1909 TDF A Man and his Bike
FRANCOIS FABER runs the last meters of the TOUR DE FRANCE 1909 with his bicycle on his hand to the finish line in Paris.
François Faber (1887-1915) was a Luxembourgian/French cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages (from stage two in Mets to stage 5 in Nice) still stands.
Faber rode 9 TDF's in a row, from 1906 until 1914. In the press he was called "Mister Tour de France".
Faber was a professional from 1906 to 1914. His size and weight, 1.86 m and 91 kg, made that the fans called him "The Giant of Colombes", after the city where he lived in France.
He dominated the 1909 Tour de France. The 1909 Tour had the worst weather the race ever had seen. Fifty riders dropped out in six days when rain, snow, thick mud, frost and deeply rutted, unsurfaced roads dogged the race from 7 to 13 July. The worse things got, the better Faber rode. He led the race alone for 200 km to win the 398 km stage from Roubaix to Metz on the second day.
There was simply no hold on the "Giant of Colombes" and he won the Tour with a difference of "20 points" to the second Gustave Garrigou.
In the last kilometer of the very last stage in Paris disaster lurks around the corner as TDF leader François Faber rides as first into the city: his bicycle chain breaks!
Giant Faber throws his bicycle over his shoulder and runs the last km to the finish line! At the "arrivée" he finishes third at 6.30 minutes of the stage winner Alavoine. Fortunately for him the TDF officials don't say anything of this last kilometer he has done "by foot"!
The rumour goes that Faber is the most hungry rider of the peloton. In 4 weeks he has eaten 168 cutlets, that means 6 a day!
The next years he continued to compete in the Tour de France with moderate success until his cycling career, like so many other great cyclists of that time, was brutally stopped with the start of THE GREAT WAR.
Faber won 19 Tour de France stages, Paris–Brussels, Bordeaux–Paris, Sedan-Brussels, Paris–Tours twice, Paris–Roubaix and the Giro di Lombardia.
He died in World War I while fighting for France.
(excepts from TDF 100 year, TDF 100 highlights, Het Laatste Nieuws, 2003 & 2000).
1909 TDF A Man and his Bike
FRANCOIS FABER runs the last meters of the TOUR DE FRANCE 1909 with his bicycle on his hand to the finish line in Paris.
François Faber (1887-1915) was a Luxembourgian/French cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages (from stage two in Mets to stage 5 in Nice) still stands.
Faber rode 9 TDF's in a row, from 1906 until 1914. In the press he was called "Mister Tour de France".
Faber was a professional from 1906 to 1914. His size and weight, 1.86 m and 91 kg, made that the fans called him "The Giant of Colombes", after the city where he lived in France.
He dominated the 1909 Tour de France. The 1909 Tour had the worst weather the race ever had seen. Fifty riders dropped out in six days when rain, snow, thick mud, frost and deeply rutted, unsurfaced roads dogged the race from 7 to 13 July. The worse things got, the better Faber rode. He led the race alone for 200 km to win the 398 km stage from Roubaix to Metz on the second day.
There was simply no hold on the "Giant of Colombes" and he won the Tour with a difference of "20 points" to the second Gustave Garrigou.
In the last kilometer of the very last stage in Paris disaster lurks around the corner as TDF leader François Faber rides as first into the city: his bicycle chain breaks!
Giant Faber throws his bicycle over his shoulder and runs the last km to the finish line! At the "arrivée" he finishes third at 6.30 minutes of the stage winner Alavoine. Fortunately for him the TDF officials don't say anything of this last kilometer he has done "by foot"!
The rumour goes that Faber is the most hungry rider of the peloton. In 4 weeks he has eaten 168 cutlets, that means 6 a day!
The next years he continued to compete in the Tour de France with moderate success until his cycling career, like so many other great cyclists of that time, was brutally stopped with the start of THE GREAT WAR.
Faber won 19 Tour de France stages, Paris–Brussels, Bordeaux–Paris, Sedan-Brussels, Paris–Tours twice, Paris–Roubaix and the Giro di Lombardia.
He died in World War I while fighting for France.
(excepts from TDF 100 year, TDF 100 highlights, Het Laatste Nieuws, 2003 & 2000).