Hans Knecht

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Hans Knecht (born June 29, 1913 in Albisrieden ; † March 8, 1986 in Zurich ) was a Swiss cyclist .

Early years

Hans Knecht grew up in very poor circumstances in the "poor people's quarter" Albisrieden; his father was a construction worker, his mother a laborer. He had three siblings. The family later had to move because they could no longer afford the rent for the apartment there. Knecht had to contribute to the family's income by delivering newspapers and helping a bicycle dealer with repairs, but the desire to become a professional racer emerged earlier. After school, Knecht trained as a dyer .

In 1944 he married Nelly Weilenmann. After the end of his cycling career in 1949, he opened a bicycle shop which, after initially good sales, went bankrupt in 1960. He then worked in the automotive industry until he retired.

Cycling career

Road World Championships 1938 in Valkenburg.

Hans Knecht was given a racing bike from a relative, but he fell during his first junior race and the bike was stolen from him. He then saved up for a new bike by not taking the train or buying new shoes, among other things. When he was able to afford the bike after three years, he joined the Altstetten Veloclub . With his new sports mates, he went on a bike tour from Zurich to Milan and back in two days. After his first victories in amateur races, a patron gave him an eight-week training stay in Belgium , where Knecht rode his bike within four days. There he studied the training of the successful Belgian racing driver Marcel Kint . In 1939 he achieved his first major success when he won the amateur race at the UCI Road World Championships in Valkenburg in 1938 and became world champion. He was enthusiastically received in Zurich, got free food in a restaurant for a year and found sponsors so that he was freed from existential needs.

During his professional career, which lasted from 1939 to 1949, Hans Knecht won a total of 19 races. In 1946 in his native Zurich, in front of 50,000 enthusiastic spectators, he became the professional world champion . He was Swiss road racing champion three times.

Knecht himself described himself in his autobiography as “not particularly talented”, but as a “will-man”, “flayer” and “perfectionist”. In addition, he was known as a shrewd tactician who sometimes acted downright stupid so as not to let himself be looked at, but watched his opponents closely or had his caretaker watch them.

Autobiography

In 1949 Hans Knecht published his extensive autobiography, which he wrote himself and in which he relied on his own detailed diary entries. In this book he addressed his will to achieve social advancement with the help of sport: "And I dreamed of racing fame, of victories, honor and money." His great role model was the highly successful Swiss racing driver Heiri Suter . Knecht also dealt with topics such as training, nutrition, biology and anatomy in this book. He vehemently rejected the rumor that he had doped. Fabian Brändle wrote in 2010 about Knecht's book: «Knecht's autobiography captivates […] with its precise, sometimes almost seeming language, openness and interesting details about sports and private life. The race descriptions are gripping, and the description of training and tactics enriches knowledge of sports history considerably. "

Sporting successes

1938
1943
  • Swiss road champion
1945
  • Swiss road champion
1946

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 42.
  2. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 44.
  3. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 46.
  4. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 44.
  5. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 47 f.
  6. ↑ Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' . 2010, p. 39f.

literature

  • Hans Knecht: Street without end. Scheuch, Zurich 1949, OCLC 34684362 .
  • Fabian Brändle: 'I swore not to remain nameless.' Top sport and social advancement using the example of the Swiss cycling world champion Hans Knecht (1913–1986). In: Sportzeiten . 3/2010, pp. 39-55.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Servant, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Albisrieden
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1986
Place of death Zurich