Apo Lazaridès (16 October 1925 – 30 October 1998) was a French champion cyclist. Born Jean-Apôtre Lazaridès in Marles-les-Mines,

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

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ancestry (he became French in 1929). During the

German military administration in occupied France during World War II The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

, Lazaridès used his cycling to transport supplies to the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. Apo had an older brother, Lucien Lazaridès, also a cyclist. Nicknamed "Apo", a short version of his middle name, he competed in races throughout France during the war. In 1946 Lazaridès finished fifth in the "''Ronde de France''", then won the most important competition of the year, the "'' La Course du Tour de France''", a 1316 km race from

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. This was organised by the group who took charge of organisation of the Tour de France. In the 1947 Tour, Lazaridès finished tenth but captured second overall in the mountain class. In 1948, he finished ninth and went on to take second place in the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

at Valkenburg, Netherlands. He retired in 1955 and moved to

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, where he was president of the Étoile Sportive de Cannes." Lazaridès died in Cannes in 1998 and was buried there in the Cimetière du Grand Jas.

Major results

;1943 :Boucles de Sospel ;1946 :Marseille-Nice : La Course du Tour de France ;1947 :

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

: ::10th place overall classification ;1948 :Silver medal World Championships ;1949 : Polymultipliée :

: ::9th place overall classification

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Apo Lazarides
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarides, Apo 1925 births 1998 deaths French male cyclists French people of Greek descent Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas Cyclists from Pas-de-Calais 20th-century French sportsmen