Philippe Thys (; ; 8 October 1889 – 16 January 1971) was a Belgian

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

and three times winner of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

Professional career

In 1910, Thys won Belgium's first national

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

championship. The following year he won the Circuit Français Peugeot, followed by stage races from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and Paris to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He then turned professional to ride the Tour de France. Thys won the Tour in

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

despite breaking his bicycle fork, and needing to find a bicycle shop to mend it. The repair induced a 10-minute penalty, but he won with a lead of just under nine minutes. Philippe Thys Tour de France 1913 Celebration 4

Philippe Thys Tour de France 1913 Celebration 4

Thys took the stage and the race lead when

Eugène Christophe Eugène Christophe (born Malakoff, Paris, France, 22 January 1885, died in Paris, 1 February 1970) 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 ...

broke his fork on the way to Luchon.

Marcel Buysse Marcel Buysse ( Wontergem, 11 November 1889- Ghent, 3 October 1939) was a Belgian racing cyclist. After finishing fourth in the 1912 Tour de France, Buysse led the general classification for two days until a broken handlebar cost him dearly. ...

overtook him in the results the following day. Another broken fork on the way to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Longwy Longwy (; older , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. In ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

. Despite being knocked out and being penalised for help from teammates to repair his bike, he won 8 minutes and 37 seconds ahead of

Gustave Garrigou Cyprien Gustave Garrigou (; 24 September 1884 – 23 January 1963) was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times a ...

, with Buysse third. In

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

, he took his first stage victory, to

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, holding the race from start to finish despite a 30-minute penalty for an unauthorised wheel change on the penultimate stage. His victory looked uncertain, his lead cut to less than two minutes ahead of

Henri Pélissier Henri Pélissier (; 22 January 1889 – 1 May 1935) was a French Bicycle racing, racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France, 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feu ...

. Ironically, on the final stage from Dunkirk to Paris, the Frenchman's supporters along the route who were expecting victory over the Belgian were the reason he was prevented from launching a breakaway. He won the stage but Thys finished on his wheel to win the Tour. In 1917, Thys won

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

and the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

. In 1918, he also won the second and last Tours–Paris. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Thys won the Tour a third and final time in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. He led from the second stage,

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (; 31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French cycle sport, bicycle racer and Sports journalism, sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first o ...

writing "France is not unaware that, without the war, the crack rider from Anderlecht would be celebrating not his third Tour, but his fifth or sixth". Philippe Thys 1922

Not until 1955 did

Louison Bobet Louis "Louison" Bobet (; 12 March 1925 – 13 March 1983) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 195 ...

equal Thys's record, and not until 1963 did

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

break it with four wins. Thys also rode in the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

Tour, winning five stages, and in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

Tour, winning two stages. Thys was one of a generation of cyclists whose careers were disrupted by the First World War. After retiring, he recalled that he had been asked by his manager, Alphonse Baugé, to wear a yellow jersey as leader of the Tour, although that distinction is more commonly attributed to Eugène Christophe.

Career achievements

Major results

;Amateur ;1910 : 1st

National Cyclo-cross Championships National governing bodies hold National Cyclo-cross Championships on an annual basis. The winner is crowned national cyclo-cross champion and wears the national cycling jersey for his/her nation in races in the same category as it was won in. This ...

;1911 : 1st Overall Tour de France Independents ::1st in 2 Stages : 1st Overall Paris-Turin ::1st in 2 Stages : 1st Paris-Toulouse :1st Circuit Française Peugeot ;Professional ;1912 : 6th Overall

;1913 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 6 ;1914 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Paris-Menin (fr) : 3rd

;1917 : 1st

: 1st

;1918 : 1st Tours-Paris ;1919 : 1st

Six Days of Brussels The Six Days of Brussels was a Six-day racing, six-day track cycling race held annually in Brussels, Belgium. Rik Van Steenbergen holds the record of victories, winning 8 times. Winners References External links

Cycle races in Belgi ...

(with

Marcel Dupuy Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

) : 2nd

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

;1920 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 2, 9, 12 & 13 : 4th Road race, National Road Championships : 4th

: 4th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

;1921 : 1st

Critérium des As The ''Critérium des As'' (''Race of the Aces'') was a cycle race that was generally held at the end of the season, with entry by invitation only, for the leading riders of the season. Competitors rode behind pacers on tandems or motorcycles. It w ...

: 1st Paris–Lyon (with

Jean Rossius Jean Rossius (27 December 1890 – 2 May 1966) was a Belgian road racing cyclist who won five stages in total in the Tour de France. In the 1914 Tour de France he finished in fourth place in the overall classification, his best finishing. ...

) : 1st Paris–Dijon (with

) : 3rd

Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional road bicycle racing, cycle race was one of Europe's classic cycle races, and one of the longest in the professional calendar, covering approximately – more than twice most single-day races. It started in north ...

: 4th Giro della Provincia di Milano : 10th

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

;1922 :

::1st Stages 4, 8, 9, 10 & 15 : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 4th

: 5th

;1923 : 1st Paris–Lyon (with

Jean Alavoine Jean Alavoine (1 April 1888 – 18 July 1943) was a French professional cyclist, who won 17 stages in the Tour de France - only eight riders have won more stages - and wore the yellow jersey for five days. Jean Alavoine was born in Roubaix ...

) : 2nd Circuit du Languedoc : 8th

;1924 :

::1st Stages 3 (tied with

Théophile Beeckman Théophile Beeckman (1 November 1896, in Meerbeke – 22 November 1955, in Meerbeke) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Major results ;1922 :Heure le Romain - Malmédy - Heure le Romain ;1924 :Tour de France: ::Winner stage 3 ::5t ...

) & 9 : 7th

;1925 : 3rd

Cycle races in Belgi ...

(with

Maurice De Wolf Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean * Maurice, Iowa, a city * Maurice, Louisiana, a village * Maurice River, a t ...

) ;1927 : 1st Limburgse Dageraad : 9th Rund um Leipzig

Grand Tour results

Honours

* A velodrome, ''Piste Philippe Thys'' in La Robertsau,

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

* A street, ''Rue Philippe Thys'' in

Maurice Moszberger (dir.), ''Dictionnaire historique des rues de Strasbourg'', Le Verger, Barr, 2012 (nouvelle éd. révisée), . * Introduced in the UCI Hall of Fame in 2002

Books

* ''Van Thys tot Nys'' by Luc Lamon, Mark van Hamme in 2011, Houtekiet, 227 p. * ''Philippe Thys: de vergeten drievoudig tourwinnaar'' by Johan Van Win in 2014, Ronde Tafel, 248 p.

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results
for Philippe Thys. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thys, Philippe Belgian male cyclists Tour de France winners Belgian Tour de France stage winners Belgian cyclo-cross cyclists 1889 births 1971 deaths People from Anderlecht Belgian cyclo-cross champions Cyclists from Brussels 20th-century Belgian sportsmen