Henri Pélissier

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Henri Pélissier (22 January 1889 – 1 May 1935) was a French cyclist and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange and for protesting the miserable conditions endured by riders in the early years of the Tour.

Pélissier was one of four brothers, all of whom became professional cyclists. He began racing professionally in 1911 and amassed important victories before the First World War, including the 1912 Milan-Sanremo and three stages in the 1914 Tour de France.

After the war he resumed competition, winning Paris-Roubaix in 1919 and entering the Tour de France for the next five years. Prior to the 1921 Paris-Roubaix, Henri and his brother Francis demanded that their sponsor pay them more than the pittance that racers usually received. Their request was rebuffed and they chose to enter the race as independents without team support. Desgrange vowed that they would never again appear on the front page of his newspaper l’Auto, only to eat his words when Henri emerged the champion. After another spat in early 1923, Desgrange wrote "Pélissier will never win the Tour. He doesn't know how to suffer.” Pélissier then handily won the 1923 Tour. The following year he withdrew from the Tour after a penalty he considered unjustified. In an interview he again protested Tour conditions, saying “we are treated like beasts in a circus." The reporter, Albert Londres, coined the term “convicts of the road,” which has been applied to cyclists ever since.

Pélissier was notorious for being argumentative and hot-tempered, often inciting teammates and others in the peloton. After his retirement in 1928 his combative personality led to a quick deterioration in his life. In 1933 his wife Léonie despaired of living with him and shot herself to death. Two years later his new companion, Camille Tharault, shot Pélissier to death with the same gun after he slashed her with a knife during an argument.

His brother, Francis Pélissier, was a two-time winner of Bordeaux-Paris and winner of two stages in the Tour de France.