In the world of professional cycling, few names are as synonymous with misfortune as Eugène Christophe. His legacy is defined not by victories but by sheer bad luck, yet his perseverance and determination have made him an enduring legend in the sport.
Two Tour de France editions (1913 and 1919), particularly, marked his legacy as the unluckiest cyclist in road cycling history ever.
Tour de France 1913
Christophe’s place in cycling history was cemented in the 1913 Tour de France, though not for the reasons any rider would wish.
During Stage 6, as he descended the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, he suffered a disastrous mechanical failure—his front fork snapped, rendering his bike unrideable. In modern cycling, a team car would quickly come to a rider’s aid, but in 1913, the rules were far stricter. Riders were required to repair their own bikes without outside assistance.
Christophe, miles from civilization, shouldered his broken bicycle and walked over 10 kilometers down the mountain to the village of Sainte-Marie-de-Campan.
There, he found a blacksmith’s forge and set about the painstaking process of repairing his own bike.
The blacksmith, while unable to assist directly, provided him with tools, and under strict supervision from race officials, Christophe toiled away at his repair.
Hours passed as he worked to mend the fork, and just as he was finishing, another cruel twist occurred—a young boy assisting with the bellows was deemed by officials to have provided unauthorized help.
As a result, Christophe was handed a 10-minute penalty on top of the hours already lost.
Despite this catastrophe, he rejoined the race, finishing the stage but losing any hope of winning the Tour. It was an almost comically cruel fate, yet one that would only be the first of many similar misfortunes in his career.
Tour de France 1919
After World War I, which put the Tour de France on hold for several years, Christophe returned to competition in 1919. This was a special edition of the race, as it was the first Tour after the war and the first to feature the now-iconic yellow jersey for the race leader.
Once again, Christophe proved himself one of the strongest riders, even
becoming the first man in history to wear the yellow jersey
when it was introduced during the race. However, as if destined never to taste ultimate victory, disaster struck yet again.
With the overall lead and victory in sight, he suffered yet another mechanical failure—a broken fork for the third time in his career! Once again, he was forced to make repairs himself, costing him valuable time. He eventually finished third in the overall standings, a remarkable achievement given his misfortune but still short of the ultimate prize.