French cyclist René Hamel won the 1922 edition of the Paris-Dieppe one-day race before finishing second a year later. In 1924 Hamel became the French national road race champion, earning himself a place on the Olympic team. At the Paris Games he finished third in the road race in addition to winning gold in the combined team event with compatriots Armand Blanchonnet, Georges Wambst, and André Leducq.
After the Olympics, Hamel rode in the Tour de France in 1927 and 1928, finishing 32nd overall at the latter. He also finished seventh in a bunch sprint at the 1927 edition of the Paris–Roubaix one-day cycling classic. During World War II he was a member of the French Resistance as part of the France libre movement. Hamel’s son Jean-Claude represented France at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as a modern pentathlete.
France