Nicolas Frantz
Nicolas Frantz (November 4, 1899 - November 8, 1985), born in Mamer, Luxembourg, was a bicycle racer with 60 professional racing victories over his twelve-year career (1923 to 1934). He rode for the Thomann team in 1923 and then for the Alcyon-Dunlap team from 1924 to 1931.
Frantz is most famous for having won the Tour de France in 1927 and 1928. He won a total of 20 stages of the Tour during the years 1924-1929 and held the yellow jersey for a total of 37 days. He placed second overall in 1924 and 1926 and fifth in 1929. He also won the Championship of Luxembourg (Championnat Luxembourg) for twelve consecutive years (1923-1934), as well as other championships of the time, many of them no longer in existence.
In the 1928 Tour de France, Frantz wore the yellow jersey for the entire race, the only rider since Ottavio Bottecchia to have done so. In that race, the frame of Frantz’s bicycle broke during the nineteenth stage with 100 km remaining. He managed to borrow an undersized women’s bicycle to finish the stage, thereafter exchanging it for another Alcyon bicycle, which he rode to victory in Paris.
[edit] Major achievements
- Tour de France
- 20 stage wins (1924:(2); 1925:(4); 1926:(4); 1927:(3); 1928:(5); 1929:(2))
- 37 days in maillot jaune (1924-1929)
- 1st overall – Tour de France (1927, 1928)
- 2nd overall – Tour de France (1924, 1926)
- 5th overall – Tour de France (1929)
- Luxembourg National Road Race Championhips
- Template:LUX National Champion (1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934)
- Tour of Basque Country (1926)
- Paris-Tours (1929)
[edit] Literature
François Guillaume, Du Tour de Frantz au Tour de Gaul (2nd ed.; Diekirch (Luxembourg): Editions APESS, 2006)
