- Octave Lapize
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Octave Lapize 
Lapize in the 1910 Tour de FrancePersonal information Full name Octave Lapize Born 24 October 1887
Montrouge, FranceDied 14 July 1917 (aged 29)
Toul, FranceTeam information Discipline Road Role Rider Major wins Winner 1910 Tour de France
Paris–Roubaix 1909, 1910, 1911Medal recordCompetitor for 
FranceMen's track cycling Olympic Games Bronze 1908 London 100 kilometres Infobox last updated on
22 May 2008Octave Lapize (b. Montrouge, 24 October 1887 – d. Toul, 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 was a three-time winner of one-day classics, Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Brussels.
In his first Tour De France in 1909, he abandoned early due to wintery conditions during the month of July, but not before he managed a Stage 2 second place behind Tour winner Francois Faber. The following year he went head-to-head with Alcyon teammate Faber who led comfortably until colliding with a dog at the foot of the Pyrenees. Lapize finally won by just 4 points helped by a number of punctures to Faber's bike on the final stage from Caen to Paris. In a total of six starts in the Tour De France between 1909 and 1914, this victory was the only one he finished.
He is noted for looking at some Tour officials on the climb of the Col du Tourmalet in the 1910 Tour de France and yelling, "Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!' (French for 'You are murderers! Yes, murderers!')"[1] The stage in question was 326 kilometers in length, featured 7 brutal climbs, and was raced on unsealed roads with single-gear bicycles.
The First World War ended his cycling career. As a fighter pilot in the French army, Octave Lapize was shot down near Flirey, Meurthe-et-Moselle on 14 July 1917. Severely injured, he died in a hospital in Toul.
Palmares
- 1908
- Summer Olympics Men's 100 kilometres - Bronze Medal
- 1909
- Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
- 1910
- Tour de France -
1st Overall and 4 stage wins (Stage 5, 9, 10, 14) - Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
- 1911
- Paris–Roubaix, 1st Place
- Paris–Tours, 1st Place
- Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
- French National Championships, 1st Place
- 1912
- Tour de France - Stage 6 win
- Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
- French National Championships, 1st Place
- 1913
- Paris–Brussels, 1st Place
- French National Championships, 1st Place
- 1914
- Tour de France - Stage 8 win
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 Giro DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE Stages won — — — — — — Tour DNF-4 1 DNF-4 DNF-9 DNF-3 DNF-10 Stages won 0 4 0 1 0 1 Vuelta N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Stages won Legend 1 Winner 2–3 Top three-finish 4–10 Top ten-finish 11– Other finish DNE Did Not Enter DNF-x Did Not Finish (retired on stage x) DSQ Disqualified N/A Race/classification not held NR Not Ranked in this classification Notes
- ^ Carlin, John (1 June 2003). "Summit or nothing". London: Guardian. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,966184,00.html. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
Categories:- 1887 births
- 1917 deaths
- People from Montrouge
- French cyclists
- Track cyclists
- Tour de France winners
- Olympic bronze medalists for France
- Olympic cyclists of France
- Cyclists at the 1908 Summer Olympics
- French military personnel killed in World War I
- Olympic medalists in cycling
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