Klaus Bugdahl

Klaus Bugdahl (1969)

Klaus Bugdahl (born November 24, 1934 in Berlin ) is a former German racing cyclist . He is considered the most successful German driver to date in six-day races .

Athletic career

Bugdahl began cycling as a youth in the Berlin club BRV Möve and later switched to RVg Luisenstadt .

Track racing

In the summer of 1956, Bugdahl achieved his first significant individual victory by winning the single pursuit at the German amateur championships, after he had already become German champion in the team pursuit in 1954 with RVg Luisenstadt (including Hans Schliebener ) . In October of the same year he signed a professional contract with the German racing team Fichtel & Sachs . Shortly afterwards, he drove his first six-day race in West Berlin with his Australian partner Reginald Arnold and finished fifth.

In his career, which lasted until 1978, Bugdahl played 228 six-day races, of which he won 37. He contested his most six-day races with 27 starts in Berlin, where he also won the most with nine wins. He also competed in numerous races in Dortmund (21/4 wins) and in Zurich (20/5). His partners included such prominent drivers as Eddy Merckx , Patrick Sercu , Rolf Wolfshohl , Hennes Junkermann , Rudi Altig , Dieter Kemper and Rik Van Steenbergen . Bugdahl celebrated his last six-day victory in 1974 in Zurich with the Australian Graeme Gilmore . At the age of 43, he drove his last Six Days in Milan in 1978.

Bugdahl was also successful at the German rail championships. In 1957 he defended his title in the single pursuit and from 1959 to 1964 he was four times German champion in two-man team driving . In the same discipline he won the European Championship in 1962, 1966 and 1972.

Road racing

In addition to his successful track career, Bugdahl also drove road races and recorded eight victories. In his second professional season he won the German road championship in 1958 with a margin of 3:35 minutes. He had previously participated in the road world championship in 1957 , but was eliminated prematurely. 1958 Bugdahl denied his most successful world championship when he finished tenth. Overall, he took part in five road world championships, but only got through the 1963 race, which he finished 31st. Successes in stage races include winning the Tour de l'Oise in 1959 and a stage victory at the Tour de Suisse in 1963. In 1958 he started as a German road champion in the Tour de France , which he ended prematurely. Bugdahl was able to place twice in the Tour de Suisse: 1957 (35th) and 1963 with a stage win (9th). He finished the Germany Tour 1960 in third place. At the age of 37, Bugdahl was third in the German road championships in 1972.

Trivia

In 1963 Bugdahl settled in Wiesbaden . After the end of his career as a cyclist, he worked as a team leader at the German racing team Kotter's Racing Team and as sports director at the Frankfurt Six Days . He later became a sales consultant at a cycling shop, a representative for a sporting goods manufacturer and a supervisor at cycling tourism events.

literature

• Munzinger Archive / International Sports Archive 16/05
• Helmer Boelsen : The history of the cycling world championship , Bielefeld 2007, p. 76, ISBN 978-3-936973-33-4

Web links

• Klaus Bugdahl in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Results at www.museociclismo.it
• Bugdahl's six-day race at www.kultur-buch.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Werner Ruttkus, Wolfgang Schoppe: Roundabout & Berlin Air . Self-published by Werner Ruttkus, Zossen 2011, p. 340 .