Hugo Koblet

Hugo Koblet (21 March 1925 – 6 November 1964 ) was a Swiss champion cyclist. He won the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia as well as competing in six-day and pursuit races on the track. He won 70 races as a professional. He died in a car accident amid speculation that he had committed suicide.

Origins
Hugo Koblet was the son of Adolf and Héléna Koblet, bakers in Zürich. He lived with his mother, a widow, and with an elder brother. His brother baked bread and cakes and Hugo was restricted to sweeping the floor and making deliveries by bicycle. He left the bakery at 17 and worked as a trainee mechanic at the Oerlikon velodrome in the city. His first race was a 10 km hill-climb, which he won. That caught the attention of Léo Amberg, a former Tour de France rider who had come second in the Tour of Switzerland. Amberg insisted he ride the track and Koblet became national amateur pursuit champion in 1945. He turned professional in 1946 and won the New York and Chicago six-day races. It was after the races that he developed a love of the United States, driving to California and Florida. He had learned English by watching American and British films. He won the Swiss pursuit championship every year from 1947 to 1954. In 1947 he finished third and in 1951 and 1954 second in the world championship.



Professional success
Koblet won the 1950 Swiss road championship and then became the first non-Italian to win the Giro d'Italia. In 1951 he defeated Fausto Coppi to win the Grand Prix des Nations, an individual time trial with the status of unofficial world championship. The most important victory came that year at the Tour de France. He won overall and took five stages – two time-trials, two conventional stages and another in the mountains. In 1951 he "rode the best off his wheel" between Brive and Agen, said Cycling Plus, "just 20 miles into the stage, then covered 88 miles on his own to win by three minutes. This was despite a frantic chase by such greats as triple Tour winner Louison Bobet, double winner Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi." The time differences when the Tour ended at the Parc des Princes meant he had beaten Raphaël Géminiani by 12 km, Lucien Lazaridès by 18, Bartali by 18 and Coppi by 27.

1951 Tour de France
The 1951 Tour de France started in Metz, the second time outside Paris. The main riders were Louison Bobet for France, Fausto Coppi and an ageing Gino Bartali for Italy. Coppi was hindered by grief at the death of his brother, Serse. Both Coppi and Bobet were pushed out of the running when Koblet won the time-trial from La Guerche to Angers. Their position was confirmed four days later when Koblet attacked on a gentle descent after two hours of the stage from Brive to Agen, a day expected to be a quiet journey towards the Pyrenees. He won again at Luchon, Montpellier and Geneva.

Decline and death
Hugo Koblet was a handsome man whose fame brought beautiful women and a lifestyle that affected his career. He was "the most charming of men to talk to," said Jock Wadley. René de Latour wrote in Sporting Cyclist: "Koblet had not an enemy at all. His ready and kindly smile came from deep down inside, and one knows from the start that this was a man without rancour, a rare thing to say of anybody who has raced in top competition on the road where the intense physical struggle often leads to jealousy and dispute."

He never rode again at the same level as the 1951 Tour de France. Jean Bobet said Koblet began to suffer in the mountains at 2,000m, then 1,500, then at 1,000 until "we saw him unable to ride over the smallest hill.". The author Olivier Dazat said photographs showed not the handsome man he had been but a rider suddenly aged, worried and preoccupied. René de Latour wrote: "There is a question mark about Hugo Koblet's life, the mystery of why he was never as good again as in the 1951 Tour. After this year, his pedalling had less power. Soon after that magnificent win, Koblet was invited to Mexico to follow the national amateur tour. When he came back he was still, it seemed, the same incredibly easy pedaller. But the efficiency was partly gone. He visited specialists and took courses of treatment, but without any real success. He went to Mexico in 1951 [and] never came back from the land of guitars and sombreros. And nobody knows why!"

He came second in the Giro d'Italia in 1951 and 1952 and retired in 1958.

Six years after his retirement, Koblet died at 39, four days after a car crash, with speculation that his death may have been suicide. He had been profligate with his money and was in debt. He was being pursued for unpaid tax and his marriage had broken up. A witness, Émile Isler, saw Koblet driving his white Alfa Romeo at 120–140 kmh. between Zürich and Esslingen. He drove past a pear tree, turned then drove back. He passed it again finally turned a third time and drove into it.

Personal life
Koblet married a 22-year-old model, Sonja Buhl, in 1953. They spent their honeymoon in Spain and bought a villa at Forch, overlooking the lake at Zürich. Pirelli and Alfa-Romeo employed him in South America but the couple returned, Koblet disappointed and confused. The marriage began to break up. His confusion included forgetting that he had signed a contract for 7 million lire for a comb to be made in his name in Italy. He and Sonja parted and Koblet moved alone into a studio apartment alongside a garage he opened near the Oerlikon velodrome.

He asked Sonja for a reconciliation in 1964 but she refused. It was later that year that he died. Sonja refused her husband's inheritance rather than take on his debts.

Nickname
Koblet always carried a comb and a bottle of eau de cologne when he raced, sometimes combing his hair before the finish, always cleaning his face before meeting photographers. Philippe Brunel wrote in L'Equipe that at the end of his long ride to Agen in 1951, "followers were astonished to see him sit up, blow kisses to girls and take out of his pocket a sponge soaked in water. He was barely across the line when he rinsed his face in Perrier, combed his hair, then started his stopwatch." The music hall artist Jacques Grello nicknamed him the Pédaleur de Charme in Parisien Libéré in 1951.

Film
Koblet's life was the subject of a cinema film, Hugo Koblet: Pédaleur de Charme, in 2010. It starred Manuel Löwensberg as Koblet, Sarah Bühlmann as his wife Sonja, Chantal Le Moign and Dominique Müller. It attributed his decline to "doping abuse." It was directed by Daniel von Aarburg, who included archive film and interviews with Koblet's contemporaries.

Anecdote

 * In 1951, I was 18. One evening after the race ended, I was hanging about outside a hotel hoping to see the riders when the boss asked me to carry Koblet's suitcases to his room. I was so proud! For me, he was the greatest of them all. Well, when I went back downstairs again, I met him. He thanked me very politely and gave me two Swiss francs, an enormous amount at the time. I kept the coin for a long time, like a good-luck charm, swearing I would never spend it. And I only did, three years later, to buy a copy of Miroir Sprint which had Ferdi Kubler, my other idol, on the cover.
 *  – Willy Schweizer, former president of the Swiss cycling union, 52 years later.

Road

 * 1947
 * 1st Baden Criterium
 * 1st Le Locle
 * 1st Nyon Criterium
 * 1st Oftringen Criterium
 * 1st Stage 1a (TTT) Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 1a Tour de Suisse
 * 3rd Zürich–Lausanne


 * 1948
 * 1st Genève Criterium
 * 1st GP Lausanne
 * 1st Stage 4b Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse


 * 1949
 * 1st Stage 3 Tour de Romandie


 * 1950
 * 1st Jersey pink.svg Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Mountains classification
 * 1st Stages 6 & 8
 * 1st Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stages 4a, 4b & 6
 * 1st GP de Suisse
 * 1st Aarau Criterium
 * 1st GP von Basel
 * 1st Payerne Criterium
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Trofeo Baracchi


 * 1951
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 7, 11, 14, 16 & 22
 * 1st Grand Prix des Nations
 * 1st GP de Suisse
 * 1st Azencriterium
 * 1st Genève Criterium
 * 1st Genève (TTT)
 * 1st Neuchâtel–Genève
 * 1st Vallorbe Criterium
 * 1st Brussel Criterium
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stages 2 & 7
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 6th Overall Giro d'Italia)
 * 1st Stage 19


 * 1952
 * 1st Meisterschaft von Zürich
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 4
 * 8th Overall Giro d'Italia


 * 1953
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stages 1, 2 & 3a
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stages 3, 6 & 8
 * 1st Neuhausem
 * Alvalade Track Race
 * 1st Individual Pursuit
 * 1st Omnium
 * 1st Stages 2b & 3 Roma–Napoli–Roma
 * 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 8


 * 1954
 * 1st GP de Suisse
 * 1st Meisterschaft von Zürich
 * 1st Cagliari–Sassari
 * 1st Winterthur
 * 1st GP Martini
 * 1st Stage 3a Roma–Napoli–Roma
 * 1st Stage 4a Tour de France
 * 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stages 15 & 21
 * 3rd Overall Driedaagse van Antwerpen
 * 1st Stages 1a & 3b
 * 4th Trofeo Baracchi


 * 1955
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Road Race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 1st Giro del Ticino
 * 1st Sète
 * 1st Ussel
 * 1st Winterthur
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Stage 3b
 * 2nd Tour of Flanders
 * 10th Overall Giro d'Italia
 * 1st Stage 21


 * 1956
 * 1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España


 * 1957
 * 1st Cagliari
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Romandie


 * 1958
 * 1st Stage 1 Clasico El Colombiano

Track

 * 1945
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Amateur Track Championships


 * 1946
 * 2nd Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships


 * 1947
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 3rd Individual Pursuit, UCI Track Cycling world Championships


 * 1948
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st Chicago Six Days


 * 1949
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st New York City Six Days


 * 1950
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st Hannover Six Days


 * 1951
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships


 * 1952
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st Dortmund Six Days I
 * 1st Dortmund Six Days II
 * 1st Frankfurt am Main Six Days


 * 1953
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Individual Pursuit, European Track Cycling Championships
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st Brussel Six Days
 * 1st Frankfurt am Main Six Days


 * 1954
 * 1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Madison, European Track Cycling Championships
 * 1st MaillotSuiza.PNG Individual Pursuit, National Track Championships
 * 1st Zürich Six Days


 * 1955
 * 1st Dortmund Six Days


 * 1957
 * 1st Madison, Prix Houlier-Comès