Ferdy Kübler

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Ferdy Kübler Road cycling
Ferdy Kübler (1954)
Ferdy Kübler (1954)
To person
Full name Ferdinand Kübler
Date of birth July 24, 1919
date of death December 29, 2016
nation SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
discipline Road / train / cross-country
Last updated: February 6, 2017

Ferdinand "Ferdy" Kübler (born July 24, 1919 in the hamlet of Radhof near Marthalen ; † December 29, 2016 in Zurich ) was a Swiss cyclist and the first Swiss Tour de France winner. With his characteristic fighting style, he was one of the most successful racing cyclists in Switzerland.

Cycling career

Kübler's father was a shoemaker and bicycle mechanic. With a meager wage of around 140 francs a month, he could only feed his five children poorly. Kübler stated that he had developed his strong willpower during a childhood full of privation. Since he grew up in Adliswil and also had a distinctive nose, he earned the name “The Eagle of Adliswil”.

Kübler began his career as a professional racing driver in 1940 (after he had started cycling in 1938) and won his first major race in 1942 with the Tour de Suisse . With increasing age he was able to improve so much that he was one of the world's elite at the time. Kübler's greatest success was overall victory in the Tour de France in 1950 when he was 31 years old.

In 1951 he became road world champion . He won the Swiss road cycling championships four times in a row (1948–1951) . His biggest Swiss competitor at the time was Hugo Koblet .

Apart from Hugo Koblet, Kübler is the only Swiss who won the Tour de France. Until 2009, when Fabian Cancellara overtook him, he was also the Swiss who wore the leader's maillot jaune most often - on twelve stages.

Ferdy Kübler, also known as "Ferdy National", ended his cycling career in 1957. Then he worked in sports marketing. In 1983 he was voted the most popular Swiss athlete in the last 50 years.

Kübler is said to have been doped at the Tour de France 1955 . He zigzagged as he climbed Mont Ventoux , yelling for the end of the race. The commissioners found doping substances and syringes during room checks . In later interviews, Kübler denied ever having doped.

Kübler was married and last lived in Birmensdorf near Zurich. He died on December 29, 2016 at the age of 97 in a Zurich hospital. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving Tour de France winner.

Awards and honors

In 1983 Ferdy Kübler was voted Swiss Sportsman of the Century and Most Popular Sportsman of the Last 50 Years . In 2003 he was awarded the Credit Suisse Prize of Honor. In 2010 he received the lifetime award from Swiss television for his life's work. There has been a Ferdy Kübler path in Adliswil since 2009 .

Successes (selection)

Ferdy Kübler on the 1947 Tour, ahead of André Mahé
1940
  • MaillotSuiza.svg Swiss Champion - Individual Pursuit
1941
  • MaillotSuiza.svg Swiss Champion - Individual Pursuit
1942
  • Overall ranking and a Tour de Suisse stage
  • MaillotSuiza.svg Swiss champion - hill climb
1943
1945
  • MaillotSuiza.svg Swiss champions - cyclo-cross races
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956

Grand Tour placements

Grand Tour 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Yellow jersey Vuelta a España
Maglia Rosa Giro d'Italia - - - 4th 3 3 - - -
Yellow jersey Tour de France DNF - DNF 1 - - - 2 DNF
Legend: DNF: did not finish , abandoned or withdrawn from the race due to timeout.

literature

Web links

Commons : Ferdy Kübler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cycling legend Ferdy Kübler is dead. Schweizer-illustrierte.ch from December 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ Benjamin Steffen: Ferdy Kübler, the living legend. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. July 13, 2013, accessed January 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Swiss Cycling Association (ed.): SRB calendar 1961 . Grenchen 1961, p. 77 .
  4. ↑ Sepp Renggli : Obituary for Ferdy Kübler: From Fou pédalant to sports icon. NZZ , December 30, 2016.
  5. ↑ Doping cases on cycling4fans.de
  6. ↑ A certain chemistry. sueddeutsche.de of December 10, 2008.
  7. ↑ They would even take rat poison. bild.de from July 5, 2008.
  8. ↑ Tour winner Ferdy Kübler died at the age of 97. In: rad-net.de. December 30, 2016, accessed December 30, 2016 .
  9. ↑ www.sf.tv from January 9, 2010 ( Memento from January 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Kübler, Ferdy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kübler, Ferdinand; Ferdi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Marthalen
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 2016
Place of death Zurich