George Leon Passerieu (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 18 November 1885–

Épinay-sur-Orge Épinay-sur-Orge (, literally ''Épinay on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is situated near Orly Airport some south of Paris on the A6 motorway. Épinay is served by two stations on diffe ...

, 5 May 1928) was a British-born French professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, who won seven stages in 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 ...

, and reached the podium twice. He also was the winner of

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

and

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m, ...

Biography

According to the 1891 UK census (available on subscription) a

George Passerieu was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

to French-born Auguste Passerieu and his wife Ellen (nee Acraman) from the London district of

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

. Passerieu first rode the Tour in 1906, after he had just become a professional cyclist. He was strong in the mountains, finishing second to

René Pottier René Pottier (5 June 1879 in Moret-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne – 25 January 1907 in Levallois-Perret) was a French racing cyclist. Pottier won the amateur category of the 1903 Bordeaux–Paris race before turning professional. He came second in ...

in the third stage. Pottier was dominant in that Tour, but Passerieu was the best of the rest. Passerieu won the first stage, beating Pottier in Marseille after they had climbed the mountains together. Later he also won the twelfth stage, and finished second in the general classification. In 1907, Passerieu was riding for the Peugeot team, which saw potential in Belgian cyclist

Cyrille Van Hauwaert Cyrille Van Hauwaert ( Moorslede, 16 December 1883 – Zellik, 15 February 1974) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, known for winning classics as Bordeaux–Paris (1907 and 1909), Milan–San Remo and Paris–Roubaix (both 1908). ...

. Van Hauwaert refused requests from Peugeot to ride as helper for Passerieu, but instead signed for the La Française team. In the 1907 edition of

, Passerieu finished first, followed by Van Hauwaert. Passerieu rode the

1908 Tour de France The 1908 Tour de France was the sixth running of the annual Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was organised by the newspaper '' L'Auto'', and took place between 13 July and 9 August. The Tour was split in 14 stages, with a total di ...

. He was the only cyclist to climb the

Ballon d'Alsace The Ballon d'Alsace german: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.), sometimes also called the Alsatian Belchen to distinguish it from other mountains named " Belchen" is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, vi ...

and the

Chartreuse Chartreuse () may refer to: Food and drink * Chartreuse (liqueur), a French liqueur * Chartreuse (dish), a French dish of vegetables or meat tightly wrapped in vegetable leaves and cooked in a mould Religion * Carthusians, a Catholic religi ...

without dismounting his bicycle.

Major results

;1906 :

: ::Winner stages 6 and 12 ::2nd place overall classification ;1907 :

: ::Winner stages 6 and 14 :

;1908 :

: ::Winner stages 1, 5 and 13 ::3rd place overall classification ;1909 : Paris–Dijon

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passerieu, George 1885 births 1928 deaths French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from Greater London British emigrants to France