Philippe Thys

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Philippe Thys
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Philippe Thys

Philippe Thys (October 8, 1890 - January 16, 1971) was a Belgian cyclist and a three-time champion of the Tour de France.

Born in Brussels, Thys in 1910 won Belgium's first national cyclo-cross championship. He went on to win the Tour de France in 1913 and 1914 and, after World War I, for a third and final time in 1920. Not until 1955 did Louison Bobet equal Thys's record, and not until 1963 did Jacques Anquetil break it with four wins. Thys also rode in the 1922 Tour, winning five stages, and in the 1924 Tour, winning two stages.

In 1917, Thys won Paris-Tours and the Giro di Lombardia. In 1918, he also captured the second and last Tours-Paris event, a race that was held from Tours to Paris in addition to the usual Paris to Tours race.

When he won the 1913 Tour, Thys was 22 years old. During the race, his bicycle fork broke and he convinced a bicycle shop owner to fix it for him en route. Although the repair cost him a 30 minute penalty, he was still able to prevail in Paris with a lead of just under two minutes. Known as an intelligent and thoughtful man who maintained a grueling training regimen, Thys was one of a generation of cyclists whose careers were disrupted by the First World War., After retiring, he recalled that he had been asked by his manager, Alphonse Baugé, to wear a yellow jersey to identify himself as the leader of the Tour, although that distinction is more commonly attributed to the Frenchman Eugène Christophe, who rode many years later.

[edit] Major achievements

Preceded by:
Odiel Defraeye		 Winner of the Tour de France
1913-14		 Succeeded by:
Firmin Lambot
Preceded by:
Firmin Lambot		 Winner of the Tour de France
1920		 Succeeded by:
Léon Scieur
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