About Gustave Garrigou
Cyprien Gustave Garrigou (pronounced [ɡystav ɡaʁiɡu]; 24 September 1884 – 23 January 1963) was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times and finished 65 times in the first five. == Career == Garrigou was born in Vabres, France, and lived in Paris. He gained from his lightness in the mountains but had the strength to ride hard on flat stages, and had remarkable powers of recovery. As an amateur he won Paris-Amiens and Paris-Dieppe. He turned professional in 1907 and that year won the national championship, the Giro di Lombardia, Paris–Brussels and came second in the Tour de France 19 points behind teammate Lucien Petit-Breton. A team rider, in the next three years, he placed fourth in 1908, second in 1909 and third in 1910 behind winning teammates Petit-Breton, Francois Faber and Octave Lapize. He won the Tour in 1911 surviving not only the race but death threats because fans of another French rider, Paul Duboc, believed Garrigou to be behind an incident in which Duboc collapsed in the Pyrenees and lay in agony for an hour after drinking from a poisoned bottle. Garrigou had built a lead of 16 points after the end of Stage 6 but by the time they reached the Pyrenees, Duboc had reduced it to 10 points.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.