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René Pottier
René Pottier
Personal information
Full name
René Pottier
Date of birth
June 5 , 1879 (1879-06-05 )
Date of death
January 25 , 1907 (aged 27)
Country
France
Team information
Discipline
Road
Role
Rider
Major wins
1906 Tour de France
René Pottier (born June 5 , 1879 in Moret-sur-Loing – died January 25 , 1907 in Levallois-Perret ) was a French racing cyclist
Pottier won Bordeaux-Paris in 1903 before turning professional. He came second in Paris-Roubaix 1905 and Bordeaux-Paris 1905, then third in 1906’s Paris-Roubaix, before winning the Tour de France in 1906.
He was considered the finest climber of the Tour. In the 1905 race he won the second stage, racing up the Ballon d’Alsace to take the overall lead. However, injuries from a crash on stage 1 and the previous day's exertions caught up with him on the next stage to Grenoble and he abandoned.
The following year he took five stage wins and overall victory.
In September 1906 he won the Bol d'Or 24 hour cycle race at the Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris with 925.290km.
On January 25 , 1907 he committed suicide by hanging himself after hearing his wife had found a lover while he was away at the Tour. A few weeks later, Henri Desgrange , patron of the Tour, erected a stele in his memory at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace , a summit in Alsace .
Tour de France results
