1922 Tour de France

The 1922 Tour de France was the 16th Tour de France, taking place June 25 to July 23, 1922. The 1922 Tour consisted of 15 stages covering a total of 5,372 kilometres (3,338 mi). The race was won by the Belgian cyclist Firmin Lambot. It was the second time Lambot had won the overall Tour de France title; he had previously won the 1919 Tour de France.

The first part of the race showcased the tactics of Robert Jacquinot, and some action from Eugène Christophe. During the Pyrenees stages, the climber Jean Alavoine became the leader after three consecutive stage wins: Bayonne, Luchon, and Perpignan. Lambot was 48 minutes behind Christophe at one point, but then plowed ahead to his win at the Champs-Elysees.

Alavoine's success appeared to be written in stone as they raced through the southern part of the race. This was especially true when he increased his lead to more than 22 minutes in Briancon. On the stage to Geneva the frigid weather and several mechanical issues bore down on Alavoine. Thus it was not Lambot who attacked, but Heusghem (who had been second for the last two years). It appeared that this was going to be his shining Tour, however his bicycle broke on the ride to Metz. Heusghem made a prohibited bike change to stay in race for first. However, this defied the rules during this time, and he was docked one hour by race officials, dropping him to fourth overall. This is when Lambot noticed his change and took over in Dunkerque. Amidst all this Lambot took his second win of the Tour de France at the age of 36, becoming the first to win the Tour de France without winning a stage.