He exchanged it for another Alcyon bicycle, which he rode to victory in Paris ahead of teammates Andre Leducq and De Waele.Īfter winning stage seven of the 1929 Tour in Bordeaux, Frantz was one of three yellow jerseys on the same time in general classification with Leducq and Victor Fontan. He borrowed an undersized, women’s bicycle and was helped back into the race by his Alcyon domestiques. In that race, the frame of his bicycle broke on a level-crossing during the 19th stage with 100 km remaining. (Bottecchia however didn't wear the yellow jersey during the first stage in 1924). He wore the yellow jersey from the first to last day in 1928, the only rider since Ottavio Bottecchia to have done so. He finished an hour and forty eight minutes ahead of second placed Maurice De Waele. His second stage win was between Toulon and Nice and the final win was at Metz. He was seventeen minutes behind the race-leader Hector Martin before start of the stage to Luchon but finished in yellow. He won three stages in 1927 and won overall. In 19 he won another four stages and finished fourth and second respectively.įrantz then dominated the race for two successive years. He rode the Tour de France for the first time in 1924, won two stages and finished second just 35 minutes and 36 seconds behind Ottavio Bottecchia. His advantage in stage races was his consistent health and fitness. He had immediate success, winning Paris-Lyon and the GP Faber.
He was close to unbeatable in Luxembourg until the start of the first world war.įrantz, a well-built man weighing 80 kg, turned professional in 1923. That convinced him that farming was not for him. Frantz could have taken over the farm but had no interest in it. Nicolas Frantz was the son of a prosperous farming family.
He rode for the Thomann team in 1923 and then for Alcyon-Dunlop from 1924 to 1931. Nicolas Frantz (Luxembourgish pronunciation: 4 November 1899 – 8 November 1985) was a Luxembourgish bicycle racer with 60 professional racing victories over his 12-year career (1923 to 1934). His biography has been translated into 25 different languages. With an HPI of 55.58, Nicolas Frantz is the 2nd most famous Luxembourger Cyclist.
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