Ferdinand Kübler

Ferdinand Kübler (pronounced [ˈfɛrdinand ˈkyːblər]; 24 July 1919 – 29 December 2016) was a Swiss cyclist with 71 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France and the 1951 World Road Race Championship.

Ferdinand Kübler

Kübler at the 1954 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name	Ferdinand Kübler
Nickname	Ferdi, The Cowboy, The Eagle of Adliswil, Mr 100,000 Volts^[1]
Born	(1919-07-24)24 July 1919 Marthalen, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
Died	29 December 2016(2016-12-29) (aged 97) Zurich, Switzerland
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Allround
Professional teams
1945–1947	Cilo
1948–1957	Tebag
1948–1949	Peugeot–Dunlop
1949	Bartali
1949–1952	Fréjus–Pirelli
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)
Medal record Men's road bicycle racing Representing  Switzerland World Championships 1949 Copenhagen Elite Men's Road Race 1950 Moorslede Elite Men's Road Race 1951 Varese Elite Men's Road Race

Biography

Kübler 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. Kübler'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.^[2] He was also World Road Race Champion in 1951, having placed second in 1949 and third in 1950.

Kübler rode the Giro d'Italia from 1950–1952, placing fourth once, and third twice. Kübler 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, Kübler became champion by over nine minutes, also winning three stages. In the 1954 Tour, Kübler won the points jersey and came second behind Louison Bobet.^[3]

Kübler was the first Swiss winner of the Tour de France.^[4] His biggest rival, Hugo Koblet, won the following year and as of 2021 they are the only riders from Switzerland to win the Tour.^[5]

Kübler 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.

Kübler died in Zurich on 29 December 2016 at the age of 97.^[6] Prior to his death he was the oldest living Tour de France winner.^[7]

Career achievements

Major results

Source:^[8]

1940

  national pursuit champion

1941

  national pursuit champion

  national mountain champion

1942

  national mountain champion

Tour de Suisse

1943

  national pursuit champion

1945

  national cyclo-cross champion

1947

Tour de France:

Winner stages 1 and 5

Wearing yellow jersey for one day

Paris-Lille

1948

  national road race champion

Tour de Suisse

Tour de Romandie

1949

Tour de France:

Winner stage 5

  national road race champion

1950

Challenge Desgrande-Colombo

Trophée Edmond Gentil

  national road race champion

Tour de France:

 :Winner overall classification

Winner stages 6, 10 and 20

1951

  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

  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 d'Italia	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 de France	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 a España	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 (not started on stage x)
HD	Finished outside time limit (occurred on stage x)
DSQ	Disqualified
N/A	Race/classification not held
NR	Not ranked in this classification

References

1. Clarke, Stuart (5 November 2015). "13 of the strangest nicknames in cycling". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
2. O'Rourke, Eddy (June 2013). "Six Degrees of Ferdi Kübler". Cycling revealed.
3. "Rider Biographies – Ferdi Kübler". Cycling hall of fame.
4. Hood, Andrew (30 December 2016). "Ferdinand Kübler, first Swiss winner of Tour, dies at age 97".
5. "Former Tour de France Champion Kubler dies at 97". Cycling News. 30 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
6. "Ferdi Kübler est décédé". Le Matin (in French). 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
7. Boyce, Barry (2010). "Tour de France Champions Living and Dead". Cycling revealed. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
8. Ferdinand Kübler at Cycling Archives

External links

  Media related to Ferdi Kübler at Wikimedia Commons

• at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-09-12) (in French)