Karl-Heinz Kunde

Karl-Heinz Kunde (6 January 1938 – 15 January 2018) was a German racing cyclist.

Life
Born in Cologne, Kunde started his cycling career in 1959 as amateur. In 1962 he became professional. His biggest success was in the 1966 Tour de France, where he wore the yellow jersey for five days. This was even more special considering he received hardly any support from his teammates.

Kunde started 5 times in the Tour de France, but only finished three times, in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Because he was relatively small (1.59 m, and 50 kg), Kunde was nicknamed Bergfloh and Karl, der Kurze (Karl the short). The French reporters named him Le petit Kunde, and his concurrent Jacques Anquetil named him Mikrobe. Kunde was also a Cyclo-cross-cyclist. In 1973 Kunde ended his cycling career, and started a bicycle shop in Cologne.

Palmarès

 * 1960
 * Winner 4th stage Tour of Austria


 * 1961
 * German national road race champion


 * 1963
 * 3rd stage Tour de Luxembourg


 * 1964
 * Tour de France: 16th place final classification


 * 1965
 * Tour de France: 11th place


 * 1966
 * Tour de France: 9th place