Georges Speicher photo gallery by BikeRaceInfo (original) (raw)
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Georges Speicher (June 8, 1907 - January 24, 1978) was the first Tour de France winner to win the World Championships the same year he won the Tour.
Speicher began racing at the age of 17 and turned pro in 1932. That year Tour de France boss Henri Desgrange made him a part of the French team (in that era Tour teams were national and regional). In the early 1930s the French team dominated the Tour.
Speicher was again selected to ride for France in the 1933 Tour. His teammate Maurice Archambaud was leading until he cracked in the Alps. As Archambaud was running out of gas, Speicher was getting stronger every day. Speicher took over the lead in stage eleven and kept it to the end.
Speicher, who was as happy in a nightclub as anywhere, was not chosen to be a member of the French team for the World Championships. The selectors thought he would be too tired after winning the Tour. At the last minute one of the members of the French team (Paul Chocque) dropped out. Needing someone to fill the spot and knowing generally where to look, the nightclubs of Pais were were searched. They found Speicher and got him to Monthléry the next morning in time to start the race. There, Georges did the rare double, he won the World Road Race Championship the same year he won the Tour.
Speicher won by attacking with 125 kilometers to go and finished alone, five minutes ahead of 1931 & '33 Tour winner Antonin Magne. Magne would become World Champion in 1936.
In 1935, 1937 and 1939 Speicher was Champion of France.
In 1936 he won Paris-Roubaix (though he was actually second across the line).
In 1938 he was kicked out of the Tour for holding on to a car on a climb in the Pyrenees.
Speicher retired from racing in 1943.
Major victories:
1933: Tour de France, World Road Championship, Tour du Vaucluse
1934: Five Tour de France stage wins
1935: Champion of France
1936: Paris-Roubaix
1937: Champion of France
1939: Champion of France
Professional Teams:
1930-31: Thomann-Dunlop & Alcyon-Dunlop
1932: Thomann-Dunlop
1933-34: Alcyon-Dunlop
1935: Alcyon-Dunlop & France Sport-Dunlop
1936-38: Alcyon-Dunlop
1939-43: Mercier-Hutchinson
1944: Alcyon-Dunlop
Photos:
Georges Speicher in 1932
1932: André Leducq, Jean Bidot and Georges Speicher
Speicher racing in 1932
The 1932 Tour de France French team, from left: André Leducq, Albert Barthélémy, Julien Moineau, Louis Peglion, Marcel Bidot, Maurice Archambaud, Georges Speicher, Roger Lapébie
1932 Tour de France, stage one. Georges Speicher leads a group. He was fourth that day.
1933: André Leducq and Georges Speicher
Undated portrait. I'm guessing early-mid 1930s.
Speicher in 1933
Speicher riding in the 1933 Tour de France
Speicher and Giuseppe Martano share a drink in the 1933 Tour.
I believe this is Speicher riding to victory in the 1933 World Championships
1933: Speicher is Champion of the World.
Alcyon bicycle company's ad: "For the first time the winner of the Tour de France wins the world championships"
George Speicher about to start the 1934 Paris-Nice
1936 Paris-Roubaix. Romain Maes (left) was first across the line, but the judges erroneously awarded the vitory to Georges Speicher (right)
Geroges Speicher in the late 1930s.
June, 1937: Georges Speicher (center) is Champion of France.