Le Geant du Tourmalet

Octave Lapize

Tour de France winner

3 x Paris-Roubaix wins

3 x Paris-Brussels wins

1 x Paris-Tours title

1x bronze Olympic medal for the 100km race

World War 1 Hero

Revered like a Marvel super hero, the silver cyclist Octave Lapize, otherwise known as le Geant du Tourmalet is immortalised as an enormous 3 metre, 350 kg silver cyclist by sculpturist Jean Benard Metais.

The iconic piece of art rests at the summit of the highest paved pass in the Pyrenees the Col du Tourmalet (2115m).

James & the Giant Lapize

Lapize's metallic face is captured in full breath, a pose I imagine was commonplace to this inspirational man during the early 1900's. His long list of incredible accomplishments include;

• 3 x Paris-Roubaix wins (1909, 1910, 1911),

• 3 x Paris-Brussels wins (1911, 1912, 1913),

• 1 x Paris-Tours title (1911),

• 1x bronze Olympic medal for the 100km race in the 1908 London games.

• Tour de France Winner (1910)

Lapize was accustomed to putting in the effort.

These great sporting feats are a reflection of the grim determination of the man. Added to his 1910 victory in the Paris - Roubaix is the iconic Tour de France win that same year. It is this formidable achievement that has secured his place atop the Tourmalet since 1999.

The 8th Tour de France in 1910 was the first to include the Pyrenees mountain sections and it’s here that Lapize concreted his place in history.

Chasing the race leader Luxembourg’s François Faber, Lapize took the lead of the 326km stage and was the first rider to reach the Col du Tourmalet that day, all be it on foot pushing his bike.

After descending the Tourmalet the race route wound back up the Col d'Aubisque, on this climb Lapize lost the stage lead to a brave lone French rider called François Lafourcade. Lafourcade crested the Aubisque a full 15 minutes ahead of Lapize. Before Lapize reached the Col d'Aubisque he was famously heard calling the race organisers "assassin's" while he struggled to reach the Col.

However after tipping over the Col d'Aubisque he quickly found his race legs and proceeded to reel in and overtake Fourcade, finishing 10 minutes ahead of both Fourcade and the race leader at the time François Faber.

Lapize and Faber battled it out all the way to Paris where Lapize arrived the points victor over his team mate Faber to become the winner of the 8th Tour de France.

Unfortunately for Lapize and Faber a bigger battle lay ahead. After both men won stages in the 1914 Tour de France, the outbreak of the first world war saw the pair drawn to a different battlefield.

Each year on the first Saturday of June, Lapize the silver cyclist departs from Pierrefitte-Nestalas and climbs once more to the Col du Tourmalet to rest upon the pass for the summer. Riding to see his pained face reminds me that with sufficient motivation a man can try to leave his mark on this earth.

If you want to see the mighty Lapize take his place on the mountain top this year, mark the Saturday 5th June in your calendar. We’ll see you there!