Gerhard Schönbacher

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Gerhard Schönbacher Road cycling
To person
Nickname boxer
Date of birth January 25, 1954
nation AustriaAustria Austria
discipline Street
End of career 1991
Last updated: April 7, 2019

Gerhard Schönbacher (born January 25, 1954 in Graz ) is a former Austrian cyclist and today's organizer of bike races. As an active cyclist, he came last twice in the Tour de France .

Athletic career

Gerhard Schönbacher grew up in Mellach near Graz, he came from a working-class family. The settlement in which he grew up with his sister and brother was called the broken glass settlement because of social problems . In addition to school, he earned his own money with various jobs. With his savings and a grant from his parents, he was able to buy his first bike from Puch . He began his sporting career as a boxer, which is why he was later nicknamed "Boxer". As a teenager he fought - 1.82 meters tall and 67 kilograms - in the welterweight division , later in the middleweight division. He also played ice hockey at ATSE Graz , and on the advice of coach František Tikal , he started cycling as endurance training in the summer. His first major success was victory in the stage race Dusika Tour in 1971, the most important stage race for juniors in Austria.

In 1973 Schönbacher won stages in Austrian tours, in 1974 and 1976 one stage each on the Austria tour . In 1979 he started the Tour de France for the first time as a member of the DAF Trucks team . A journalist looking for headlines about the unsuccessful team had the idea of ​​“racing” for last place. “Joker” Schönbacher seemed the right man for it. He was thus in competition with Philippe Tesnière , who had been the recipient of the Lanterne Rouge the year before . In the 21st stage, an individual time trial , he managed to be penultimate, but to remain within the waiting period, while Tesnière was the last to be disqualified for exceeding the time. Schönbacher achieved his goal of being last on the tour, to the annoyance of Tour Director Félix Lévitan . He crossed the finish line in Paris on foot.

For the 1980 Tour de France , Levitan stipulated that the last rider from the overall standings should be eliminated every day from the third stage. As a result, Schönbacher tried to be penultimate every day, which he managed until the 19th stage, after which, according to the rules, the last one should not be eliminated. Thanks to a breakaway attempt, Schönbacher almost won the last stage and ultimately finished tenth. But he managed to win the Lanterne Rouge a second time . Because of a dispute with Patrick Lefevere , the sports director of his team Marc-IWC-VRD , about the payment of a bonus, he left this team on the evening of the last day of the tour. He then drove for Puch for two seasons , but made no further attempt to finish last because he did not want to continue "the idiot". In 1981 he was 112th in the overall ranking of 121 drivers, in 1982 he finished 60th at the Vuelta a España . Between 1978 and 1987 he competed in seven road world championships .

In 1985 Schönbacher was hit by a car on his bicycle; he broke his back and was in the hospital for months. He remained active as a cyclist until 1991.

further activities

In addition to cycling, Gerhard Schönbacher was active in car races and speed skiing. He found himself in the Guinness Book of Records after letting himself be unbuckled on the roof of a car at 150 miles an hour at the Adelaide Grand Prix . In 1995 he launched the Crocodile Trophy , a stage ride on mountain bikes , in Australia . In Austria he initiated the Alpentour Trophy . His project of the Gran Fondo Middle East Peace Tour through Israel , Jordan and Palestine has so far failed due to the political circumstances.

successes

1973
1974
1976
1978

Grand Tour placements

Grand Tour 1979 1980 1981 1982
Yellow jersey Vuelta a España - - - 60
Maglia Rosa Giro d'Italia - - - -
Yellow jersey Tour de France 89 85 112 -

Teams

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sigi Lützow: Schönbacher: "I was the fastest last". In: The Standard . August 1, 2016, accessed May 10, 2019 .
  2. ^ Leonard, Lanterne Rouge , p. 182.
  3. ^ Leonard, Lanterne Rouge , pp. 186 f.
  4. ^ Leonard, Lanterne Rouge , pp. 190 f.
  5. ^ Leonard, Lanterne Rouge , p. 195.
  6. ↑ Schönbacher Gerhard. In: memoire-du-cyclisme.eu. Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
  7. ^ A b Leonard, Lanterne Rouge , p. 196.
  8. ↑ The Croc Story: How It All Began. In: croctrophy.com. May 29, 2018, accessed May 10, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Alpentour Trophy in Schladming. June 11, 2018, accessed May 11, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Tom Mustroph: Peace comes with the racing bike. May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2019 . zeit.de
  11. ^ Andrew Hood: Harsh realities of politics derail dream of Middle East grand fondo. In: velonews.com. January 14, 2019, accessed May 10, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Schönbacher, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz