Ferdy Kübler Photo Gallery
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Ferdy [Ferdinand] Kübler (July 24, 1919 - December 29, 2016), along with fellow Swiss racing great Hugo Koblet, dominated European racing in the early 1950s.
Unlike the tempered, measured Koblet, Kübler's racing was emotionally charged, earning him the nickname "Mr. 100,000 Volts".
Kübler turned pro in 1940, but because of the war, raced only in Switzerland. His growth as a Grand Tour racer took time. He won the first stage of the Tour de France in 1947 and then went on to win the fifth stage before being elimnated when the Tour hit the Alps.
The next year Kübler won the Tour of Romandie and Switzerland and the Swiss Road Championship. His time trialing ability was made clear with a second place in the Grand Prix des Nations, at that time the unofficial world championship of time trialing.
In 1949 he won the Tour of Switzerland in grand style, winning four stages and placing second in three. He abandoned the 1949 Tour de France on the 18th stage after winning the fifth stage and placing second in stage seven.
In 1950, both Kübler and Koblet hit their stride, Koblet became the first non-Italian to win the Giro d'Italia with Kübler coming in fourth. Kübler was chosen to lead the team Switzerland sent to the Tour de France. Because of a broken pelvis from a fall in the Giro, Fausto Coppi could not ride the 1950 Tour.
Kübler rode a great Tour, winning three stages and beating Belgian rider Stan Ockers by more than nine minutes.
Kübler came in second in the 1954 Tour behind Louison Bobet, but did win the points classification.
His last big win was the 1956 Milano-Torino. He retired in 1957.
Major victories & high placings:
1940: Swiss pusuit champion
1941: Swiss pursuit champion
1942: Tour de Suisse
1943: Swiss pursuit champion
1945: Swiss cyclo-cross champion
1947:
- Tour de France stages 1 & 5, wore yellow for 1 day
- Paris-Lille
1948:
- Swiss road champion
- Tour de Suisse
- Tour de Romandie
1949:
- Tour de France stage 5
- Swiss road champion
1950:
- Tour de France, winning stages 6, 10 & 20
- Challenge Desgrange-Colombo
- Swiss road champion
1951:
- World road champion
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- Tour de Romandie
- Flèche Wallone
- Tour de Suisse
- Rome-Naples-Rome
- Swiss road champion
- Giro d'Italia 3rd place
1952:
- Challenge Desgrange-Colombo
- Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- Flèche Wallone
- Giro d'Italia 3rd place
- 1953: Bordeaux-Paris
1954:
- Tour de France points classification, 2nd place GC, stages 5 & 14
- Swiss road champion
- Challenge Desgrange-Colombo
1956: Milan-Turin
Professional Teams:
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, because companies usually had only regional distribution of their products, riders could ride for different teams in different parts of Europe.
1945-47: Cilo
1948-57: Tebag
1948-49: Peugeot-Dunlop
1949: Bartali
1949-52: Frejus-Pirelli
1952-55: Fiorelli
1953-55: La Perle-Hutchinson
1956: Carpano-Coppi
Nicknames: The Eagle of Adliswil, Mr. 100,000 Volts, The Cowboy
Photos:
A photo of Kübler just after the war.
Kübler climbs in the 16th stage of the 1949 Tour de France. Gino Bartali won the stage. Kübler finished 11th, more than 15 minutes behind Bartali.
This is Ferdy Kübler racing perhaps in Italy sometime between 1949 and 1952.
This is surely another picture of Kübler in the same race.
And yet another of Ferdy on his Frejus bike.
Ferdy Kübler leading a group in the 12th stage of the 1950 Tour de France.
Kübler and loyal domestique Emilio Croci Torti repair a flat in the rain. Tour rules for bike repairs were different then.
Kübler on the cover of the August 8 issue of Mirroir Sprint. This should be Kübler riding the 20th stage of the 1950 Tour, which was a 98-kilometer individual time trail. Kübler won the stage, beating second -place Stan Ockers by more than five minutes.
Ferdy Kübler wins the professional world road championships in Varese, Italy in 1951.
Kübler in 1951 wearing the rainbow jersey of the World Road Champion.
World Champion Ferdy Kübler
Kübler goes deep in the 1954 Paris-Roubaix
Ferdy Kübler and Louison Bobet ascend Mt. Ventoux in the 1954 Tour de France.
Undated photo Of Kübler and three-time Tour de France winner Louison Bobet. Bobet is wearing a jersey with Tour founder Henri Desgrange's initial, so this is the Tour and I'm guessing that Bobet is wearing the Yellow Jersey. 1954, when Kübler was second to Bobet in the Tour?
Kübler in 1954 wearing a Swiss National Team jersey.
Perhaps the most famous photo of Kübler. I think it's from the 1950 Tour de france.