Émile Pagie

Émile Louis Pagie (8 January 1883 – 1 August 1937) was a French road cyclist of Belgian origin. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1915 after retiring from professional cycling. He was a main competitor in the inaugural 1903 Tour de France.

Biography Émile Louis Pagie was born on 8 January 1883 (though officially registered on the 9th) in Wervicq-Sud, a French town on the border with Belgium, to Belgian parents. He was the younger brother of cyclist Paul Pagie. Georget suffered a puncture before reaching Nevers, leaving Garin and Pagie alone at the front. The two pushed a hard pace and gradually increased their lead, passing through all checkpoints together, including the , before racing toward Lyon. Near the finish, Garin took advantage of a crash by Pagie just from the line to win the stage in a time of 17h 45m 13s. Pagie finished less than a minute behind, while third-placed Georget arrived with a delay of nearly 35 minutes.

He also competed in other main cycling races and won in 1903 and had three times a top-10 finish at Paris–Roubaix.

On the morning of 1 August 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Marne, after breaking off a relationship with his partner Lucie Cloarec, a 41-year-old nurse at the Ville-Évrard asylum, Pagie shot her multiple times, seriously wounding her, before taking his own life with a shot to the heart.

Major results 1899 Winner of Tourcoing–Armentières–Roubaix Winner of Tourcoing–Quesnoy–Tourcoing 1900 9th place, 1900 Paris–Roubaix 1902 8th place, 1902 Paris–Roubaix 1903 Winner of 1903 Tour de France 2nd, stage 1 1904 9th place, 1904 Paris–Roubaix