Charly Gaul

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Charly Gaul : biography

8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005

Public recognition

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg recognised Gaul’s past and his return to society by offering him a job as archivist at the sports ministry. There, said Philippe Brunel, "he could go back into the past, put together day after day, scrupulously, the puzzle of his life, looking for why this need to escape from society."

The organisers of the Tour de France invited him in 1989 as their guest when the race started in Luxembourg. He made his first public appearance there, with his daughter, Fabienne. He received the Tour de France medal from the organiser, Jean-Marie Leblanc.Procycling, UK, undated cutting He attended a reunion of former Tour winners when the centenary race was presented in October 2002. He began following cycling again, particularly Marco Pantani, the leading climber of the time. He was a guest at many races, including stages of the Tour. There he sat beside the rostrum and answered questions put by the commentator, Daniel Mangeas. William Fotheringham, writing in The Guardian, said Gaul "cut a curious figure – plump, shambling, confused – his eyes hidden behind thick spectacles above a wispy beard, a far cry from his heyday in the 1950s."

Death and inheritance

Gaul died of a lung infection two days before his 73rd birthday, following a fall in his house at Itzig. He left a wife, Josée, and daughter, Fabienne. VeloNews said: "Gaul raced in a different era, and his like will never be seen again." Charlie Woods said:

"By one of those telling ironies of eternal recurrence his riding style has come back into fashion. Switch on any mountain stage these days and the screen fills with our contemporary grimpeurs earnest twiddling’Twiddling’ is a British cycling expression for pedalling fast. American English says "spinning". upwards. Whether they realise it or not, they’ve all taken a crank out of Charly’s chainwheel. There is a further, rather touching irony attached to the identity of the rider who has revived this way with inclines. As regards physique and disposition he is far removed from the ‘angelic’ Luxembourger. Who could he be, this opportune plagiarist, this new twiddler-in-chief? Why, none other that the present king of the hill himself, Lance Armstrong."Alchin, Richard and Bell, Adrian (eds), Golden Stages of the Tour de France, Mousehold Press, UK, ISBN 1-874739-28-5, p52

A cyclo-sportive event is held each summer in Luxembourg in Gaul’s memory, sometimes attended by his wife and daughter.

Tour de France

Early years

Gaul rode his first Tour de France in 1953, but abandoned on the sixth stage. He also started the 1954 Tour but again abandoned before the finish. He came to the 1955 Tour after winning the mountainous Tour de Sud Ouest and finishing third in the Tour of Luxembourg. He conceded a lot of time on the opening flat stages, not helped by being in a weak team. His fight back started in the Alps, where the first stage was from Thonon-les-Bains to Briançon. He attacked and dropped the Dutch climber, Jan Nolten. Crossing the col du Télégraphe he had five minutes on his chasers; by the top of the Galibier he had 14m 47s. By the finish he had moved from 37th to third. He was on his way to winning the next day as well when he crashed descending in the rain. He attacked again when the race reached the Pyrenees, winning stage 17 from (Toulouse to Saint-Gaudens) ahead of the eventual overall winner, Louison Bobet. He won the mountains competition and finished third in Paris.

After a hard-fought victory in the 1956 Giro d’Italia (in which he took three stages – including an eight-minute victory in the Dolomites stage from Meran to Monte Bondone, near Trento),. 50 years later: Remembering Charly Gaul’s great ride. VeloNews Gaul was almost half an hour down after six days’ racing in the 1956 Tour de France, but he was confident he could close the gap in the mountains. He won the mountains prize again, and two more stages – a mountain individual time trial on stage three and stage 18 to Grenoble. But his efforts did little good; he finished 13th.