16th Tour de France 1922

Belgians Again, Christophe Breaks ANOTHER Fork

The Belgian's Tour de France winning streak was now at six. Unfortunely the French effort was hindered when the very talented Pelissier brothers chose not to compete. But the fighting French spirit was present with the inclusion of new and old French stars.

SPECIAL NOTE: The ever-present challenger Eugene Christophe (Fra) finished a strong second on stage 1 and took the race lead after stage 4, but he met with misfortune again (!!!). This time on the descent of the Col du Galibier. As in 1913 and 1919, Christophe snapped the front fork of his bike and found himself running down the mountain in search of repairs. He did recover and finished 8th overall in Paris.

On stage 12 in the Alps Hector Heusghem (Bel) finished 4th on the stage but beat race leader Jean Alavoine (Fra) by more than 26 minutes. He took the overall lead. Heusghem, the strongest rider in the race, appeared to be in control and well on his way to victory.

Stage 13, Strasbourg to Metz, 300 km, was not kind Heusghem. No stranger to misfortune, Heusghem suffers a broken frame. In order to stay in contention with the breakaway group, he quickly made an illegal bicycle change and continued. After the stage, race officials assessed him a one-hour penalty for the bike change. The extra time dropped him to fourth overall and out of contention. With another contender gone, the always consistent Firmin Lambot inherited the race lead.

Over the final two stages Lambot rode steadily, he matched every attack and rode into Paris for his second TdF victory.

SPECIAL NOTE: The 37-year-old Lambot still holds the record for being the oldest rider to win the Maillot Jaune in Tour history. He also became the first rider to win the Tour without winning a stage.

TdF 1921

TdF 1923

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