Ferdi Kubler is dead

davidof

Swiss legend Ferdinand Kubler has died aged 97. He was the first Swiss rider to win the TdF in 1950 and the oldest surviving Tour de France winner. He had been in hospital having come down with a bad cold.



Also passing this Christmas, Canadian neo pro Ellen Watters after a training accident and French neo Pro Etienne Fabre after a fatal fall cross training in the Bauges.

salsiccia1

RichN95.

I assume this leaves Federico Bahamontes (88) as the oldest living Tour winner.

Edit: No, I assume wrong. It's Roger Walkowiak - 89

Lanterne_Rogue

RichN95 wrote:

I assume this leaves Federico Bahamontes (88) as the oldest living Tour winner.

Edit: No, I assume wrong. It's Roger Walkowiak - 89

No shame in that - pretty much all the favourites in 1956 managed to overlook him too...

Cracking photo of Kubler there, btw.

davidof

According to him, his greatest regret was not winning the Tour de France in 1949. His bike tyre got punctured while he was in the lead. He had to wait 20 minutes until a rescue vehicle turned up because his own vehicle had met with an accident.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ferdy-kuebl ... s/42801304

rick_chasey

davidof wrote:

According to him, his greatest regret was not winning the Tour de France in 1949. His bike tyre got punctured while he was in the lead. He had to wait 20 minutes until a rescue vehicle turned up because his own vehicle had met with an accident.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/ferdy-kuebl ... s/42801304

Bet he didn't start running :P.

TheBigBean

Wholly inappropriate place to say this, but does it make anyone else think of Nightmare on Elm Street?