Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet, 1956

Play media file

Hugo Koblet at the Tour de France 1954 (Dutch film about the first stage Amsterdam - Brasschaat )

Hugo Koblet (born March 21, 1925 in Zurich ; † November 6, 1964 in Esslingen , municipality of Egg near Zurich) was one of the most successful racing cyclists in Switzerland . Together with his competitor Ferdy Kübler , he triggered a cycling euphoria in Switzerland in the 1950s .

Athletic career

As a young amateur Koblet won his first national title, he became champion in the team pursuit in 1944. Hugo Koblet began his professional career in 1946 as a track cyclist . Between 1947 and 1954 he won all Swiss championship titles in the single pursuit on the open race track in Zurich- Oerlikon. In this discipline he was third at the World Railroad Championships in 1947 and second twice in 1951 and 1954 . After winning the Swiss Road Championship in 1950, he gained international fame when he became the first non-Italian to win the 33rd Giro d'Italia that same year . His first overall victory in the Tour de Suisse followed shortly afterwards .

In 1951 Koblet defeated the Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi in the Grand Prix des Nations , which at the time was considered the unofficial world championship in the individual time trial . The greatest success of his career was winning the Tour de France in 1951 , in which he won five stages. Overall, Koblet wore the leader's yellow jersey on eleven stages of the Tour de France. In addition, he was twice second in the Giro d'Italia ( 1953 / 1954 ), further twice won the Tour de Suisse ( 1953 / 1955 ), twice the Championship of Zurich (1952/1954) and once the Tour de Romandie (1953).

After winning the Swiss road championship title in 1955, Koblet's level of performance dropped significantly. He could only win relatively insignificant races and resigned in 1958. In fact, even after his Tour de France victory in 1951, Koblet was never able to match his form at the time.

Honors

In 1951 Hugo Koblet was voted Swiss Sportsman of the Year .

doping

In June 1952, Hugo Koblet suffered from kidney inflammation during the Tour de Suisse . The tour boss Carl Senn did not want to do without him and sent a doctor to him with the order: "Make Koblet fit, à tout prix". On this occasion, Koblet is said to have been given an injection of amphetamines against his will and without his knowledge , which is said to have permanently damaged his heart. This is said to have been the reason for its subsequently deteriorating form. Koblet himself expressed himself ambiguously on the subject of doping: “One day… the 'Hammer Man' knocks on the knock and you try the pill to postpone the deadlock. ... This is how it starts and often ends in a mess. "

Private

Hugo Koblet-Weg in Zurich, near the cycling track in Oerlikon

Hugo Koblet came from a humble background. His mother ran a bakery in the Aussersihl working-class district of Zurich ; since 1934 she was a widow. Koblet had an older brother, Adolf, who later took over the bakery. The French chansonnier Jacques Grello gave Koblet the nickname Pédaleur de charme because of his good looks, his light-footedness and his elegance . In contrast to his rival Ferdy Kübler, he always appeared relaxed and elegant even with great exertion and exertion . He often combed his hair shortly before reaching the finish line in order to be able to present himself favorably on the finish photo. Koblet was engaged to the actress Waltraut Haas in 1953 and was in a relationship with the photo model Sonja Buehl for ten years from the summer of 1954.

After finishing his career, he first tried his hand at Argentina as a general agent for European car companies, but returned to Switzerland after two years, mainly due to the country's economic and political development. He took over a gas station. As a reporter for radio and television, he kept in touch with cycling.

Six years after his retirement, Koblet died in a car accident at the age of 39. It is believed that he suicide committed. Koblet could not cope with leaving cycling, was in debt, and his wife had separated from him because of his numerous affairs.

Theater and film

In March 2009, Gerhard Meister 's play “Hugo's beautiful shadow” was premiered at the Bern City Theater, illuminating Koblet's relationship with Ferdy Kübler. In the summer of 2009 , the life of Hugo Koblet was filmed in Zurich , including at the original location, the Open Racecourse in Oerlikon. The main role is played by the actor Manuel Löwensberg , who is known in Switzerland .

The film Hugo Koblet - Pédaleur de charme by director Daniel von Aarburg was released in the cinemas in autumn 2010. It premiered on August 6, 2010 at the 63rd Locarno Film Festival.

literature

• Sepp Renggli , Hanspeter Born , Martin Born: Hugo Koblet - The “Pédaleur de charme” . 2nd Edition. AS Verlag , Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-909111-18-3 .
• Daniel Speaker: Hugo Koblet - Icarus on Wheels . AS Verlag, Zurich 2012, ISBN 978-3-906055-04-6 .
• Thomas Gmür: Koblet, Hugo. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Serge Lang: Once upon a time there were the two K. Koblet and Kübler. Biorama Sports Publications, Basel, 1991.
• Willy Kutschbach: Kübler, Koblet - the Tour de Suisse . Willy Kutschbach Publishing House, Berlin, 1955.

Web links

Commons : Hugo Koblet  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Hugo Koblet in the catalog of the German National Library
• Palmarès - List of achievements and placements
• Hugo Koblet in the Tour de France database(French / English )
• Daniel spokesman: 50th anniversary of the death of professional cyclist Hugo Koblet. The star who burned up too quickly. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from October 31, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Martin Born / Hanspeter Born / Sepp Renggli : Hugo Koblet. The “Pedaleur de charme” , Zurich 2005, p. 136.
2. ↑ Cycling4fans.de ; Lokalinfo.ch: “Hugo Koblet's life is filmed on the open Oerlikon racecourse”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Born / Born / Renggli: Hugo Koblet. P. 212ff.
4. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 5/1962 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne, p. 20 .
5. ^ Born / Born / Renggli: Hugo Koblet. P. 202ff.
6. ↑ Stadttheater Bern.ch ( Memento of the original dated July 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Blick.ch: "The son of Moritz Leuenberger plays Hugo Koblet Bazonline.ch:" How the pedaleur de charme got to know his photo model "