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 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 ...

eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times and finished 65 times in the first five.

Career

Garrigou was born in Vabres, France, and lived in Paris. He gained from his lightness in the mountains but had the strength to ride hard on flat stages, and had remarkable powers of recovery. As an amateur he won Paris-Amiens and Paris-Dieppe. He turned professional in 1907 and that year won the national championship, the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cy ...

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 ...

and came second in the Tour de France 19 points behind teammate

Lucien Petit-Breton Lucien Georges Mazan (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917) was a French racing cyclist (pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton, ), known as the first two-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique, a part of Brittan ...

. A team rider, in the next three years, he placed fourth in 1908, second in 1909 and third in 1910 behind winning teammates Petit-Breton, Francois Faber and

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres, ...

. He won the Tour in 1911 surviving not only the race but death threats because fans of another French rider,

Paul Duboc Paul Duboc (2 April 1884 – 19 August 1941) was a French professional road bicycle racer from 1907 through 1927. Despite winning 5 career stages in the Tour de France, he may be most remembered for being disqualified at the 1919 Tour de Fran ...

, believed Garrigou to be behind an incident in which Duboc collapsed in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

and lay in agony for an hour after drinking from a poisoned bottle. Garrigou had built a lead of 16 points after the end of Stage 6 but by the time they reached the Pyrenees, Duboc had reduced it to 10 points. With Duboc finishing 3 hours behind, Garrigou finished second to consolidate a lead which increased when stage winner

Maurice Brocco Maurice Brocco (28 January 1883, in Fismes – 26 June 1965, in Mûrs-Erigné) was a French professional road bicycle racer between 1906 and 1927. He was born into a family of Swiss-Italian immigrants. In 1911 he won a stage in the Tour de ...

was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Feelings came to their height in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, where Duboc lived and in which notices had been posted in his name pointing out that he would have been leading the Tour had he not been poisoned and inciting the crowd to take revenge. Duboc had nothing to do with the notices and was as alarmed as the race organizer,

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. Yo ...

. Three cars provided a barrier between Garrigou and the crowd until the race had cleared the city. The culprit was eventually found to be a helper with a rival team but Duboc's supporters had suspected Garrigou, as the man most likely to profit from stopping Duboc. Garrigou won the Tour with a generous number of points over Duboc. In some early years, the Tour was decided not on elapsed time but on points based on the position in which riders finished stages. As leader of an all-French team,

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, Garrigou was supposed to retain the title in 1912, but a last-minute publicity stunt cost him. The Belgian

Odile Defraye Odile Defraye (; nl, Odiel Defraeye; 14 July 1888 – 21 August 1965) was a Belgian road racing cyclist who won three stages and the overall title of the 1912 Tour de France, which was the last tour decided by a points system instead of overall ...

was included in the team and repaid them by outsprinting Garrigou in stages 2 and 3 on the way to victory. Garrigou finished third behind

Eugene Christophe Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

The Tour of 1913 saw the ending of the points system deciding the winner of the general classification. Garrigou finished in second place 8 minutes and 37 seconds behind another Belgian,

Philippe Thys Philippe Thys (; nl, Philippe Thĳs; 8 October 1889 – 16 January 1971) was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France. Professional career In 1910, Thys won Belgium's first national cyclo-cross championship. The foll ...

. Garrigou was an all-rounder, also winning Paris–Brussels (1907),

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 is t ...

(1911) and the Giro di Lombardia. He was national champion in 1907 and 1908. His career ended with the outbreak of war in 1914.

Retirement

Garrigou retired to Esbly, Paris, and went into business.

Career achievements

Major results

;1907 :

- 2nd Overall, Stage 10 and 12 wins :

- 1st Overall :

- 1st Place ;1908 :

- 4th Overall ;1909 :

- 2nd Overall, 1 Stage win ;1910 :

- 3rd Overall, 1 stage win ;1911 : Jersey yellow

- 1st Overall, 2 stage wins :

, 1st Place ;1912 :

- 3rd Overall :

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 ...

- 2nd Place ;1913 :

- 2nd Overall, 1 stage win ;1914 :

- Stage 11 win

Grand Tour results timeline

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrigou, Gustave French male cyclists Tour de France winners 1884 births 1963 deaths Sportspeople from Aveyron Cyclists from Occitania (administrative region)