Editing Hubert Opperman (section)

===After the 1928 Tour===
In 1928 Opperman won the [[Bol d'Or cycle race|Bol d'Or 24-hour classic]], paced by tandems on a 500m [[velodrome]] in Paris. Both his bikes had been sabotaged by the chains being filed so they failed.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His manager had to find a replacement, his interpreter's bicycle which had heavy mudguards and wheels and upturned handlebars. Opperman rode the bike for 17 hours without dismounting. He was 17 laps of the track behind the leader but after 10 hours rose to second place to Achille Souchard, who had twice been national road champion.

Opperman punctured after 23½ hours and got off his bike for the first time since the broken chain. "He had met Nature's lesser calls as he pedalled, to the roar of the indelicate crowd", said a report.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Opperman won by 30 minutes to the cheers of 50,000 yelling "''Allez Oppy''". His manager suggested he continue to beat the 1000&nbsp;km record. Opperman declined but his trainer and the crowd persuaded. He cycled 1h 19m more alone to beat the record.

He became enough of a hero in France that "a [[Gendarmerie|gendarme]] in [[Montmartre]] held up the traffic and waved him through in solitary splendour with the cry: "''Bonjour, bonne chance, Oppy!''"<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Opperman had a hero's welcome when he returned to [[Melbourne]].