Giovanni Battista “Jean” Novo (19 August 1878 – 1947) was an Italian-French road and track cyclist, being active from 1903 to 1922.
Biography Born in Savona, Italy in 1878, he lived in Nice, France. Active as a cyclist from the 1900s and 1920s he is noted fot his long cycling career.
He was a good climber and is remembered as first great climber of the French Riviera. Together with Alfredo Binda and René Vietto he is regarded as one of the top-three regional riders of all times.
Novo won notable cycling races. He won twice, in 1909 and 1911, and also won twice in 1911 and 1912 and stage 2 in 1912 Coupe de France de Provence. Later in his career he won in 1920 and in 1922. He had also victories as a track cyclist.
He rode professionally with in 1908, including in the 1908 Tour de France. The Tour was overshadowed by many falls and people who had trown nails on the road. In this Tour he achieved in a top-10 finish in the first stage. In stage 2, Novo suffered many punctures and was left behind by his team. In the third stage Novo crashed. This crash resulted that the boss of the Labor time decided that the whole team withdrew from the Tour, sending a telegram to the manager of the team "After Novo's crash and the mediocre results of the other riders, I have decided to abandon the race. You can all ease up and come back by train." Novo competed also in other main international cycling classics including 1908 Milan–San Remo.
Major results
1908 10th 1908 Tour de France, stage 1
1909 1st
1911 1st 1st
1912 1st
1913 3rd
1920 1st
1922 1st
References
External links