Paul Egli

Paul Egli (born August 18, 1911 in Dürnten ; † January 23, 1997 there ) was a Swiss cyclist . He was the first Swiss to wear the yellow jersey in a Tour de France .

Paul Egli, a farmer's son, got into cycling through a hospital stay. Because of an inflammation of the hip joint, the doctors prescribed exercises that made him enjoy the sport. Egli began his cycling career as a cyclocross rider ; twice he was Swiss champion in this discipline. In 1932 and 1933 he became world champion street amateurs.

Then Egli became professional and as such was third at the road world championships in Copenhagen in 1937 and second in Valkenburg in 1938 . In 1936 Egli took part in the Tour de France , won the first stage and won the yellow jersey for one day; he was the first Swiss to do so (although he later gave up). With two other participations he was 29th ( 1937 ) and 31st ( 1938 ).

In 1934, 1935 and 1942 Egli won the renowned championship in Zurich . He participated in the Tour de Suisse from the first edition in 1933 to 1942 without interruption. When he last participated in 1942, however, he was placed in last place because he had driven over 15 kilometers in the slipstream of a car. Ferdy Kübler , whose "mentor" Egli became, won this tour for the first time ; the two drove a few more Madison competitions together.

Paul Egli retired from cycling in 1947. He ran his family's farm until his death.

Web links

• Paul Egli in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Paul Egli in the Tour de France database(French / English )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Born / Born / Renggli: Ferdy Kübler , Zurich 2006, p. 44.