René Pottier

René Pottier

Personal information
Full name	René Pottier
Date of birth	June 5, 1879(1879-06-05)
Date of death	January 25, 1907 (aged 27)
Country	France
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Major wins
1906 Tour de France
Infobox last updated on:
May 23, 2008

René Pottier (June 5, 1879 in Moret-sur-Loing – January 25, 1907 in Levallois-Perret) was a French racing cyclist

Pottier won Bordeaux-Paris in 1903 before turning professional. He came second in Paris-Roubaix 1905 and Bordeaux-Paris 1905, then third in 1906’s Paris-Roubaix, before winning the Tour de France in 1906.

He was considered the finest climber of the Tour. In the 1905 race he was first up the Ballon d’Alsace but lost the lead to Hippolyte Aucouturier after nails punctured his final spare tyre. He finished the stage only when Aucouturier gave him one of his spare tyres. Injury due to a fall on the next stage to Grenoble caused him to abandon.

The following year he took five stage wins out of thirteen and overall victory with 31 points. Again he was first up the Ballon d'Alsace but this time he stayed ahead, finishing as Dijon forty-eight minutes before his nearest competitor. He also won in Grenoble by fifteen minutes & at Nice by twenty-six minutes. He completed the 4,546km in 189 hours, 34 minutes at an average speed of 23.98 kph.

In September 1906 he won the Bol d'Or 24 hour cycle race at the Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris with 925.290km.

On January 25, 1907 he committed suicide by hanging himself on his bike hook after hearing his wife had found a lover while he was away at the Tour. A few weeks later, Henri Desgrange, patron of the Tour, erected a stele in his memory at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace, a summit in Alsace.

Tour de France results

• 1905 Tour de France: Abandoned after the 3rd stage
• 1906 Tour de France: Overall winner and winner of 5 stages

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

v • d • e Winners of the general classification in the Tour de France 1903 Maurice Garin • 1904 Henri Cornet • 1905 Louis Trousselier • 1906 René Pottier • 1907-1908 Lucien Petit-Breton • 1909 François Faber • 1910 Octave Lapize • 1911 Gustave Garrigou • 1912 Odile Defraye • 1913–14 Philippe Thys • 1915–18 World War I • 1919 Firmin Lambot • 1920 Philippe Thys • 1921 Léon Scieur • 1922 Firmin Lambot • 1923 Henri Pélissier • 1924–25 Ottavio Bottecchia • 1926 Lucien Buysse • 1927–28 Nicolas Frantz • 1929 Maurice De Waele • 1930 André Leducq • 1931 Antonin Magne • 1932 André Leducq • 1933 Georges Speicher • 1934 Antonin Magne • 1935 Romain Maes • 1936 Sylvère Maes • 1937 Roger Lapébie • 1938 Gino Bartali • 1939 Sylvère Maes • 1940–46 World War II • 1947 Jean Robic • 1948 Gino Bartali • 1949 Fausto Coppi • 1950 Ferdinand Kübler • 1951 Hugo Koblet • 1952 Fausto Coppi • 1953–55 Louison Bobet • 1956 Roger Walkowiak • 1957 Jacques Anquetil • 1958 Charly Gaul • 1959 Federico Bahamontes • 1960 Gastone Nencini • 1961–64 Jacques Anquetil • 1965 Felice Gimondi • 1966 Lucien Aimar • 1967 Roger Pingeon • 1968 Jan Janssen • 1969–72 Eddy Merckx • 1973 Luis Ocaña • 1974 Eddy Merckx • 1975 Bernard Thévenet • 1976 Lucien Van Impe • 1977 Bernard Thévenet • 1978–79 Bernard Hinault • 1980 Joop Zoetemelk • 1981–82 Bernard Hinault • 1983–84 Laurent Fignon • 1985 Bernard Hinault • 1986 Greg LeMond • 1987 Stephen Roche • 1988 Pedro Delgado • 1989–90 Greg LeMond • 1991–95 Miguel Indurain • 1996 Bjarne Riis • 1997 Jan Ullrich • 1998 Marco Pantani • 1999–2005 Lance Armstrong • 2006 Óscar Pereiro • 2007 Alberto Contador • 2008 Carlos Sastre • 2009 Alberto Contador

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