Léon Houa (8 November 1867 – 31 January 1918) was a Belgian

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

Career

He is famous for winning the first three editions of

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

in 1892–1894. The race has come to be known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), and is one of the five '

Monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

' of the European professional road cycling calendar, and the oldest. The first two editions of Liège–Bastogne–Liège were amateur races. On 29 May 1892, he bested 32 amateur riders over 250 km to finish the race in 10 hours, 48 minutes and 36 seconds and became the first Liège–Bastogne–Liège champion. On 28 May 1893, he finished in 10 hours, 40 minutes and ahead of 25 other riders. Also in 1893, Houa won the amateur version of the Belgium National Road Race Championship. Houa went on to win the first professional version of the race held in 1894 in 8 hours, 52 minutes and 5 seconds over a distance of 223 km. Also in 1894, Houa captured the elite men's version of the Belgium National Road Race Championship. In his later years, Houa was an automobile race driver. In 1910, he was driving for Renault. He died in a race accident during the Tour of Belgium.

Major achievements

;1892 – Amateur : 1st

;1893 – Amateur : 1st

: 1st National (Amateur) Road Race Cycling Champion ;1894 – Professional : 1st

: 1st

Belgian National Road Race Championships The Belgian National Road Race Championship is a cycling race which decides who will become Belgian national champion for the year to come. The men's record for most wins is currently held by one of the most successful Belgian sprinters, Tom Stee ...

External links

* 1867 births 1918 deaths Belgian male cyclists Cyclists from Liège Cyclists who died while racing Sport deaths in Belgium {{Belgium-cycling-bio-stub