Lucien Georges Mazan (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

(pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton, ), known as the first two-time winner of 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 ...

. He was born in

Plessé Plessé (; br, Plesei) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population Notable people * Lucien Petit-Breton (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917), French racing cyclist, the first to win the Tour de France twice ...

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...

, a part of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, now part of

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

. When he was six he moved with his parents to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, where he took the nationality. His cycling career started when he won a bike in a

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

at the age of sixteen. As his father wanted him to do a 'real' job, he adapted the nickname Lucien Breton for races, to deceive his father. Later he changed it to Petit-Breton, because there already was another cyclist called

Lucien Breton Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius. Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to: People Given name *Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint *Lucien, a band member ...

Professional career

His first notable victory was the

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

championship of Argentina but in 1902 he was drafted in the French Army and he moved back to France. Two years later in 1904 he won the

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

track event at the second attempt, having finished second the previous year. In 1905 he broke the world

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious reco ...

on the Buffalo cycling track in Paris with 41.110 km. The same year he started road-racing and finished the

in an astonishing fifth overall. In 1906, he won the third

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 ...

race and improved on his previous performance by finishing fourth in the Tour. In 1907, he won the inaugural

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it ...

race before entering the Tour. However, by the end of stage five from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, his chance of victory looked slim. Losing contact with the leading riders on the

Col de Porte The Col de Porte (elevation ) is a mountain pass situated in the Chartreuse Mountains in the Isère department of France, between Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse to the south and Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse to the north. It sits on the D512 between Grenobl ...

, he could only manage a tenth place, twenty eight minutes behind

Emile Georget Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

who won his third stage. However, with the points system, time was irrelevant, and he was still in second place. In the tenth stage, Georget illegally changed bicycles, and was placed last in the stage by the Tour jury, which cost him 44 points. This meant that Petit-Breton took over the lead, and with two stage wins, plus second and third places in eight other stages, he won the Tour with 47 points, 10 point ahead of second placed

Gustave Garrigou Cyprien Gustave Garrigou (; 24 September 1884 – 23 January 1963) was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times and ...

and 27 points ahead of Georget in third. He also won the Tour in 1908, becoming the first rider to win the Tour twice, after winning the

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

race. As part of the all-conquering Peugeot team that took the first four places, Petit-Breton won the Tour even more easily with just 36 points, finishing outside the first four in just one stage. Behind him, team-mates Francois Faber and Georges Passerieu finished with 68 and 75 points respectively. That was his last great victory.

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

ended his career. He joined the French army as a driver and died in 1917 when he crashed into a horse and cart which turned in front of him at the front near

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near ...

. The cart driver was said to be insensible through drink. Before the war he had started a bicycle shop and high-quality bicycles bearing his name were made in Nantes until the 1960s.

In popular culture

The French TV series ''

Les Brigades du Tigre ''The Tiger Brigades'' (french: Les Brigades du Tigre) is a 2006 French crime film. Based on a very successful 1970s-'80s French television series of the same name the film depicts an Untouchables-type crack "Flying Squad" once formed by George ...

'' was a popular crime drama focusing on an elite squad of police detectives in the early 20th century. In an episode broadcast in 1978 they are appointed to watch over the competitors of 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 d ...

, two of whom have been killed by a man who opposes cycling on the claim that his son was killed in a riding accident. Jacques Giraud appears as Petit Breton who is determined to continue the event come what may and persuades the other hesitant cyclists to also continue on the grounds that they should not let him win without a fight. He himself is later assaulted by the man but defiantly continues the stage to the admiration of those present.

Career achievements

Major results

;1906 :

;1907 :

: ::

Winner overall classification ::Winner stages 9 and 11 ;1908 :

: ::

Winner overall classification ::Winner stages 2, 7, 9, 11 and 14 :

:Tour of Belgium (including 4 stages) ;1911 : Giro d'Italia ::Winner stage 5

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petit-Breton, Lucien 1882 births 1917 deaths Cyclists from Loire-Atlantique French emigrants to Argentina Naturalized citizens of Argentina Argentine male cyclists French male cyclists Tour de France winners French Tour de France stage winners French Giro d'Italia stage winners French military personnel killed in World War I Road incident deaths in France