Octave Lapize

Octave Lapize

Lapize in the 1910 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name Octave Lapize
Born 24 October 1887
Paris, France
Died 14 July 1917 (aged 29)
Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
Team information
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
General Classification (1910)
6 Stages (1910, 1912, 1914)

One-day races and Classics

Paris–Roubaix (1909, 1910, 1911)
Paris–Tours (1911)
Paris–Brussels (1911, 1912, 1913)
Infobox last updated on
22 May 2008

Octave Lapize (pronounced: [ɔktav lapiz]; 24 October 1887 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist.

Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres,[1] he was a three-time winner of one-day classics, Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Brussels.

In his first Tour De France in 1909, he abandoned early due to wintery conditions during the month of July, but not before he managed a Stage 2 second place behind Tour winner Francois Faber. The following year he went head-to-head with Alcyon teammate Faber who led comfortably until colliding with a dog at the foot of the Pyrenees. Lapize finally won by just 4 points helped by a number of punctures to Faber's bike on the final stage from Caen to Paris. In a total of six starts in the Tour De France between 1909 and 1914, this victory was the only one he finished.

He is noted for looking at some Tour officials on the climb of the Col du Tourmalet in the 1910 Tour de France and yelling, "Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!' (French for 'You are murderers! Yes, murderers!')"[2] The stage in question was 326 kilometers in length, featured 7 brutal climbs, and was raced on unsealed roads with single-gear bicycles.

The First World War ended his cycling career. As a fighter pilot in the French army, Octave Lapize was shot down near Flirey, Meurthe-et-Moselle on 14 July 1917. Severely injured, he died in a hospital in Toul.

Palmares

1908
Summer Olympics Men's 100 kilometres - Bronze Medal
1909
Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
1910
Tour de France - 1st Overall and 4 stage wins (Stage 5, 9, 10, 14)
Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
1911
Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
Paris–Tours, 1st Place
Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
FranceFrench National Championships, 1st Place
1912
Tour de France - Stage 6 win
Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
FranceFrench National Championships, 1st Place
1913
Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
FranceFrench National Championships, 1st Place
1914
Tour de France - Stage 8 win

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Giro DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE
Stages won
Tour DNF-4 1 DNF-4 DNF-9 DNF-3 DNF-10
Stages won 0 4 0 1 0 1
Vuelta N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stages won
Legend
1 Winner
2–3 Top three-finish
4–10 Top ten-finish
11– Other finish
DNE Did Not Enter
DNF-x Did Not Finish (retired on stage x)
DSQ Disqualified
N/A Race/classification not held
NR Not Ranked in this classification

References

  1. "Octave Lapize Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
  2. Carlin, John (1 June 2003). "Summit or nothing". London: Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2010.

Further reading