1922 Tour de France
Encyclopedia
The 1922 Tour de France was the 16th Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

, taking place June 25 to July 23, 1922. The 1922 Tour consisted of 15 stages
Stage (bicycle race)
In sports, a stage, or leg, or heat, is a unit of a race which has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages are held as an individual time trial or a...

 covering a total of 5372 kilometres (3,338 mi). The race was won by the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 cyclist Firmin Lambot
Firmin Lambot
Firmin Lambot was a Belgian bicycle racer who twice won the Tour de France.Born in the small town of Florennes, Lambot worked as a saddler. He worked 12 hours a day, starting at 6am. He bought his first bicycle at 17 and began riding 50 km a day to and from work. His first race was in a local...

. It was the second time Lambot had won the overall Tour de France title; he had previously won the 1919 Tour de France
1919 Tour de France
The 1919 Tour de France was the 13th Tour de France, taking place from 29 June to 27 July 1919 over a total distance of . It was the first Tour de France after World War I, and was won by Firmin Lambot...

.

The first part of the race showcased the tactics of Robert Jacquinot
Robert Jacquinot
Robert Jacquinot was a French road racing cyclist, who won two stages in the 1922 Tour de France and 2 stages in the 1923 Tour de France, and wore the yellow jersey for a total of four days. He was born in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis and died in Bobigny.- Palmarès :1922...

, and some action from Eugène Christophe
Eugene Christophe
Eugène Christophe was a French road bicycle racer and pioneer of cyclo-cross. He was a professional from 1904 until 1926. In 1919 he became the first rider to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France .Eugène Christophe rode 11 Tours de France and finished eight...

. During the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

 stages, the climber Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine was a French professional cyclist, who won 17 stages in the Tour de France - only 8 riders have won more stages - and wore the yellow jersey for 5 days. In Daniel Marszalek's list of best road riders in history, he is ranked 96th....

 became the leader after three consecutive stage wins: Bayonne, Luchon, and Perpignan. Lambot was 48 minutes behind Christophe at one point, but then plowed ahead to his win at the Champs-Elysees
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...

.

Alavoine's success appeared to be written in stone as they raced through the southern part of the race. This was especially true when he increased his lead to more than 22 minutes in Briancon.
On the stage to Geneva the frigid weather and several mechanical issues bore down on Alavoine. Thus it was not Lambot who attacked, but Heusghem (who had been second for the last two years). It appeared that this was going to be his shining Tour, however his bicycle broke on the ride to Metz. Heusghem made a prohibited bike change to stay in race for first. However, this defied the rules during this time, and he was docked one hour by race officials, dropping him to fourth overall. This is when Lambot noticed his change and took over in Dunkerque. Amidst all this Lambot took his second win of the Tour de France at the age of 37, becoming the first to win the Tour de France without winning a stage.

Changes from the 1921 Tour de France

In the 1921 Tour de France
1921 Tour de France
The 1921 Tour de France was the 15th Tour de France, taking place June 26 to July 24, 1921. The total distance was 5484 km and the average speed of the riders was 24.720 km/h. The race was won by Belgian Leon Scieur. The Belgians dominated the entire race, partly due to the absence of the...

, the Belgians had again been dominating, which the French audience did not like. Tour organiser Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange
Henri Desgrange was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set 12 world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France.-Origins:Henri Desgrange was one of two brothers, twins...

 did not like the cooperation between cyclists, because he wanted the Tour de France to be a display of individual strength. He had sworn to change the format for the 1922 Tour de France, but this did not happen, and the formula remained the same.

Although World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 was already a few years ago, its economic impact was not yet over. The cycling companies were still not able to sponsor the cyclists in the way they did before the war, so as in 1919, 1920 and 1921 they bundled their forces under the nick La Sportive. The cyclists were divided in two categories, this time named 1ère classe (first class), the professionals, and 2ème classe (second class), the amateurs.

The French cyclists Henri
Henri Pélissier
Henri Pélissier was a French racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange and for protesting against the conditions endured by riders in the early years of the Tour...

 and Francis Pélissier
Francis Pélissier
Francis Pélissier was a French professional road racing cyclist from Paris. He was the younger brother of Tour de France winner Henri Pélissier, and the older brother of Tour de France stage winner Charles Pélissier. He won several classic cycle races like Paris–Tours, Bordeaux–Paris and Grand...

 had stopped the 1920 Tour de France after Henri received a penalty from the Tour organisation for throwing away a tire. For this reason, the Pélissier brothers did not start in the 1921 and 1922 Tours.

Race details

In the start of the race, Robert Jacquinot
Robert Jacquinot
Robert Jacquinot was a French road racing cyclist, who won two stages in the 1922 Tour de France and 2 stages in the 1923 Tour de France, and wore the yellow jersey for a total of four days. He was born in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis and died in Bobigny.- Palmarès :1922...

 made the race. The third stage ended in the vélodrome of Brest. The first 24 cyclists held an elimination race, which was won by Jacquinot.

In the fourth stage, Jacquinot punctured three times, and lost a lot of time. Eugène Christophe
Eugene Christophe
Eugène Christophe was a French road bicycle racer and pioneer of cyclo-cross. He was a professional from 1904 until 1926. In 1919 he became the first rider to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France .Eugène Christophe rode 11 Tours de France and finished eight...

 took over the lead. On the sixth stage, the Tourmalet was scheduled to be climbed. Due to heavy snow, the route was changed to avoid the Tourmalet. Christophe still lead the race after that stage, 13677 days (more than 37 years) old; this makes him the oldest person in Tour de France history to lead the general classification. During this sixth stage, Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France.-Professional career:...

, who was in second position in the overall classification, broke his wheel and lost more than three hours, which removed his chances to win the Tour de France for the fourth time. Also in that stage, a shepherd suggested to Emile Masson
Emile Masson (cyclist)
Emile Masson was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Massopn won two stages in the 1922 Tour de France. His son, Émile Masson Jr., also became a successful cyclist.- Palmarès :19191922...

 to take a shortcut on a goat track. Masson took the shortcut, had to carry his bike, and even lost time.

After three consecutive stage victories, Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine was a French professional cyclist, who won 17 stages in the Tour de France - only 8 riders have won more stages - and wore the yellow jersey for 5 days. In Daniel Marszalek's list of best road riders in history, he is ranked 96th....

 took over the lead. Alavoine secured his lead during the stages in Southern France, and even extended the lead to 22 minutes in the tenth stage.

During the 11th stage, Honoré Barthélemy
Honore Barthelemy
Honoré Barthélémy was a French road bicycle racer who took part and finished fifth overall and won four stages in the 1919 Tour de France. He was born in Paris, France....

 (3rd place in 1921) fell many times, and had to abandon the race.
Climbing the Galibier, Eugène Christophe
Eugene Christophe
Eugène Christophe was a French road bicycle racer and pioneer of cyclo-cross. He was a professional from 1904 until 1926. In 1919 he became the first rider to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France .Eugène Christophe rode 11 Tours de France and finished eight...

 broke the fork of his bycicle. This was the third time in his career that this happened. He walked to the top, and down the entire descent before he could fix it. He finished the stage three hours after the winner. The leader of the race, Alavoine, also suffered from mechanical problems. His chain broke several times, and in the cold rain he had to put it back on. He also had a cold, and could not go along with his competitors. Heusghem attacked on that stage, and won back more than half an hour, and was now third in the general classification.

In the twelfth stage, Heusghem attacked Alavoine again. Alavoine punctured six times in that stage, which made it impossible for him to keep up with Heusghem. Heusghem won over 35 minutes on Alavoine, and more than 10 minutes on second placed Lambot, which was enough to take over the lead. Heusghem was at that point the strongest rider in the race, and seemed to be on the way to the overall victory in Paris.

In the thirteenth stage, Hector Heusghem fell down due to a pothole, and broke his bicycle. According to the rules, he should have fixed his bicycle without help, but instead he changed to a different bicycle. He had gotten permission from a race judge to do this, but later the judges reevaluated the rules, and gave him a one-hour penalty. This dropped him to the fourth place of the general classification, and allowed Lambot to take over the lead. Lambot stayed in the yellow jersey
Yellow jersey
The general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...

 easily until Paris, so he won the 1922 Tour de France.

Some newspapers reported that Lambot won the race by luck, because of the penalty that was given to Heusghem. Lambot rejected this, saying that he was only eight minutes behind and that he had a good chance.
To the French crowds, Jean Alavoine was the moral winner, and he was celebrated as a hero.

Stage winners

Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys
Philippe Thys was a Belgian cyclist and three times winner of the Tour de France.-Professional career:...

 won five stages, including three consecutive stage victories. Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine
Jean Alavoine was a French professional cyclist, who won 17 stages in the Tour de France - only 8 riders have won more stages - and wore the yellow jersey for 5 days. In Daniel Marszalek's list of best road riders in history, he is ranked 96th....

 also won three consecutive stage victories.
Stage results
Stage Date Route TerrainThere was no distinction in the rules between plain stages and mountain stages; the icons shown here indicate which stages included mountains. Length Winner Race leader
1 25 June Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 – Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 
Plain stage
388 km (241.1 mi)
2 27 June Le Havre – Cherbourg 
Plain stage
364 km (226.2 mi)
3 29 June Cherbourg – Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 
Plain stage
405 km (251.7 mi)
4 1 July Brest – Les Sables d'Olonne 
Plain stage
412 km (256 mi)
5 3 July Les Sables d'Olonne – Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...

 
Plain stage
482 km (299.5 mi)
6 5 July Bayonne – Luchon 
Stage with mountain(s)
326 km (202.6 mi)
7 7 July Luchon – Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...

 
Stage with mountain(s)
323 km (200.7 mi)
8 9 July Perpignan – Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 
Plain stage
411 km (255.4 mi)
9 11 July Toulon – Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

 
Stage with mountain(s)
284 km (176.5 mi)
10 13 July Nice – Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....

 
Stage with mountain(s)
274 km (170.3 mi)
11 15 July Briançon – Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 
Stage with mountain(s)
260 km (161.6 mi)
12 17 July Geneva – Strassbourg 
Plain stage
371 km (230.5 mi)
13 19 July Strassbourg – Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

 
Plain stage
300 km (186.4 mi)
14 21 July Metz – Dunkerque 
Plain stage
433 km (269.1 mi)
15 23 July Dunkerque – Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 
Plain stage
340 km (211.3 mi)

General classification

Lambot won the overall classification, without winning any stage; this was the first time that this happened.
Originally, different classifications were made for the first class cyclists and the second class cyclists. Just as in 1920
1920 Tour de France
The 1920 Tour de France was the 14th Tour de France, taking place from June 27 to July 27, 1920. It consisted of 15 stages over , ridden at an average speed of . It was won by Belgian Philippe Thys, making him the first cyclist to win the Tour de France three times...

, French Joseph Pelletier became the winner of the second class.
Final general classification (1–10)
RankRiderClassTime
1
1 222h 08' 06"
2 1 +41' 15"
3 1 +42' 02"
4 1 +43' 56"
5 1 +45' 32"
6 1 +1h 21' 35"
7 1 +2h 24' 29"
8 1 +3h 25' 39"
9 1 +3h 26' 06"
10 1 +3h 49' 13"

Aftermath

The Belgian cyclists had won eight of the fifteen stages, and placed seven cyclists in the top ten. They had now won seven Tours in a row. The French audience was still somewhat pleased by the 1922 Tour de France, as the French cyclists had won some stages, wore the yellow jersey for a long time and with second placed Alavoine had competed for the victory. In the next year, the French Pélissier brothers joined the race again, and Henri Pélissier
Henri Pélissier
Henri Pélissier was a French racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange and for protesting against the conditions endured by riders in the early years of the Tour...

won the race. Firmin Lambot, who won the 1922 Tour, would start again two more times, but would never again win a stage or finish the Tour.
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