Philippe Thys

Philippe Thys (October 8, 1890 - January 16, 1971) was a Belgian cyclist and three-time winner of the Tour de France. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years). ... 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... A cyclist is a person who engages in cycling whether as a sport or rides a bicycle for recreation or transportation. ... The Tour de France (French for Tour of France), often referred to as La Grande Boucle, Le Tour or The Tour, is an epic long distance road bicycle racing competition for professionals held over three weeks in July in and around France. ...

Born in Brussels, in 1910 he won Belgium's first national cyclo-cross championship. He went on to win the Tour de France in 1913 and 1914, but the race was cancelled during World War I. Thys came back to win the Tour for his third and final time in 1920. Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the headquarters of the European Union, as two of its four main institutions have their headquarters in the... Cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing. ... The 1914 Tour de France was the 12th Tour de France, taking place June 28 to July 26, 1914. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

Thys broke the record of Lucien Petit-Breton, who had won two Tours. It would not be until 1955 that Louison Bobet would equal Thys' record, and 1963 that Jacques Anquetil would break it with four wins. Lucien Georges Mazan (1882‑1917) was an Argentine cyclist (pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton). ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... French cycling star Louison Bobet (March 12, 1925 - March 13, 1983) is one of just eight riders to win the Tour de France at least three times. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jacques Anquetil (January 8, 1934 - November 18, 1987), was a French cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. ...

Asked for his memories well into retirement, Thys - pronounced Tayce - recalled that he had been asked by his manager, Alphonse Baugé, to wear a yellow jersey to pick him out as leader of the Tour de France. His recollections are so detailed that the Tour de France organisation says they are hard to dismiss, even though the first yellow jersey is more usually attributed to the Frenchman Eugène Christophe many years later.

The Tour's own historian, Jacques Augendre, said Thys was an intelligent and thoughtful man never given to boasting or fantasising. His memories should be respected as possibly genuine, he says, although there are no newspaper stories to justify them.