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By Barry Boyce
CyclingRevealed Historian
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Frantz! Start to Finish
As defending champion Nicolas Frantz (Lux) wore the Maillot Jaune (race leader's Yellow Jersey) at the start of the 1928 Tour de France. After his sprint victory on stage 1, he took the first General Classification lead in the 1928 Tour. Given his climbing talents and the great strength of his Alcyon team, he was never seriously challenged for the entire race. Frantz wore the Maillot Jaune from start to finish.
SPECIAL NOTE: Frantz slightly improved on the record set by Ottavio Bottecchia in 1924, when Bottecchia wore the Maillot Jaune after every stage, but by wearing it, as defending champion at the beginning of stage 1, he wore the Jersey throughout the entire Tour.
Race leader Frantz did have one scare during the 159 km stage 19 Metz to Charleville. During the early stages of the Tour a common mishap was a broken front fork. On the road to Charleville (mostly cobbled paths) Frantz broke the front fork of his bike. With 100 km to the finish line he started frantically searching for help. He eventually found a bicycle shop with one bicycle left. Unfortunately, it was a woman's bike and ridiculously small for Frantz. Faced with no other choice he took the bicycle and continued. His Alcyon teammates waited for him and set a frantic pace all the way to the finish. By the end of the stage he had lost 37'51” but held onto the overall lead.
Three stages later with no serious challenges Nicolas Frantz rode victoriously into Paris with his second straight Tour de France victory. Frantz's powerful Alcyon team also placed two other riders on the podium. Young French star Andre Leducq was second and Belgian Maurice Dewaele finished third.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Stage 1 PARIS-CAEN, 207 km |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 2 CAEN-CHERBOURG, 140 km |
Andre Leducq (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 3 CHERBOURG-DINAN, 199km |
Gaston Rebry (Bel) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 4 DINAN-BREST, 206 km |
Pe Verhaegen (Bel) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 5 BREST-VANNES, 208 km |
Marcel Bidot (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 6 VANNES-L'SABLES D'OLONNE, 204km |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 7 L'SABLES D'OLONNE-BORDEAUX, 285 km |
Victor Fontan (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 8 BORDEAUX-HENDAYE, 225 km |
Maurice Dewaele (Bel) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 9 HENDAYE-LUCHON, 387 km |
Victor Fontan (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 10 LUCHON-PERPIGNAN, 323 km |
Andre Leducq (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 11 PERPIGNAN-MARSEILLE, 363 km |
Andre Leducq (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 12 MARSEILLE-NICE, 330 km |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 13 NICE-GRENOBLE, 333 km |
Antonin Magne (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 14 GRENOBLE-EVIAN, 329 km |
Julien Moineau (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 15 EVIAN-PONTARLIER, 213 km |
Pierre Magne (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 16 PONTARLIER-BELFORT, 120 km |
Andre Leducq (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 17 BELFORT-STRASBOURG, 145km |
Joseph Mauclair (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 18 STRASBOURG-METZ, 165 km |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 19 METZ-CHARLEVILLE, 159 km |
Marcel Huot (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 20 CHARLEVILLE-MALO, 271 km |
Maurice Dewaele (Bel) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 21 MALO LES BAINS-DIEPPE, 234 km |
Antonin Magne (Fra) |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
Stage 22 DIEPPE-LE HAVRE-PARIS/Parc des Princes, 330 km |
Nicolas Frantz (Lux) |
 Nicolas Frantz (Lux)
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| TdF June 17-July 15, 1928 |
| 5,476 Km |
1.
Nicolas FRANTZ (Lux) 192h48'58" |
2.
Andre Leducq (Fra) +50'07" |
3.
Maurice Dewaele (Bel) +56'16" |
| Starters: 162 |
| Finishers: 41 |
| Average Speed: 28.400 km/h |
TdF 1927
TdF 1929
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22nd Tour de France 1928
