Paul Deman was the first winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1913).
During the WW1 he was working as a courier for underground resistance movements and carrying messages around Belgium and also in the Netherlands. In November 1918 he had already 14 successful missions, but unfortunately on the 15th, he was stopped by the Germans. He was arrested, jailed and sentenced to death immediately.
Fortunately, while he was awaiting his execution, the Armistice was signed.
But it still wasn’t a happy ending for Deman. The British Army took over the prison where he was jailed and believed him a German because of his accent. They wanted to execute him too.
At the end a letter from the Belgian authorities proved his identity and he was released.
Paul Demain remained a successful rider also after the war, he won the Paris-Roubaix (1920) and the Paris-Tours (1923).