François Lafourcade

François Lafourcade (8 November 1881 – 10 August 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He rode seven times the Tour de France and had among others five podium finishes in Bol d'Or and five top-10 achievements in Bordeaux–Paris. He was involved in the first known doping case in Tour de France history.

Career Lafourcade competed professionally from 1906 to 1912. His brother Ferdinand (born 1885) was also a professional cyclist from 1908 to 1911.

In the 1910 Tour de France, during the first major mountain stage (stage 9, Luchon to Bayonne), riders had to climb the Col de Peyresourde, Col d'Aspin, Tourmalet, and Aubisque. A local to the region, Lafourcade achieved a remarkable feat by reaching the summit of the Aubisque first, with a 15-minute lead over Octave Lapize. Exhausted by the effort, he stopped at the bottom of the descent, was caught by others, and finished fifth in the stage.

After his death, it was revealed that he had inadvertently poisoned fellow French rider Paul Duboc during the 1911 Luchon–Bayonne stage. The beverage was intended as a performance enhancer, a primitive form of what is now known as doping. This incident is considered the first known doping case in Tour de France history.

Major results 1907 3rd – Bol d'Or 1908 3rd – Bol d'Or 9th – Bordeaux–Paris 1909 3rd – Bol d'Or 6th – Bordeaux–Paris 1910 2nd – Bol d'Or 5th – Bordeaux–Paris 1911 4th – Bordeaux–Paris 8th - Paris-Brest-Paris 1912 2nd – Bol d'Or 10th – Bordeaux–Paris

Grand Tour general classification results Race 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Tour de France DNF 13th DNF DNF 14th DNF 29th

Major Classic results Monument 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Paris–Tours — — — 13th — Paris–Roubaix 18th 33th — — 38th Classic 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Bordeaux–Paris 9th 6th 5th 4th 10th Paris–Brussels 17th — — — — Paris–Brest–Paris — — — 8th —