Jürgen Kraft

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Jürgen Kraft Road cycling
To person
Date of birth November 26, 1951
date of death June 11, 2002
nation GermanyGermany Germany
discipline Street
Most important successes

MaillotAllemania.svg German champion - road race

Last updated: February 17, 2019

Jürgen Kraft (born November 26, 1951 in Buseck ; † June 11, 2002 in Berlin ) was a German racing cyclist .

Cycling career

Kraft began cycling in the RV 1900 Wieseck club. From the beginning he competed in road races, cross-country races and also drove on the track . In October 1969 he qualified for the highest German amateur class. With his success at the German championships in team time trial in 1970, Kraft started for the Berlin club RC Zugvogel . Between 1972 and 1976, Jürgen Kraft took several podium places as an amateur at German road racing championships and in 1972 he won a stage of the Tour d'Algérie . 1974 he won on May 1st around the Henningerturm among the amateurs. The year before, he had already won around Frankfurt on a similar route . In 1974 he took part in the International Peace Tour and retired on the ninth stage shortly before Leipzig .

In 1975 Kraft won the Berlin stage trip . He turned professional in 1977 and won the German road racing championship that same year . In 1978 he was second in the German championship in cyclo-cross racing , behind Klaus-Peter Thaler . In addition, this year he took top places in important international races, such as second place at the Gran Premio de Valencia , and started at the Giro d'Italia , where he finished 51st. The following year he drove the Tour de France , but was withdrawn from the race after the second stage because the waiting period was exceeded . He also competed twice at the UCI Road World Championships , in 1978 he finished 31st, at the 1979 World Cup he finished 44th.

Professional and private

After finishing his cycling career in 1980, Jürgen Kraft completed his studies, worked as a teacher in Rome and later moved to Berlin . There he worked as a research assistant for the CDU parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives , worked as a freelance journalist and as a co-commentator on cycling broadcasts on ARD and Eurosport . After the CDU lost his election in November 2001, he lost his job. A few months later he committed suicide .

His son Dennis was also successful as a cyclist.

successes

1970
1973
1973
1975
1977
  • MaillotAllemania.svg German professional champion - road racing

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 13/1970 . Deutscher Sportverlag Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1970, p. 19 .
  2. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 23/1980 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne, p. 18 .
  3. ↑ Rene Jacobs et al. a. (Ed.): VELO . 19th year. Brussels 1975, p. 138 .
  4. ↑ Rene Jacobs et al. a. (Ed.): VELO . 18th year. Brussels 1974, p. 161 .
  5. ^ Kurt Graunke , Walter Lemke, Wolfgang Rupprecht: Giants from then to today: The history of the German professional road cyclists . Munich 1993, ISBN 3-9803273-0-2 , p. 182
personal data
SURNAME Kraft, Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German racing cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Buseck
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 2002
Place of death Berlin