Jean Majerus (6 February 1914 in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...

- 16 June 1983 in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

) was a professional

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ian cyclist from 1936 to 1947. Jean had a younger brother, Jacques Majerus, who was also a successful cyclist. Majerus was educated in

Rumelange Rumelange ( lb, Rëmeleng ; german: Rümelingen) is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg, on the border with France. Populated places The commune consists of the following villages: * Rumelange * Haut-Tétange (lieu-dit) Pop ...

and then

, where he trained as a locksmith. He received his first bicycle at the age of seven. He took his first race win in 1933 at a race in Itzig. He was the Luxembourg national junior road race champion in 1934 and 1935, finishing ahead of his brother in the latter year. Majerus turned professional in 1936: that year he also made his

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 ...

debut, however he was eliminated at the end of the 13th stage. Similarly, he failed to finish the world championship road race that season. His first great success was in the

1937 Tour de France The 1937 Tour de France was the 31st edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 25 July. It consisted of 20 stages with a total length of . Charles Holland and Bill Burl became the first British cyclists to ride the Tour. Burl ...

, where Majerus won the first stage from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, staging a solo attack in

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and finishing ahead of his compatriot

Arsène Mersch Arsène Mersch (14 December 1913, in Koerich – 11 July 1980, in Koerich) was a Luxembourgian professional road bicycle racer and cyclo-cross racer, who became national champion in both categories twice. He also won one Tour de France stage, ...

. He remained in the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

for two days, but was later forced to abandon the race during the eighth stage due to an

anorectal abscess Anorectal abscess (also known as an anal/rectal abscess, or perianal/perirectal abscess) is an abscess adjacent to the anus. Most cases of perianal abscesses are sporadic, though there are certain situations which elevate the risk for developin ...

. He was, however fit for competition by the time of that year's road world championships, where he was part of the winning breakaway but missed out on the podium in the final sprint, finishing fourth. In the

1938 Tour de France The 1938 Tour de France was the 32nd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 5 to 31 July. It was composed of 21 stages over .The race was won by Italian cyclist Gino Bartali, who also won the mountains classification. Innovations and ...

, Jean Majerus repeated his achievement of the previous year by winning the second stage between

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...

, after he and team-mate

Mathias Clemens Mathias Clemens (Redange, August 8, 1915 — Huncherange, November 26, 2001) was a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer. Mathias Clemens was the brother of cyclist Pierre Clemens. Major results ;1935 :Tour de Luxembourg ::Overall class ...

attacked with 20 km to go: they were joined by another group of eight riders, including former Tour winners

Georges Speicher Georges Speicher (; 8 June 1907 – 24 January 1978) was a French cyclist who won the 1933 Tour de France along with three stage wins, and the 1933 World Cycling Championship. After Speicher had won the 1933 Tour de France, he was initially not ...

and

Antonin Magne Antonin Magne (; 15 February 1904 – 8 September 1983) was a French cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1931 and 1934. He raced as a professional from 1927 to 1939 and then became a team manager. The French rider and then journalist, Jean Bo ...

. At the entrance to the velodrome where the stage finished, Jean-Marie Goasmat attacked from the lead group, but was hauled back by Majerus who pipped him to the line. By winning the stage he once again took the yellow jersey, this time keeping it for four days. He went on to complete the Tour, finishing in 49th place. In 1939, Majerus put in some strong performances in one-day classics, finishing 13th in Paris-Robaix after suffering a puncture in the final kilometres, and finishing third in Bordeaux-Paris. During

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when Luxembourg was occupied by the German military, Majerus raced a lot in

German-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. He also obtained good results at home, finishing fourth in the

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the ...

in 1942 and 1943. He briefly continued competing after the war, winning the 1946 Grand Prix de Lorraine and the 1947 Luxembourg national individual pursuit title on the track. After retiring from competition, between 1949 and 1952 he served as driver for

Nicolas Frantz Nicolas Frantz (; 4 November 1899 – 8 November 1985) was a Luxembourgish bicycle racer with 60 professional racing victories over his 12-year career (1923 to 1934). He rode for the Thomann team in 1923 and then for Alcyon- Dunlop from 1924 to 1 ...

in the latter's role as technical director for the Luxembourg national team in the Tour de France. He also worked as a representative of a confectionery wholesaler and a supplier of baked goods, and managed a café in Esch-sur-Alzette. In 1957 he started working for

ARBED The Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange ( French; literally "United Steelworks of Burbach-Eich-Dudelange"), better known by its acronym ARBED, was a major Luxembourg-based steel and iron producing company. Created in 1911 after the merge ...

Schifflange Schifflange ( lb, Schëffleng , german: Schifflingen) is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. , the town of Schifflange, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 9,332. ...

. After undergoing surgery for

thrombosis Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thro ...

in his right leg, he became partially paralysed and began using a wheelchair. Jean Majerus was good in one-day races; in the all-time list he still can be found around place 583. In the world championship road race-ranking he even can be found around place 164, although his best result was fourth place in the 1937 world road race championship.World Road Championships 1999
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Major results

;1933 :1st place in GP Faber ;1934 :Luxembourg national road race junior champion ;1935 :Luxembourg national road race junior champion ;1936 :

1936 Tour de France The 1936 Tour de France was the 30th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 7 July to 2 August. It was composed of 21 stages with a total length of . Because of health problems, Henri Desgrange stopped as Tour director, and was succeede ...

: did not finish :Winner GP de la Flèche :Winner Tour de Lorraine ;1937 :

: ::Winner stage 1

::Yellow jersey for 2 days :Luxembourg national road race championship: 2nd place :1st place in Sedan-Rethel ;1938 :

: ::Winner stage 2:

::Yellow jersey for 4 days :Luxembourg national road race championship: 3rd place :1st place in Vittel :1st place in GP Sanal ;1939 :

:did not finish :1st place in Nancy-Strasbourg :3rd Bordeaux-Paris ;1940 :1st place in Barcelona ;1941 :1st place in Dortmund Rundfahrt :1st place in Huncherange ;1943 :1st place in Dortmund Rundfahrt :1st place in 3rd stage Trois Jours d'Esch ;1946 :1st place in GP de Lorraine ;1947 :Luxembourg pursuit champion

Notes

External links

*
Palmares of Jean Majerus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majerus, Jean Luxembourgian male cyclists Luxembourgian Tour de France stage winners 1914 births 1983 deaths Sportspeople from Luxembourg City Sportspeople from Esch-sur-Alzette