Franz Gerger

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Franz Gerger

Franz Gerger (born September 4, 1867 in Felsőrönök (German: Oberradling), Hungary ; † March 27, 1937 in Graz ) was an Austrian cyclist .

Athletic career

In 1883, Franz Gerger, who was born in Hungary, moved to Graz; Only at the age of 22 did he learn to ride a bike under the guidance of Alexander Gayer , who ran a "training school" in Graz and is considered the first cycling trainer. Gerger began his cycling career as a road rider. At the distance bike ride Vienna – Berlin in 1893 he finished third behind Josef Fischer and Georg Sorge on a bicycle by Johann Puch , whereby he was the only one of the top places not to change the machine, a Styria touring bike, and received a special price for it. In the same year he became Austrian champion over 100 kilometers on the road. In 1894 he was third at Milan-Munich . In 1895 he started as an amateur at Bordeaux-Paris and "delivered a race that amazed the sporting world": he beat the time of the winner in the professional driver class and set a new course record. He had already set numerous German and Austrian records before that.

Gerger then turned professional and turned to track cycling . At the track cycling world championships in 1896 he was third in the standing race. In 1897 he became the European champion. The following year he took third place at the German standing championships. Franz Gerger set a total of eight world records in his career. He achieved one last record run on June 1, 1902, when he reached the Hungarian ten-kilometer record behind a motor tandem. Shortly afterwards he won the long-distance journey Vienna-Semmering-Vienna .

After the end of his cycling career, Gerger became a representative of a bicycle company in Budapest . He also worked as a cycling official and later headed the "Association of Styrian Cyclists" founded in 1919.

Main results

1893
3. Vienna - Berlin
1st Road Championship of the German Cyclists Association Austria
1. Graz-Lebring
1. Sankt Andrä - Sankt Pölten - Sankt Andrä
5. Maastricht - Nijmegen - Maastricht
1894
3. Milan - Munich
1895
1. Bordeaux - Paris (amateur, new course record)

literature

  • Sport-Album der Rad-Welt , 7th year, 1909, pp. 17-19
  • Wolfgang Wehap: fresh, cycling, Styrian. A journey through time through the regional cultural history of cycling. Steirische Verlags-Gesellschaft, Graz 2005, ISBN 3-85489-126-1 , p. 59, p. 62–63

Web links

Commons : Franz Gerger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Ulreich / Wolfgang Wehap: The history of PUCH bicycles . Weishaupt, Gnas 2016, p. 85 .
  2. ↑ Sport-Album der Rad-Welt , 7th year, 1909, p. 18
personal data
SURNAME Gerger, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Felsőrönök (German: Oberradling), Hungary
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1937
Place of death Graz