Jean Gougoltz

Jean Gougoltz (1901)

Jean Gougoltz (born March 26, 1875 in Cannes , † January 10, 1917 in Paris ) was a Swiss cyclist .

Cycling career

Jean Gougoltz was one of the first cycling stars in Switzerland. He was an all-rounder who competed in numerous international races on the road and on the track . The German magazine Sport-Album der Rad-Welt described him as a “rider for everything”.

In 1895 Gougoltz was French champion in the sprint on the track, ahead of Paul Bourillon and Morin. Twice, in 1896 and 1897, he won the sprint race "Grand Prix Angers". In 1900 he became the Swiss sprint champion, in 1905 the professional stayer . In 1903 he also won the Paris eight-day race ahead of Lucien Petit-Breton , a race in which eight hours a day were driven for eight days.

Jean Gougoltz drove eight six-day races , in 1900 he finished third in New York together with the Frenchman César Simar . This made both the first Europeans to stand on the podium in a US six-day race. In 1901 Jean Gougoltz started near Paris – Roubaix , but was only 18th because of a hunger branch. In 1902 he also took part in the Bol d'Or and finished sixth.

The sports album criticized the bustling Gougoltz, who also acted as a pacemaker : “Unfortunately, he was sometimes so happy that after such exertions his body was reluctant to give its best on the racetrack, and it is probably due to this circumstance that its general form was not permanent. Especially after major successes, he sometimes failed, even if his form as a high-spirited partner could just then be called a brilliant one. "

Private

Jean Gougoltz was born in Cannes to Swiss parents. Before he became a professional cyclist, he worked there in his uncle's hotel. As a child he was looked after by an English nanny , which is why he was fluent in English. He was considered a funny but unsteady bird who couldn't keep the money together. One of his "buddies" was the Welsh cyclist Jimmy Michael . When he died after an alcohol orgy on a crossing with the Saxonia to the USA, Gougoltz prevented his body from being handed over to the sea and had him transferred at his expense.

Web links

Commons : Jean Gougoltz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jean Gougoltz in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ radsportseiten.net states “Küssnacht” as the place of birth. See again: The World , January 25, 1898, on fultonhistory.com (PDF; 1.6 MB)
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Sport-Album der Rad-Welt 1905 , Berlin 1906, p. 47f.
3. ^ Walter Bosshardt / Henry Eggenberger: Rennfahrer-Schicksale , Zurich 1950, p. 16.
4. ↑ Parijs-Roubaix is ​​een peulenschil on sportgeschiedenis.nl ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ memoire-du-cyclisme.net
6. ↑ The World , January 25, 1898, on fultonhistory.com (PDF; 1.6 MB)