Charly Gaul

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Charly Gaul : biography

8 December 1932 – 6 December 2005

The writer Jan Heine said: "Nobody else ever climbed that fast. Gaul dominated the climbs of the late 1950s, spinning up the hills at amazing cadences, his legs a blur while his cherubic face hardly showed the strain of his exceptional performances." Pierre Chany called him "without doubt, one of the three or four best climbers of all time."

Philippe Brunel of the French newspaper, L’Équipe, said: "In the furnace of the 1950s, Gaul seemed to ride not against Bahamontes, Anquetil Adriessens, but against oppressive phantoms, to escape his modest origins, riding the ridges to new horizons, far from the life without surprises which would have been his had he stayed in Luxembourg." Gaul was weakest on flat stages and in the heat. In the 1957 Tour de France he went home after two days, stricken by the temperature in what Pierre Chany called a "crematorium Tour". He was at his best in cold and rain, winning the following year’s race after a lone ride through the Alps in a day-long downpour described by the French newspaper, L’Équipe as "diluvian". It was the first time the Tour had been won by a pure climber.

The writer Roger St Pierre said of Gaul in the bad weather of the 1956 Giro d’Italia, in which a stage through the Dolomites ended with the 12 km climb of Monte Bondone:

"Charly averaged just four miles an hour over the final uphill kilometres of that murderous stage and collapsed at the finish, being taken off to the welcome warmth of his hotel, wrapped in a blanket. But he had assured his overall victory by beating his closest challenger on that nightmarish day by many minutes. The rest of the field was spread-eagled over several hours, some even having stopped for warm baths en route!"St Pierre, Roger, unidentified cutting, UK

Gaul moved from 11th to first place. Jacques Goddet wrote in L’Équipe: "This day surpassed anything seen before in terms of pain, suffering and difficulty."

Gaul was a variable rider who could delight and disappoint, almost at random. He was talented in stage races but unremarkable in one-day events.

Cyclo-cross

Gaul was national cyclo-cross champion at the start and the end of his time as a professional. He also came fifth in the world championships of 1956 and 1962. He won in Dippach in 1955, Kopstal, Colmar-Berg and Bettembourg in 1956, Schuttrange, Ettelbruck, Kopstal, Bissen and Colmar-Berg in 1957, Alzingen in 1958, Muhlenbach in 1960.

Other major victories

1954
National cyclo-cross champion
Circuit des 6 Provinces
1955
Tour du Sud-Est
1956
Tour de Luxembourg
National road champion
1957
National road champion
1959
Tour de Luxembourg
National road champion
1960
National road champion
1961
Tour de Luxembourg
National road champion
1962
National road champion
National cyclo-cross champion

Grand Tour results timeline

1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963
Giro DNE DNE DNE 1 4 3 1 3 4 DNF DNE
Stages won 3 2 1 3 1 1 0
Mountains classification 1 2 3 1 5 7 NR
Points classification N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Tour DNF-6 DNF-12 3 13 DNF-2 1 12 DNE 3 9 DNF-16
Stages won 0 0 2 2 0 4 1 1 0 0
Mountains classification NR NR 1 1 NR 2 2 2 4 0
Points classification NR NR NR NR NR 24 4 11 NR NR
Vuelta DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE DNF DNE DNE DNE
Stages won 0
Mountains classification NR
Points classification NR

Life as a recluse

Gaul moved into a small hut in a forest in the Luxembourg Ardennes. There he wore the same clothes every day – patterned green trousers, studded walking boots and a sweater or jacket – and went walking with his dog, Pocki. He had a telephone but never answered it. He removed his name from the phone book. His rare excursions were to buy everyday goods and shopkeepers who met him spoke of a man who was ill and depressed, that he hadn’t recovered from separating from his second wife. When journalists found him to ask more he confirmed he was distressed but declined to say more.

He appeared now and then anonymously beside the road during the Tour de France, unrecognisable with a beard, straggling hair and a paunch.

His isolation lasted until 1983, the 25th anniversary of his victory in the Tour de France and the year he met his third wife, Josée.Gaul married three times, including once in Dover, England, on a special licence. It was one of only two visits to Britain, the other being to ride the track at Herne Hill, London. He moved with her into a house in the south-west suburbs of Luxembourg city. There he spoke to Pilo Fonck of the radio and television station, RTL. "I was as happy as a kid," Fonck said. "I had the interview of my life, the one that everybody wanted to have." Of his life as a hermit, Gaul told Fonck: