Ferdinand Kübler

Ferdinand Kübler
Personal information
Full name Ferdinand Kübler
Nickname Ferdi, The Cowboy, The Eagle of Adliswil
Born (1919-07-24) 24 July 1919
Marthalen, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Allround
Professional team(s)
1945–1947 Cilo
1948–1957 Tebag
1948–1949 Peugeot-Dunlop
1949 Bartali
1949–1952 Frejus
1952–1955 Fiorelli
1953–1955 La Perle-Hutchinson
1956 Carpano-Coppi
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
General Classification (1950)
Points classification (1954)
8 stages

One-day races and Classics

Bordeaux–Paris (1953)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1951, 1952)
La Flèche Wallonne (1951, 1952)
Infobox last updated on
16 April 2007

Ferdinand "Ferdi" Kübler (pronounced [ˈfɛrdinand ˈkyːblər]; born 24 July 1919) is a retired Swiss cyclist with more than 400 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France and the 1951 World Road Race Championship.

Biography

Kubler was born in Marthalen. He began racing professionally in 1940 but his early career was limited to Switzerland by the Nazi occupation elsewhere. He was multiple Swiss national champion and a three time winner of the Tour de Suisse.

Kubler's most successful years in international racing were 1950–1952, when the classics had resumed after the Second World War. He won the La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, both in 1951 and 1952, in a time where these races were still contested in the same weekend.[1] He was also World Road Race Champion in 1951, having placed second in 1949 and third in 1950.

He rode the Giro d'Italia from 1950–1952, placing fourth once, and third twice. Kubler abandoned the 1947 and 1949 Tours de France, despite an early stage win in each. In the 1950 Tour, he benefited from the absence of Fausto Coppi, sidelined after a crash in the Giro. Overcoming Gino Bartali, Kubler became champion by over nine minutes, also winning three stages. In the 1954 Tour, Kubler won the points jersey and came second behind Louison Bobet.[2]

Kubler was a high-spirited and impulsive rider sometimes given to strategically unwise attacks, out of exuberance and competitive drive. He was known as "the cowboy" because of his penchant for Stetson hats. He retired from racing in 1957 at 38. He is the oldest living Tour de France winner.[3]

Palmarès

Source:[4]

1940
Switzerland national pursuit champion
1941
Switzerland national pursuit champion
Switzerland national mountain champion
1942
Switzerland national mountain champion
Tour de Suisse
1943
Switzerland national pursuit champion
1945
Switzerland national cyclo-cross champion
1947
Tour de France:
Winner stages 1 and 5
Wearing yellow jersey for one day
Paris-Lille
1948
Switzerland national road race champion
Tour de Suisse
Tour de Romandie
1949
Tour de France:
Winner stage 5
Switzerland national road race champion
1950
Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
Trophée Edmond Gentil
Switzerland national road race champion
Tour de France:
:Winner overall classification
Winner stages 6, 10 and 20
1951
Switzerland national road race champion
World road champion
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Tour de Romandie
Flèche Wallonne
Week-end Ardennais
Tour de Suisse
Rome-Naples-Rome
1952
Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Flèche Wallonne
Week-end Ardennais
1953
Bordeaux–Paris
1954
Switzerland national road race champion
Challenge Desgrande-Colombo
Tour de France:
2nd place overall classification
Winner stages 5 and 14
Winner points classification
1956
Milan-Turin

Grand Tour results timeline

1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Giro DNE DNE DNE 4 3 3 DNF DNE DNE
Stages won 0 0 0 0
Mountains classification NR NR NR NR
Points classification N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Tour DNF-7 DNE DNF-18 1 DNE DNE DNE 2 DNF-12
Stages won 2 1 3 2 0
Mountains classification NR NR 4 6 17
Points classification N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A NR 1 NR
Vuelta DNE DNE N/A DNE N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stages won
Mountains classification
Points classification N/A N/A N/A
Legend
1 Winner
2–3 Top three-finish
4–10 Top ten-finish
11– Other finish
DNE Did Not Enter
DNF-x Did Not Finish (retired on stage x)
DNS-x Did Not Start (no started on stage x)
DSQ Disqualified
N/A Race/classification not held
NR Not Ranked in this classification

References

  1. O'Rourke, Eddy (June 2013). "Six Degrees of Ferdi Kubler". Cycling revealed.
  2. "Rider Biographies – Ferdi Kubler". Cycling hall of fame.
  3. Boyce, Barry (2010). "Tour de France Champions Living and Dead". Cycling revealed. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  4. Ferdinand Kübler profile at Cycling Archives

External links

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