Horst Gnas

Horst Gnas (1970)

Horst Gnas (born September 3, 1941 in Dessau ) is a former German cyclist .

As a teenager, Horst Gnas was third in a GDR cycling championship. But then he went to the Federal Republic and finally settled in Nuremberg. He became a member of the RC Herpersdorf .

1970 Horst Gnas won at the Track World Championships in Leicester second place in the amateur - uprights . From 1971 to 1973 he was then three times in a row world champion with the amateurs. In 1971 and 1972 it was led by the Dutchman Bruno Walrave , until 1973 the world cycling association Union Cycliste Internationale ruled for the world championships in San Sebastian that stayers and pacemakers must be of the same nationality. For a short time the Hanoverian Hans Käb was used as a replacement for Walrave; nevertheless managed to win a third world title. In 1971 and 1972 he was the German champion in the amateurs' standing race.

For his sporting success he was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf on December 10, 1971 .

In the following years Gnas was hit by bad luck with injuries. He ended his career in 1977 and opened two cleaning companies.

Just two days after his World Cup victory in 1973 in San Sebastián, Horst Gnas's wife and her girlfriend had a fatal accident; they were hit by a car on a bike ride. The widower was left with two young daughters.

Web links

• Horst Gnas in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Manfred Marr: 40 years ago Horst Gnas brought the third world title to Herpersdorf. stayer.de, November 10, 2013, accessed on January 17, 2014 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sports report of the federal government of September 29, 1973 to the Bundestag - printed matter 7/1040 - page 69.
2. ↑ Through an eventful life by bike , accessed on June 22, 2011