Francois Faber (26 January 1887, Aulnay-sur-Iton, Eure, France - died Carency, Pas-de-Calais, 9 May 1915) was a Luxembourgian cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in World War I while fighting for France Full name Francois Faber Nickname The Giant of Colombes Date of birth January 26, 1887 Date of death May 9, 1915 (aged 28) Country Luxembourg Height 1.88 m Weight 88 kg Team information Discipline Road Role Rider Professional team(s)1 Faber's father, Jean-Francois, was born in Wiltz, Luxembourg, which gave his son Luxembourg nationality. His mother, Marie-Paule, was born in Lorraine. Francois Faber had a Luxembourg passport but lived in France and considered himself French. His half-brother was another cyclist, Ernest Paul Faber worked as a furniture-remover and as a docker when he raced as an amateur. Faber was a professional from 1906 to 1914. He won 27 races. His size—1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) and 91 kg (200 lb)—and his suburb of Paris gave him the nickname The Giant of Colombes. He rode for Labor in 1906 and 1907, moved to Peugeot in 1908, then Alcyon from 1909 to 1911. He joined Automoto for 1912 before returning to Peugeot in 1913 and 1914. He rode the Tour de France for the first time in 1906 but didn't finish and the next year, he came seventh. In 1908 as part of the all-conquering Peugoet team, he finished second, winning two stages including the final stage at the Parc des Princes beating his team-mate and tour winner, Lucien Petit-Breton by two bike lengths. He dominated the 1909 Tour de France, winning five consecutive stages which is still a record. The 1909 Tour had the worst weather the race had seen . Fifty riders dropped out in six days when rain, snow, thick mud, frost and deeply rutted, unsurfaced roads dogged the race from July 7 to July 13. The worse things got, the better Faber rode. He led the race alone for 200 km to win the 398 km stage from Roubaix to Metz on the second day. The third day started at three degrees above freezing and the weather became even worse. The race set off for Belfort and again Faber broke clear going over the Ballon d'Alsace and, after leading alone for 110 km, he finished covered in mud with his main challenger, Gustave Garrigou, 33 minutes behind. Still the weather got worse as the next stage left at 2am to ride to Lyon. Faber's riding attracted a crowd of 3,000 to see him leave and what was said to be 20,000 to see him finish. He won again after riding the last 62 km alone after a day of potholes and knee-high water. He climbed the col de Porte in a wind that twice blew him off his bike and being knocked down by a horse . His chain broke on the approach to Lyon and he ran a kilometre to the finish, pushing his bike . He won all five stages from Metz to Nice, all of them by himself - the final one after attacking Garrigou when he stopped due to a puncture. At the end of the race, the race official, Alphonse Steines, asked Faber what he planned to do next. Faber said: “ I know an excellent little place to go fishing in the Sens area and that's where I'm going to be from tomorrow onwards. You won't see me again before September, for the classics of the end of the season. ” He continued to compete in the Tour de France with moderate success until his cycling career, like many of his peers, was curtailed with the start of World War One. Faber won 19 Tour de France stages , Paris-Brussels, Bordeaux-Paris, Sedan-Brussels, Paris-Tours twice, Paris-Roubaix and the Giro di Lombardia. Faber joined the French Foreign Legion when the First World War broke out. He was assigned to the 2nd Regiment de Marche of the 1st Regiment, FFL, at Bayonne on 22 August 1914. He was promoted to corporal. On 9 May 1915, the first day of the Battle of Artois at Carency near Arras he received a telegram saying his wife had given birth to a daughter. One story says that, cheering, he jumped out of the trench and was killed by a German bullet. Another, more commonly accepted, is that he was shot while carrying an injured colleague back from no-man's land during fighting between Carency and Mont-Saint-Eloi. His regiment lost 1,950 of 2,900 in their attack. Faber was posthumously awarded the Medaille Militaire . The GP Francois Faber, a small race in Luxembourg, is named after him. There is also a plaque in his memory in the church of Notre Dame de Lorette in the French national war cemetery near Arras.
