Ferdinand Kübler

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 individual stages (1947, 1949, 1950, 1954) 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

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.

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]

Source:^[8]

• Media related to Ferdi Kübler at Wikimedia Commons
• Palmares at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-09-12) (in French)