Octave Lapize, 3 Fois Champion de France
Octave Lapize, Three-Time French Champion

This striking early 20th-century French lithograph celebrates Octave Lapize, one of the great names of pre-war cycling. Printed by Imprimerie Marcial, Goffin & Cie in Paris, the image shows Lapize in full flight, captured from a photographic study credited “d’après Cliché Boldo”—literally “after a photograph by Boldo.” The minimalist background and tight frontal composition emphasize both Lapize’s determination and the aesthetic simplicity typical of French sporting posters of the Belle Époque.

Lapize’s accomplishments were extraordinary. Born in 1887, he dominated both the road and the velodrome before his career was cut short by World War I. He was a three-time French national champion, winner of Paris–Roubaix three consecutive years (1909, 1910, 1911), and the victor of the 1910 Tour de France, the first edition to include the Pyrenees. His furious climb over the Tourmalet that year and his famous outburst at race officials—calling them “assassins!”—became one of cycling’s enduring legends.

Lapize later turned to aviation and served as a fighter pilot in the French Air Force, where he was killed in action in 1917 at only 29 years old.

The print stands as both a tribute to one of France’s earliest sporting heroes and a superb example of early cycling-era design from Paris’s renowned Marcial Goffin studio.

This poster is an original first printing, not a reproduction.

This poster has been archivally and professionally linen-backed. Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on very thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve, and protect vintage posters, allowing them to be displayed or framed without compromising their value.

Year: c. 1913
Artist:  d’Apres Cliche Boldo
Imp. Marcial, Goffin & Cie Paris

Size: 39 x 60 cm (15 ¼  x 23 ½  inches)

Posters are sold unframed. Framed images are display ideas only.

This is a one-of-a-kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

This item is listed on multiple platforms, and availability is subject to prior sale elsewhere.