Fritz Gallati

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Fritz Gallati (born March 26, 1935 in Mumpf AG; † October 25, 2020 in Liestal BL) was a Swiss cyclist .

Athletic career

In 1954 Fritz Gallati started cycling, stimulated by the international successes of Swiss cyclists Hugo Koblet , Ferdy Kübler and Fritz Schär . His father forbade him to race and demanded that Gallati finish his apprenticeship as a plumber first . Nevertheless, behind his father's back, he began to compete in junior races, but ended his professional training at the same time. To work, he always cycled a distance of 40 kilometers from his home in Mumpf to Basel , which also served as training. With his victory at the Lake Zurich Prize in 1956, he qualified for the then Swiss A class of amateurs.

1956 Fritz Gallati was nominated for the Swiss national team of amateurs; In 1958 he was Swiss runner-up in the amateur road race and second in the Klingnau reservoir tour and won the renowned Kaistenberg tour . He took part in the UCI road world championship for the first time , had a lot of bad luck there and was 69 after several defects. After he had contested a few races as an amateur, he moved to the professionals in spring 1959 and came third at the Swiss road championships. His first start at the world championships for professional drivers took him to 44th place. He started in the big tours and classics, his best place was 15th in 1961 near Milan-Sanremo . In 1960 he decided to start as a stayer and immediately finished second in the national championship. In 1961 Gallati won the Swiss championship title of the stayers , in 1962 and 1965 he was able to repeat this success. In 1961 he drove the Tour de France in the combined Switzerland / Luxembourg team . He finished the tour as far as Paris and turned 63.

An incident involving Gallati at the UCI Track World Championships in 1961 in front of a home crowd in Zurich caused a particular sensation : during the stayer race, he collapsed due to doping , was in mortal danger, and the doctors were only able to save his life at the last minute. Gallati himself was then banned for three months, three of his supervisors were banned until the end of 1966, and a fourth was revoked for life.

Fritz Gallati ended his cycling career in 1965.

Professional

After the end of his career, he worked in the profession he had learned until he retired. In his spare time he performed as a clown "Balloni".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Club newspaper 2020. In: radrennclubbasel.ch. Retrieved October 29, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Swiss Cycling Association (ed.): SRB calendar 1965 . Grenchen 1965, p. 131 .
  3. ↑ Swiss Cycling Association (ed.): SRB calendar 1961 . Grenchen 1961, p. 73 .
  4. ↑ Tour Encyclopedie 1954-1965 . Uitgeverij Worldstrips, Gent 1999, p. 129 .

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Gallati, Fritz
SHORT DESCRIPTION Swiss cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Stale
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2020
Place of death Liestal