André Leducq

From the late 1920s to the early 1930s André Leducq dominated at the Tour de France, winning the race in 1930 and 1932, as well as 25 individual stages. Leducq made his début at his home Grand Tour in 1927, finishing fourth in the general classification and winning three stages. The following year he finished second behind Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg, in addition to winning four stages. Although Leducq finished 11th in 1929, he did wear the yellow jersey for the first time in his career, along with winning five more stages. In 1930 Leducq won the race for the first time, before winning it for a second time two years later. His win at the 1932 Tour saw him wear the yellow jersey for all but the first two stages, with Leducq winning six stages along the way. Although his form dipped, he rode in three further editions of the race in the 1930s, winning four more stages. Leducq’s record of 25 stage wins at the Tour stood until the 1970s, when the great Eddy Merckx went on to win 34 stages during his career.

Leducq began his career in the early 1920s as an amateur before turning professional in 1926. In 1924 he won the amateur road race at the UCI World Championships in Versailles and became the French national road race champion. He won his second national title the following year before winning the cobbled classic monument Paris–Roubaix in 1928. Leducq continued to have success in races at home, winning Paris–Le Havre (1928), Paris–Caen (1930), and Paris–Tours (1931).

In 1924 Leducq was part of the French delegation that competed at their home Olympics in Paris. In the individual road race France took gold and bronze with Armand Blanchonnet and René Hamel, respectively. Georges Wambst finished eighth, with Leducq crossing the finish line in ninth, despite suffering with three punctures during the race. With four cyclists finishing in the top nine places, France also won gold in the combined team event. Leducq later wrote his memoirs, which were published by Presses de la Cité in 1978, two years before he died. He recounted that his teammates received their gold medals, but he did not, and he was not invited to the reception held in their honour, or any of the gatherings of Olympic champions that followed. The IOC’s database lists Leducq as winning gold in the team race.