Firmin Lambot (; 14 March 1886 – 19 January 1964) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

racer who twice won the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. Born in the small town of

Florennes Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...

,The Bicycle, UK, 26 March 1952, p6 Lambot worked as a saddler. He worked 12 hours a day, starting at 6am. He bought his first bicycle at 17 and began riding 50 km a day to and from work. His first race was in a local village; he won five francs as first prize. He then bought a racing bike. He began racing professionally in 1908. In that year he won the championships of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He rode the Tour de France from 1911 to 1913 but the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended the race for the next five years. When the Tour returned in 1919 it was a miserable affair of war-torn roads, fractured logistics and former contenders no longer alive to compete. Only 11 riders finished. Lambot was approached at the Buffalo track in Paris, where he had ridden a 24-hour race, to ride the Tour in the Globe Cycles team. He was second for much of the race but took the lead when

Eugène Christophe Eugène Christophe (born Malakoff, Paris, France, 22 January 1885, died in Paris, 1 February 1970) was a French road bicycle racer and pioneer of cyclo-cross. He was a professional from 1904 until 1926. In 1919 he became the first rider to wear ...

broke a fork. Observers felt Lambot owed his victory more to Christophe's bad luck than his own ability and a collection for Christophe surpassed the prize money Lambot received. His performance brought him a contract from the larger

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

team at 300 francs a month. He was engaged to ride just the Tour de France. In the 1920 and 1921 Lambot placed respectably and in 1922 he won for the second time after

Hector Heusghem Hector Heusghem ( Ransart, 15 February 1890 – Montignies-le-Tilleul, 29 March 1982) was a Belgian cyclist who finished second in the 1920 and 1921 Tour de France. He also won three stages, in 1920 at Aix-en-Provence and Grenoble, in 1921 in ...

was handed an hour penalty for swapping his bicycle after breaking the frame. He became the first to win the Tour without winning a stage. Lambot was 36 when he won the 1922 Tour, the oldest winner of one of the big cycling tours (i.e. the tours of France, Spain and Italy) at that time. He kept the record for over 90 years, until it was broken by 41-year-old Vuelta winner

Chris Horner Christopher Brandon Horner (born October 23, 1971) is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2019, and is the most recent American rider to win a Grand Tour. A current resident of Bend, ...

in 2013. He remains the oldest Tour winner to date. By the end of his career he was paid 1 800 francs a month by his team. In retirement, he returned to work as a saddler.

Career achievements

Major results

;1908 :Andenne :Fosses-la-Ville :Genappe :Mazy :Velaine-sur-Sambre ;1913 :

: ::Winner stage 9 ;1914 :

: ::Winner stage 7 ;1919 :

: ::

Winner overall ::Winner stage 14 ;1920 :

: ::3rd place overall classification ::Winner stages 5 and 6 ;1921 :

: ::Winner stage 9 ;1922 :

: ::

Winner overall classification

Grand Tour results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Firmin Lambot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambot, Firmin 1886 births 1964 deaths People from Florennes Belgian male cyclists Tour de France winners Belgian Tour de France stage winners Walloon sportspeople Cyclists from Namur (province)