| Hometown Hero Peaks for Paris-Roubaix
The 17th edition of Paris-Roubaix was held on Sunday, April 7, 1912.
SPECIAL NOTE: Easter Sunday presented the race with splendid weather. A huge crowd gathered at the start to see the riders, which caused the police “crowd control” problems. Their efforts cleared the road and let the race roll off without issue.
A very talented start list came to Chatou (west of Paris) for the start of P-R. Among the major favorites, Henri Pelissier (Alcyon), who had a victory at the 1912 Milan-San Remo a week before the race, was projected to battle Gustave Garrigou (Alcyon) for the victory.
The race left Chatou at high speed, which created multiple major crashes and caused numerous riders to abandon early in the race.
Race Status:
Through Bretreuil (111 km / 266 km), superstar Lucien Petit-Breton was suffering from problems with his eyes and retired from the race.
In Amiens (133 km / 266 km), the high speed triggered a large number of riders to abandon the race. The contenders rode together and marked each other closely.
On the Doullens Hill (167 km / 266 km), forty riders flew onto the climb. Over the top Garrigou and Omer Verschoore (Individual) led a strung-out peloton. Pelissier became a victim of the fast pace. The Frenchman retired from the race.
Coming into Arras (211 km / 266 km), little known Maurice Leturgie (Automoto) held a lead on the favorites.
An elite lead group began to form through the mining town of Courrieres (241 km / 266 km), the gap to Leturgie began to come down.
Leturgie was caught on the road after Seclin (250 km / 266 km). The final selection of seven riders had been made.
Gustave Garrigou (Alcyon) and Octave Lapize (La Francaise) led Maurice Leturgie (Automoto), Odiel Defraye (Alcyon), Jules Masselis (Alcyon), Charles Deruyter (Peugeot), and local hero Charles Crupelandt (La Francaise) towards the huge crowd in the Roubaix velodrome.
The revelation of the group was a rider from Roubaix named Charles Crupelandt (La Francaise). Crupelandt led Garrigou as the leaders entered the velodrome for the final six laps. Otave Lapize attempting to claim his 4th consecutive P-R victory opened a small gap as the group entered the closing laps. Crupelandt and Garrigou caught a tiring Lapize.
Lapize turned his effort to leading out the sprint for La Francaise-Diamant teammate Crupelandt. Around the final turn Crupelandt used superior sprinting speed and held off a late charge by Garrigou. To absolute delight of the huge velodrome crowd, Roubaix's Charles Crupelandt claimed the prestigious P-R victory.
SPECIAL NOTE: Crupelandt’s victory set off a wild celebration in Roubaix! He came from the neighboring town of Wattrelos and trained regularly on the Roubaix Velodrome.
SPECIAL NOTE: In 1996 the Espace Charles Crupelandt (the last cobbled section of the current P-R) was named in honor of him. The riders cross this section just before entering the velodrome. Posted on various cobblestones are the names of every winners of the race.
P-R April 7, 1912 |
266 Km, Chatou (west of Paris) to Roubaix (Velodrome - Rue Verte, Criox)
|
1.
Charles CRUPELANDT (Fra)
8h30'52" |
2.
Gustave Garrigou (Fra) |
3.
Maurice Leturgie (Fra) |
Starters: 110 / Finishers: 70 Average Speed: 31.294 km/h |
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P-R 1911
P-R 1913
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