Firmin Lambot

Firmin Lambot, born in Florennes on 14 March 1886 and died on 19 January 1964, was a Belgian bicycle racer who twice won the Tour de France. A saddler by trade, he bought his first bicycle at 17, began racing professionally in 1908 and that year won the championships of Flanders and Belgium. He won the first Tour after the First World War in 1919, a miserable race of war-torn roads in which only 11 riders finished, taking the lead when Eugène Christophe broke a fork. He won again in 1922 after Hector Heusghem was handed a one hour penalty, becoming the first to win the Tour without winning a stage. At 36 he was then the oldest winner of a grand tour, and he remains the oldest Tour winner to date. In retirement he returned to work as a saddler.