Franz, Nicolas

Nicolas Franz was born into a family of wealthy farmers, but did not show interest in the family business, but went in for bicycle races.

in 1923 he became a professional and won his first championship in Luxembourg , a victory in which he did not give anyone throughout his career, having won 12 victories in a row.

In 1924, Franz drove the first Tour de France in his career. He won two victories in the stages and became the second in the overall standings, losing a little over 35 minutes to Ottavio Bottekier . In 1925 and 1926 , the Luxembourger won four victories at the stages of the "Big Loop", but in the overall standings he became fourth and second respectively.

In 1927, Franz became the winner of the Tour de France . Until the 11th stage, which ended in Bagneres-de-Luchon, he went in second place, losing to the Belgian Hector Martin for 17 minutes, but was able to play all his backlog in one stage, after which he confidently defended his championship until the finish in Paris . The final advantage over the closest competitor was 1 hour, 48 minutes and 21 seconds.

The 1928 Tour de France became the complete benefit of Nicolas Franz. He won the first stage, immediately taking the lead in the overall standings and a yellow T-shirt. He invariably carried it on his shoulders throughout the race, becoming the second athlete after Botteky to submit to this achievement. In total, in the framework of the race, Franz won five victories, including the final stage with a finish on the Champs Elysees .

In 1929, Franz made another attempt to protect the yellow T-shirt, but despite two victories he became only the fifth. For the last time, the Luxembourger entered the start of the “Big Loop” in 1932 and took the modest 45th place in the race, losing to the victor Andre Ledyuk for four hours.

After retiring, Nicolas Franz was the head of the Luxembourg cycling team from 1949 to 1957. He had a great influence on the formation of the famous Charlie Gaulle , the winner of the 1958 Tour .

• Franz, Nicolas at Cycling Archives