Octave Lapize
Octave Lapize (pronounced [ɔktav lapiz]; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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Full name | Octave Lapize | |||||||||||||
Born | Paris, France | 24 October 1887|||||||||||||
Died | 14 July 1917 29) Toul, France | (aged|||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||
Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||
Role | Rider | |||||||||||||
Major wins | ||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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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.
Career
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 d'Aubisque 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. Fatally wounded, he died in a hospital in Toul.[3]
Career achievements
Major results
- 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
French National Championships, 1st Place - 1912
- Tour de France - Stage 6 win
- Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
French National Championships, 1st Place - 1913
- Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
French National Championships, 1st Place - 1914
- Tour de France - Stage 8 win
Grand Tour results
1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | |
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Giro d'Italia | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNE |
Stages won | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tour de France | DNF-4 | 1 | DNF-4 | DNF-9 | DNF-3 | DNF-10 |
Stages won | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Vuelta a España | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Stages won |
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) |
DNS-x | Did Not Start (no started on stage x) |
DSQ | Disqualified |
N/A | Race/classification not held |
NR | Not Ranked in this classification |
References
- "Octave Lapize Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2013-05-05.
- Carlin, John (1 June 2003). "Summit or nothing". London: Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
Further reading
- Bobet, Jean (2010). Lapize: Now There was an Ace. Norwich, UK: Mousehold Press. ISBN 978-1-874739-55-5. Retrieved 2 November 2013.