Ferdinand Kübler

Ferdinand Kübler

Personal information
Full name	Ferdinand Kübler
Nickname	Ferdi, The Cowboy
Date of birth	July 24, 1919 (1919-07-24) (age 90)
Country	Switzerland
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Allround
Professional team(s)1
1945–1947 1948–1957 1948–1949 1949 1949–1952 1952–1955 1953–1955 1956	Cilo Tebag Peugeot-Dunlop Bartali Frejus Fiorelli La Perle-Hutchinson Carpano-Coppi
Major wins
Winner Tour de France (1950) World Cycling Champion (1951) Winner Tour de France green jersey (1954)
Medal record Competitor for  Switzerland Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1951 Varese Elite Men's Road Race Silver 1949 Copenhagen Elite Men's Road Race Bronze 1950 Moorslede Elite Men's Road Race
Infobox last updated on:
April 16, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Ferdinand "Ferdi" Kübler (born 24 July 1919) is a retired Swiss cyclist with over 400 professional victories, including the 1950 Tour de France. He 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. 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.

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.

Palmarès

Grand Tour results timeline

External links

• Palmares (French)

v • d • e Winners of the general classification in the Tour de France 1903 Maurice Garin • 1904 Henri Cornet • 1905 Louis Trousselier • 1906 René Pottier • 1907-1908 Lucien Petit-Breton • 1909 François Faber • 1910 Octave Lapize • 1911 Gustave Garrigou • 1912 Odile Defraye • 1913–14 Philippe Thys • 1915–18 World War I • 1919 Firmin Lambot • 1920 Philippe Thys • 1921 Léon Scieur • 1922 Firmin Lambot • 1923 Henri Pélissier • 1924–25 Ottavio Bottecchia • 1926 Lucien Buysse • 1927–28 Nicolas Frantz • 1929 Maurice De Waele • 1930 André Leducq • 1931 Antonin Magne • 1932 André Leducq • 1933 Georges Speicher • 1934 Antonin Magne • 1935 Romain Maes • 1936 Sylvère Maes • 1937 Roger Lapébie • 1938 Gino Bartali • 1939 Sylvère Maes • 1940–46 World War II • 1947 Jean Robic • 1948 Gino Bartali • 1949 Fausto Coppi • 1950 Ferdinand Kübler • 1951 Hugo Koblet • 1952 Fausto Coppi • 1953–55 Louison Bobet • 1956 Roger Walkowiak • 1957 Jacques Anquetil • 1958 Charly Gaul • 1959 Federico Bahamontes • 1960 Gastone Nencini • 1961–64 Jacques Anquetil • 1965 Felice Gimondi • 1966 Lucien Aimar • 1967 Roger Pingeon • 1968 Jan Janssen • 1969–72 Eddy Merckx • 1973 Luis Ocaña • 1974 Eddy Merckx • 1975 Bernard Thévenet • 1976 Lucien Van Impe • 1977 Bernard Thévenet • 1978–79 Bernard Hinault • 1980 Joop Zoetemelk • 1981–82 Bernard Hinault • 1983–84 Laurent Fignon • 1985 Bernard Hinault • 1986 Greg LeMond • 1987 Stephen Roche • 1988 Pedro Delgado • 1989–90 Greg LeMond • 1991–95 Miguel Indurain • 1996 Bjarne Riis • 1997 Jan Ullrich • 1998 Marco Pantani • 1999–2005 Lance Armstrong • 2006 Óscar Pereiro • 2007 Alberto Contador • 2008 Carlos Sastre • 2009 Alberto Contador

v • d • e Tour de France points classification winners 1953 Fritz Schär • 1954 Ferdinand Kübler • 1955–1956 Stan Ockers • 1957 Jean Forestier • 1958 Jean Graczyk • 1959 André Darrigade • 1960 Jean Graczyk • 1961 André Darrigade • 1962 Rudi Altig • 1963 Rik van Looy • 1964–1965 Jan Janssen • 1966 Willy Planckaert • 1967 Jan Janssen • 1968 Franco Bitossi • 1969 Eddy Merckx • 1970 Walter Godefroot • 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx • 1973 Herman van Springel • 1974 Patrick Sercu • 1975 Rik Van Linden • 1976 Freddy Maertens • 1977 Jacques Esclassan • 1978 Freddy Maertens • 1979 Bernard Hinault • 1980 Rudy Pevenage • 1981 Freddy Maertens • 1982–1983 Sean Kelly • 1984 Frank Hoste • 1985 Sean Kelly • 1986 Eric Vanderaerden • 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel • 1988 Eddy Planckaert • 1989 Sean Kelly • 1990 Olaf Ludwig • 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1992 Laurent Jalabert • 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1995 Laurent Jalabert • 1996–2001 Erik Zabel • 2002 Robbie McEwen • 2003 Baden Cooke • 2004 Robbie McEwen • 2005 Thor Hushovd • 2006 Robbie McEwen • 2007 Tom Boonen • 2008 Óscar Freire • 2009 Thor Hushovd