François Faber was born on 26 January 1887 at Aulnay-sur-Iton, Evre.

His father was a native of Luxembourg while his mother was French. He started off as a lounge waiter, moved on to a messenger, and subsequently became a steel worker on shipyards, dock labourer, and discovered cycle racing.

He had a strong and athletic build thanks to which he was nicknamed "The Giant of Colombes” (le Géant de Colombes). In 1906, he became a professional cyclist and won several races, notably: Tour de France and Tour de Lombardie (1908), Paris-Tours and Paris-Bruxelles (1909), Paris-Tours again (1910), Bordeaux-Paris (1911), and Paris-Roubaix (1913). 

When World War I broke out, François Faber opted to fight for France and, in 1914, joined the Foreign Legion as a committed volunteer. He was sent to the 2nd March regiment of the 1st foreign unit within which he received his baptism of fire at Sillery, in the Marne, where there was fierce fighting. He was promoted to corporal on October 1, 1914, and lived with his squad, the ordeal of life in the trenches, danger, and the brotherhood of arms.

In spent the spring of 1915 in Artois with his regiment. He fought in the "Ouvrages Blancs" battle at ligne de fortins situated near Mont Saint Eloi in Pas-de-Calais. He was killed at the front on 9 May 1915. On the battlefield, devastated by shells, his body was never found. François Faber was officially pronounced dead by the court of Seine, on February 25, 1921. The Grand Prix François-Faber organized in Luxembourg in 1918, pays tribute to him every year.