Ferdinand Kübler
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox cyclist
Ferdinand Kübler (Script error: No such module "IPA".; 24 July 1919 – 29 December 2016) was a Swiss cyclist with 71 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France and the 1951 World Road Race Championship.
Biography
Kübler was born in Marthalen. He began racing professionally in 1940 but his early career was limited to Switzerland by the Nazi occupation elsewhere. He was multiple Swiss national champion and a three time winner of the Tour de Suisse. Kübler's most successful years in international racing were 1950–1952, when the classics had resumed after the Second World War. He won the La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, both in 1951 and 1952, in a time where these races were still contested in the same weekend.[1] He was also World Road Race Champion in 1951, having placed second in 1949 and third in 1950.
Kübler rode the Giro d'Italia from 1950–1952, placing fourth once, and third twice. Kübler abandoned the 1947 and 1949 Tours de France, despite an early stage win in each. In the 1950 Tour, he benefited from the absence of Fausto Coppi, sidelined after a crash in the Giro. Overcoming Gino Bartali, Kübler became champion by over nine minutes, also winning three stages. In the 1954 Tour, Kübler won the points jersey and came second behind Louison Bobet.[2]
Kübler was the first Swiss winner of the Tour de France.[3] His biggest rival, Hugo Koblet, won the following year and as of 2021 they are the only riders from Switzerland to win the Tour.[4]
Kübler was a high-spirited and impulsive rider sometimes given to strategically unwise attacks, out of exuberance and competitive drive. He was known as "the cowboy" because of his penchant for Stetson hats. He retired from racing in 1957 at 38.
Kübler died in Zurich on 29 December 2016 at the age of 97.[5] Prior to his death he was the oldest living Tour de France winner.[6]
Career achievements
Major results
Source:[7] Template:Div col
- 1940
- Template:Flagicon national pursuit champion
- 1941
- Template:Flagicon national pursuit champion
- Template:Flagicon national mountain champion
- 1942
- Template:Flagicon national mountain champion
- Tour de Suisse
- 1943
- Template:Flagicon national pursuit champion
- 1945
- Template:Flagicon national cyclo-cross champion
- 1947
- Tour de France:
- Winner stages 1 and 5
- Wearing yellow jersey for one day
- Paris-Lille
- 1948
- Template:Flagicon national road race champion
- Tour de Suisse
- Tour de Romandie
- 1949
- Tour de France:
- Winner stage 5
- Template:Flagicon national road race champion
- 1950
- Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
- Trophée Edmond Gentil
- Template:Flagicon national road race champion
- Tour de France:
- File:Jersey yellow.svg:Winner overall classification
- Winner stages 6, 10 and 20
- 1951
- Template:Flagicon national road race champion
- World road champion
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- Tour de Romandie
- Flèche Wallonne
- Week-end Ardennais
- Tour de Suisse
- Rome-Naples-Rome
- 1952
- Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
- Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- Flèche Wallonne
- Week-end Ardennais
- 1953
- Bordeaux–Paris
- 1954
- Template:Flagicon national road race champion
- Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
- Tour de France:
- 2nd place overall classification
- Winner stages 5 and 14
- File:Jersey green.svg Winner points classification
- 1956
- Milan-Turin
Grand Tour results timeline
| 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | DNE | DNE | DNE | 4 | 3 | 3 | DNF | DNE | DNE |
| Stages won | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| Mountains classification | — | — | — | NR | NR | NR | NR | — | — |
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Tour de France | DNF-7 | DNE | DNF-18 | 1 | DNE | DNE | DNE | 2 | DNF-12 |
| Stages won | 2 | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Mountains classification | NR | — | NR | 4 | — | — | — | 6 | 17 |
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | NR | 1 | NR |
| Vuelta a España | DNE | DNE | N/A | DNE | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Stages won | — | — | — | ||||||
| Mountains classification | — | — | — | ||||||
| Points classification | N/A | N/A | N/A |
References
External links
Template:UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race Template:Tour de France general classification winners Template:Tour de France points classification winners Template:Swiss National Road Race Championships (men) Template:Liège–Bastogne–Liège winners Template:Tour de Suisse winners Template:UCI Hall of Fame Template:Challenge Desgrange-Colombo winners Template:Authority control
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- ↑ Template:Cycling Archives
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Swiss male cyclists
- Tour de France winners
- UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
- 1919 births
- 2016 deaths
- People from Andelfingen District
- Tour de Suisse stage winners
- Challenge Desgrange-Colombo winners
- Cyclists from the canton of Zürich
- 20th-century Swiss sportsmen