Jürgen Tschan

The team of the RRC Mannheim final spurt as German champions in the team time trial 1968, with Jürgen Tschan (2nd from right). V. l. To the right: Algis Oleknavicius , Jürgen Walter , trainers Karl Ziegler , Tschan and Dieter Leitner

Jurgen Tschan (* 17th February 1947 in Mannheim ) is a former German professional - cyclist .

Athletic career

Tschan, who began cycling in 1962, won the German team time trial championship three times as a member of the RRC final sprint in Mannheim in 1924 . In 1968 Jürgen Tschan took part in the Olympic Games in Mexico , both in road races and in team time trials ; the following year he won around Cologne . Then he became a professional. In 1970 he was the first German to win the Paris-Tours classic bike tour . In 1971 he won the German road championship. In 1972 and 1973 he also took part in the Tour de France and finished with a 45th and a 37th place in the overall classification. He then switched to track cycling and drove 54 six-day races, six of which he won with various partners (including Didi Thurau ). He had his first success with Klaus Bugdahl in Berlin in 1970 . In addition, he took several podium places at German championships in various track cycling disciplines.

doping

In January 2014 Tschan said in an interview with the FAZ on the subject of doping : For him, as for 90 percent of his professional colleagues, doping was part of everyday professional life. Amphetamines and high-dose cortisone were particularly widespread. He estimated that “20 percent of the riders were addicted.” Many cyclists of his generation known to him died as a result of doping. Therefore, he could freak out “when I hear voices that want to legalize doping”.

Professional

Tschan completed an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic .

Web links

• Jürgen Tschan in the database of Radsportseiten.net
• Jürgen Tschan in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 23/1980 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne, p. 18 .
2. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 42/1970 . Deutscher Sportverlag Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1970, p. 10 .
3. ↑ Ex-professional cyclist: Doping "was part of the job". tz, January 25, 2014, accessed January 25, 2014 . 
4. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 40/1970 . Deutscher Sportverlag Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1970, p. 2 .