Percy Osborn (1901-1991) was an Australian racing cyclist. Osborn from

Koo Wee Rup Koo Wee Rup is a town and satellite suburb in Victoria, Australia, 63 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Built on former marshland now converted to market ...

, Victoria competed in the

1928 Tour de France The 1928 Tour de France was the 22nd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 17 June to 15 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The Tour was won by Nicolas Frantz, his second win. He held the yellow jersey from beginning to end, despi ...

with fellow Australians Hubert Opperman and

Ernest Bainbridge Ernest "Ernie" Bainbridge (1890–1984'' Le Ride''.), also known as Ern Bainbridge, was an Australian racing cyclist, who is best known for competing in the 1928 Tour de France with fellow Australian Percy Osborn and Hubert Opperman and New Zea ...

and New Zealander Harry Watson where he finished 38th. He was 22 hours 1 minute and 49 seconds behind the winner

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 ...

. The Australians cycling tour of Europe was financed by a fund raising campaign run by The Sporting Globe. In 1927 Osborn was the fastest professional in the

Goulburn to Sydney Classic The Goulburn to Sydney cycling race was a one-day road bicycle race. The first race was held in 1902 with the last in 2012. History The route from Goulburn to Sydney via the Hume Highway was popular with cyclists in the late 19th century and ...

with a time of 5hrs 54mins, the first time the race has been completed in less than 6 hours. The feature race of 1927 was the

Dunlop Grand Prix The Dunlop Grand Prix was, in 1927, the biggest cycling race in the British Empire and the richest race in the world. It was organised by the Dunlop Rubber Company which had a long history of organising bicycle races, including the Warrnambool t ...

, which at the time was the biggest cycling race in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and the richest race in the world. The race was held in four stages from the 14-19 November, 1927, covering 690 miles (1110 km). Osborn finished sixth behind Opperman, Watson and Bainbridge. Osborn lived and worked in Koo Wee Rup for the rest of his life, and died while a resident at Koo Wee Rup’s Killara hostel.

References

External links

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Official Tour de France results for Percy OsbornOfficial CyclingRanking page for Percy Osborn
Australian male cyclists Cyclists from Melbourne 1901 births 1991 deaths {{Australia-cycling-bio-stub