George Leander
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George Leander (born May 12, 1883 in Chicago , † August 23, 1904 in Paris ) was an American track cyclist .
George Leander belonged to the first generation of six-day drivers . In 1902 he was able to win the six days of New York in Madison Square Garden together with Floyd Krebs ; the following year he was there second with Nat Butler behind Robert Walthour and Ben Munroe . In 1901 he became the American master of the stayers . Leander lost the six days of Boston in December 1901 to Floyd MacFarland after a tough battle with less than a wheel's length. MacFarland, notorious for his hot temper, was enraged despite his victory that Leander had allegedly obstructed him on the last lap and pounced on it. There were fights with more than 200 participants, which could only be ended by the police with batons. The "Boston Globe" wrote about the brawl: "Guns were left in the office, but fists were good, as were handlebars, clubs and sections of the training stands."
Due to his great success in the USA Leander was committed to races in Europe in the summer of 1904 and was able to win several there too. On August 21st, he started a stand-up race in the sold-out Prinzenparkstadion in Paris in front of 20,000 spectators against his compatriot Walthour and the Frenchman Eugenio Bruni . After ten kilometers the race was rung because two buttons on his pacemaker's suit had come off. At first Walthour and Leander were so outraged that they did not want to go any further, but then let themselves be persuaded. In the further course of the race Leander fell headlong onto the track after he had lost the role of the pacemaker. Two days later he died in a Paris hospital.
Leander is described as tall, handsome and "imposing", his nickname was "The Windy City Fat Boy". He was born into a family with eight siblings, his father founded a printing company that still exists today.
literature
- Andrew Homan, "The Windy City Fat Boy," in: Road Bike Action Magazine , January 2010
Web links
- George Leander in the Radsportseiten.net database
1903 George Leander | 1912, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1918 George Wiley | 1926 Victor Hopkins | 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 Franco Giorgetti | 1931 Charlie Hunter | 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935 Alfred Letourneur | 1936 Gerard Debaets | 1938, 1939 Tino Reboli | 1940 Gustav Kilian
The results are not complete.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leander, George |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American track cyclist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1883 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 23, 1904 |
| Place of death | Paris |