French cyclist Jules Deloffre (1885-1963) earned his nickname ‘The Acrobat’ (L’Acrobate) through his acrobatic performances after Tour de France stages.
Especially during the last few years of his career, when he was over 40 years old aready and wasn’t in the shape to expect serious race results, he was motivated rather by the opportunity to entertain the audience after riding 300 km or more.
Nevertheless, he had plenty of occasions to show his acrobatic skills in front of the public, since he attented the famous French race between 1908 and 1928 a total of 14 times. But he completed only 7, and his best result was a 12th place in the general classification.
Already his 8th participation in 1920 made him a record holder. He kept this position until 1985, although from 1966 he had to share it with another rider, André Darrigade. (In 1985, Lucien Van Impe became the new recorder with 15 participations.)
Deloffre rode his last Tour de France at the age of 43. After his retirement of professional racing, he still attended small regional races.
In 1963, at the age of 78, he was riding a race called ‘Criterium International de Cambrai’, when he was run over by a car. He died following this accident.
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