1889: A Belgian Cycling Champion is Born

October 8, 1889

Philippe Thys, whose high-achieving career as a cyclist would include winning the Tour de France a total of three times, was born in the municipality of Anderlecht in central Belgium.

Early on in his cycling career in 1910, Thys won the first edition of the Belgian National Cyclo-cross Championship. This type of race involves pedaling over various kinds of terrain (e.g., pavement, grass, steep hills, wooded trails), with riders having to be ready to periodically dismount as needed and carry their bicycles while navigating major obstacles on the section of the route just ahead.

In 1911, Thys attained his first major victory in a cycling stage race when he won the Circuit Français Peugeot (also called the Tour des Indépendents). This triumph helped pave the way for him to become a professional cyclist in order to take part in the Tour de France.

Thys won the 1913 edition of the Tour de France despite a big setback that he encountered during the multiple-stage bicycle race.  This setback occurred when his bicycle’s fork (the part that holds the front wheel) broke off. Thys was able to have the fork repaired at a local bicycle shop. Even though this emergency stopover resulted in a 10-minute penalty for Thys, he still managed to win the race eight minutes and 37 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.

He also won the following year’s edition of the Tour de France, albeit again under decidedly trying circumstances. This time around, Thys incurred a 30-minute penalty for an unauthorized wheel change during the penultimate stage of the race. He finished this Tour de France less than two minutes ahead of the second-place cyclist.

Thys’s subsequent cycling accomplishments included winning the Giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy) in northwestern Italy in 1917; and Paris-Tours (a one-day classic road race in France between the country’s capital of France and the city of Tours) in both 1917 and 1918. In 1920, Thys won the Tour de France for a third and final time.

His record-setting number of Tour de France victories was not equaled until Louis “Louison” Bobet (1925-1983) won that race for a third time in 1955. Jacquest Anquetil (1934-1987) surpassed both of them in 1963 when he won the Tour de France for a fourth time.

Thys died on January 16, 1971, in Anderlecht at the age of 81. (The accompanying photo of him was taken in 1913.)

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Philippe Thys,, please check out https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/philippe-thys and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Thys_(cyclist)

Additional information on Tour de France general classification winners is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tour_de_France_general_classification_winners