In 1910 the Tour de France first went into the high Pyrenees. Stage 10, Luchon to Bayonne, ran 326 km over the Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque. Octave Lapize won it, and the Tour.
The famous line is attributed to Lapize and comes down to us in several versions. Most place it on the Aubisque, some on the Tourmalet. The wording ranges from the single word ‘Assassins’ to ‘Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!’. Treat it as an attributed legend, not as a recorded quote.
Where sources disagree: CyclingRevealed dates the stage 27 July, the others 21 July. road.cc also lists the Soulor and Osquich among the climbs. The Ballon d’Alsace in 1905 was an earlier major climb, but not in the high mountains.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_Tour_de_France
https://bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdf1910.html
https://road.cc/content/feature/riding-tour-de-frances-first-ever-pyrenean-stage-314455
https://www.tour-magazin.de/fr/tours/france/les-montees-legendaires-des-pyrenees-col-d-aubisque-col-d-aubisque-montee-historique-du-tour-de-france/
https://cyclingrevealed.com/timeline/Race%20Snippets/TdF/TdF1910.htm
https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/tour-de-france/the-1910-tour-de-france.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_Tour_de_France
Photos:
Octave Lapize – photo by Agence de presse Meurisse. Agence photographique (commanditaire), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coureurs_cyclistes_-_Lapize_-_btv1b9021537x.jpg
Col du Tourmalet – photo by Hugo LUC, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_from_the_top_of_the_Tourmalet_pass_at_stage_14_of_TDF_2024.jpg
Octave Lapize – photo by Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lapize_(portrait_du_coureur_cycliste_au_V%C3%A9lodrome_d%27hiver)_-_btv1b6921948n.jpg
Octave Lapize – photo by Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(Octave)_Lapize_(cyclisme,_%C3%A0_Buffalo)_18_avril_1909_-_btv1b69117263.jpg
#Shorts #cycling #Lapize
TAGS
cycling, Tour de France, Pyrenees, Col du Tourmalet, cycling history