner of the “Hell of the North” ever. There are two pavé … Read more
Mini Cycling Who’s Who: Pino Cerami
Born in Misterbianco, Sicily (Italy) on 28th April 1922, Giuseppe Pino Cerami grew up in Belgium. His family left Italy when he was 5. They wanted to go to the USA, but settled down in Belgium, near to Charleroi. Cerami was officially naturalised as a Belgian in 1956. His career started in 1947 and ended … Read more
Cycling Who’s Who: Jean Robic
Tour de France winner Jean Robic was born on the 10th of June in 1921 in Vouziers, France. His professional career started in the middle of the 2nd World War in 1943. In 1944 he finished Paris-Roubaix with a fractured skull. After this event, he started wearing a leather helmet which became later something like … Read more