Henri Cornet

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**Henri Cornet**
Personal information

Full name	Henri Cornet
Nickname	Le rigolo
Date of birth	August 4, 1884(1884-08-04)
Date of death	March 18, 1941 (aged 56)
Country	France
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Major wins
1904 Tour de France
Infobox last updated on:
May 23, 2008

Henri Cornet (born Henri Jaudry August 4, 1884 - March 18, 1941) was a French cyclist who won the 1904 Tour de France.

Born in Desvres, Pas-de-Calais, France, he was only 20 years old when he won the Tour de France. The race was marred by a multitude of problems including irate spectators throwing nails on the road in the final stage that forced Henri Cornet to ride the last 40 kilometers with two flat tires. After many complaints about widespread cheating, the top four finishers were disqualified by a special investigative committee formed by the French cycling union. Although his overall time was three hours behind the first place rider, race officials declared Henri Cornet the winner.

Such was the commotion over the 1904 race that Tour founder Henri Desgrange declared it was most likely the last time the race would ever be run as the dethroned winner was suspended from competition for two years (he retired), and the second place finisher was banned for life.

After that initial victory, Henri Cornet never again had any great success in the race, abandoning the 1905 Tour de France in the 4th stage. After winning his second major cycling event in 1906, the Paris-Roubaix race, he was unable to proceed at the start of the 1906 Tour de France, had to abandon it again in 1907, but did manage a very respectable 8th place finish in 1908. Extremely fast in what today are called time trials, he won the final leg of the 1908 race. A special timed lap run at a velodrome racetrack in Paris, the event was not counted as an official stage or towards the overall classification. Cornet competed in his last Tour de France in 1912, finishing 28th.

He died in 1941 at the age of 56 in Prunay-le-Gillon, Eure-et-Loir. He remains the youngest winner in the history of the Tour de France.