Rudi Altig

Rudi Altig

Personal information
Full name	Rudi Altig
Born	(1937-03-18) 18 March 1937 Mannheim, West Germany
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Track and road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
1959	Torpedo-Fichtel & Sachs
1960–1961	Rapha-Gitane-Dunlop
1962–1964	Saint Raphael
1965	Margnat-Paloma
1966–1967	Molteni
1968–1969	Salvarani
1970–1971	GBC-Zimba
Major wins
World champion individual pursuit (1960–1961) Vuelta a España (1962) Tour de France green jersey (1962) Tour of Flanders (1964) World Cycling Championship (1966) Milan – San Remo (1968)
Medal record Competitor for  West Germany Road bicycle racing World Championships Silver 1965 San Sebastián Road race Gold 1966 Nürburgring Road race
Infobox last updated on 16 April 2007

Rudi Altig (born Mannheim, Baden, Germany, 18 March 1937) is a former professional track and road racing cyclist who won the 1962 Vuelta a España and the world championship in 1966. He is now a television commentator.

Amateur career

Rudi Altig was born in an area which had produced good track riders.^[1] He began racing in 1952, following his older brother, Willi.^[2] The brothers teamed for madison (cycling) and other two-man races, becoming the best in the country.^[1] The British promoter, Jim Wallace, booked Altig to ride with Hans Jaroszewicz^[3] at a meeting on Herne Hill velodrome in Good Friday in 1956. He said:

What a pair they made! They just about slaughtered a top-class field of international riders, with all our best home lads. Only Michel Rousseau, later that year to become world sprint champion, was able to take a points sprint from them. That was in the first sprint, too; thereafter the German pair gained not only every sprint for points but every prime [lap prize] as well... They went on to Coventry [another meeting held over Easter] and did much the same thing, winning everything in which they rode, so classy was their performance.^[1]

Altig became national sprint champion in 1957 and 1958. Then Karly Ziegler, a coach, took over his preparation when he joined the Endspurt Mannheim club and Altig became a pursuiter. He won the 1959 national pursuit championship and won the madison championship with his brother. Later that year he beat many of the world's best pursuiters to become world champion in Amsterdam.

Professional track career

Altig was allowed by the Union Cycliste Internationale to turn professional in 1960^[2] within a year of his world championship.^[1] He rode his first professional six-day, in Denmark, that winter. Wallace said:

No man ever settled down better or quicker to a pro career than the able Altig. In the hurly-burly world of indoor track racing. Rudi never seemed a novice. Settling down at once, tearing strips off established stars, he soon started to fill indoor tracks which had long forgotten the welcome sight of a 'house full' sign. He brought back the biggest winter racing boom to Germany for many years, reminiscent of the balmy pre-war days. With seven tracks at home - more than in the rest of Europe - Altig had a busy time and was soon in the big money.^[1]

He won the world pursuit championship in 1960 and 1961 and won 62 races on the track. He won 22 six-day races, particularly in Germany, including four in Cologne and Dortmund.^[2] He never rode the Giro di Lombardia because it clashed with the start of the winter season on the track.^[2] He said:

I rode the track because I could win money. If I hadn't been able to win money on the track, I wouldn't have travelled all the velodromes of the world to ride six-days. Now, riders are better paid and they don't need to hammer themselves on the road and the track. We, in our era, we did everything to try to win money. Modern times are different, you have to understand that. You can't compare the two eras. But I don't regret ours.^[2]

Altig, who is 1m 80 tall and weighed 80 kg, sprinted on the track on 52 or 53 × 16 and rode pursuits on 52 × 15.^[2] "He gave his bikes as hard a time as he gave his adversaries," said the writer, Olivier Dazat.^[4]

Road career

Altig started his professional career as a track rider; it was Raphaël Géminiani who persuaded him his future was on the road. Altig agreed because fame on the road would give him better contracts on the track. He won the Vuelta a España and three of its stages in 1962. He was maillot jaune for five days in his first Tour de France that same season, winning three stages and the points competition, and finishing 31st.

He won his first classic in 1964, the Tour of Flanders after riding 60 km alone and winning by four minutes. In the same year he won the German National Road Race.^[5] In 1965 he finished second to Englishman Tom Simpson in the professional road championship in San Sebastián, Spain. Simpson said:

I could not accept that Altig could beat me. Going round the back of the circuit we came to a gentleman's agreement. Both of us had worked hard in our little break and therefore we each deserved an equal chance of victory. We agreed to separate when we reached the one kilometre to go board and ride in side by side. Altig was quite happy about this for I am sure he thought he could put it across me. So there we were, two gentlemen virtually fighting a duel over the last kilometre. I was glad that Altig had accepted my proposal for it was the fairest way out. I have always regarded him as a great rider and his showing that day did nothing to make me change my mind.^[6]

But the world title was not denied for long: he won the 1966 championship not too far away from his home, at the Nürburgring. There was controversy because Altig had been helped by Gianni Motta, riding that day for Italy but normally Altig's companion in the Molteni team. The concern was quickly overshadowed by the refusal of the first three riders to give urine samples for a drugs check.^[7] They were protesting at what they saw was the laxity with which tests were carried out and at what they considered restrictions on the way they prepared themselves. Altig said: "We are professionals, not sportsmen."^[8] The three were disqualified and suspended but ten days later the Union Cycliste Internationale allowed the result to stand.^[7]

Altig took three stages in that year's Tour, finishing 12th place overall, and two more in the Giro d'Italia, in which he came 13th.

The second and final classic win came in the 1968 Milan – San Remo. He also took two stages of that year's Vuelta, finishing 18th overall. In 1969 he finished 9th in the Giro, and won the prologue individual time trial of the Tour de France.

Jacques Anquetil

Altig rode his first Tour as a domestique and as team sprinter for Jacques Anquetil. The two developed a rocky relationship in the Tour of Spain that hardened when Altig took the yellow jersey early in the Tour de France.^[2] Anquetil criticised him because his team would have to ride at the front and chase every attack to protect a rider too heavy^[9] to keep his lead through the mountains. The two never became close until they rode for different teams.^[10]

That same year the two were paired for the Trofeo Baracchi, a 111 km two-man time-trial in Italy. The writer René de Latour wrote:

Generally in a race of the Barrachi type, the changes are very rapid, with stints of no more than 300 yards. Altig was at the front when I started the check - and he was still there a minute later. Something must be wrong. Altig wasn't even swinging aside to invite Anquetil through... Suddenly, on a flat road, Anquetil lost contact and a gap of three lengths appeared between the two partners. There followed one of the most sensational things I have ever seen in any form of cycle racing during my 35 years' association with the sport - something which I consider as great a physical performance as a world hour record or a classic road race win. Altig was riding at 30mph at the front - and had been doing so for 15 minutes. When Anquetil lost contact, he had to ease the pace, wait for his partner to go by, push him powerfully in the back, sprint to the front again after losing 10 yards in the process, and again settle down to a 30mph stint at the front. Altig did not this just once but dozens of times.^[1]

Anquetil reached the stadium where the race finished and hit a pole. He was helped away with staring eyes and with blood streaming from a cut to his head. The couple nevertheless won by nine seconds. Altig said: "Jacques wasn't happy [during the race], it didn't please him at all, but I wanted us to win. So I got him by the saddle, I got him by the shorts, and hop!."^[2]

Retirement

Altig became directeur sportif of the Puch-Wolber team when he stopped racing and worked for five years as national coach. He is now a television commentator. He said of the American rider, Lance Armstrong: "He is a tyrant who exploits his team-mates without leaving them the least initiative."^[11] Of his fellow German, Jan Ullrich, he said he would do better to talk less about what he was going to do and get on and do it.^[9]

Six-days

Altig won 22 six-days:

Road race victories

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rudi Altig.

• Rudi Altig profile at Cycling Archives

Awards
Preceded by Hans-Joachim Klein	German Sportsman of the Year 1966	Succeeded by Kurt Bendlin

UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race 1927 Binda 1928 Ronsse 1929 Ronsse 1930 Binda 1931 Guerra 1932 Binda 1933 Speicher 1934 Kaers 1935 Aerts 1936 Magne 1937 Meulenberg 1938 Kint 1946 Knecht 1947 Middelkamp 1948 Schotte 1949 Van Steenbergen 1950 Schotte 1951 Kübler 1952 Müller 1953 Coppi 1954 Bobet 1955 Ockers 1956 Van Steenbergen 1957 Van Steenbergen 1958 Baldini 1959 Darrigade 1960 Van Looy 1961 Van Looy 1962 Stablinski 1963 Beheyt 1964 Janssen 1965 Simpson 1966 Altig 1967 E. Merckx 1968 Adorni 1969 Ottenbros 1970 Monseré 1971 E. Merckx 1972 M. Basso 1973 Gimondi 1974 E. Merckx 1975 Kuiper 1976 Maertens 1977 F. Moser 1978 Knetemann 1979 Raas 1980 B. Hinault 1981 Maertens 1982 Saronni 1983 LeMond 1984 Criquielion 1985 Zoetemelk 1986 Argentin 1987 S. Roche 1988 Fondriest 1989 LeMond 1990 Dhaenens 1991 Bugno 1992 Bugno 1993 Armstrong 1994 Leblanc 1995 Olano 1996 Museeuw 1997 Brochard 1998 Camenzind 1999 Freire 2000 Vainšteins 2001 Freire 2002 Cipollini 2003 Astarloa 2004 Freire 2005 Boonen 2006 Bettini 2007 Bettini 2008 Ballan 2009 Evans 2010 Hushovd 2011 Cavendish 2012 Gilbert 2013 Costa 2014 Kwiatkowski

Tour de France winners of the Points classification 1953 Fritz Schär 1954 Ferdinand Kübler 1955–1956 Stan Ockers 1957 Jean Forestier 1958 Jean Graczyk 1959 André Darrigade 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 André Darrigade 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964–1965 Jan Janssen 1966 Willy Planckaert 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Franco Bitossi 1969 Eddy Merckx 1970 Walter Godefroot 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx 1973 Herman van Springel 1974 Patrick Sercu 1975 Rik Van Linden 1976 Freddy Maertens 1977 Jacques Esclassan 1978 Freddy Maertens 1979 Bernard Hinault 1980 Rudy Pevenage 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982–1983 Sean Kelly 1984 Frank Hoste 1985 Sean Kelly 1986 Eric Vanderaerden 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel 1988 Eddy Planckaert 1989 Sean Kelly 1990 Olaf Ludwig 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1992 Laurent Jalabert 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–2001 Erik Zabel 2002 Robbie McEwen 2003 Baden Cooke 2004 Robbie McEwen 2005 Thor Hushovd 2006 Robbie McEwen 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Óscar Freire 2009 Thor Hushovd 2010 Alessandro Petacchi 2011 Mark Cavendish 2012–2014 Peter Sagan

Tour de France winners of the Combativity award 1956 André Darrigade 1957 Nicolas Barone 1958 Federico Bahamontes 1959 Gérard Saint 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 Team West-Southwest 1962 Eddy Pauwels 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964 Henry Anglade 1965 Felice Gimondi 1966 Rudi Altig 1967 Désiré Letort 1968 Roger Pingeon 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971 Luis Ocaña 1972 Cyrille Guimard 1973 Luis Ocaña 1974–1975 Eddy Merckx 1976 Raymond Delisle 1977 Gerrie Knetemann 1978 Paul Wellens 1979 Hennie Kuiper 1980 Christian Levavasseur 1981 Bernard Hinault 1982 Régis Clère 1983 Serge Demierre 1984 Bernard Hinault 1985 Maarten Ducrot 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Régis Clère 1988 Jérôme Simon 1989 Laurent Fignon 1990 Eduardo Chozas 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Massimo Ghirotto 1994 Eros Poli 1995 Hernán Buenahora 1996–1997 Richard Virenque 1998–1999 Jacky Durand 2000 Erik Dekker 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003 Alexander Vinokourov 2004 Richard Virenque 2005 Óscar Pereiro 2006 David de la Fuente 2007 Amets Txurruka 2008 Sylvain Chavanel 2009 None 2010 Sylvain Chavanel 2011 Jérémy Roy 2012 Chris Anker Sørensen 2013 Christophe Riblon 2014 Alessandro De Marchi

Vuelta a España winners of the General classification 1935–36 Gustaaf Deloor 1937–40 Spanish Civil War 1941–42 Julián Berrendero 1943–44 World War II 1945 Delio Rodríguez 1946 Dalmacio Langarica 1947 Edward Van Dijck 1948 Bernardo Ruiz 1949 Race not held 1950 Emilio Rodríguez 1951–54 Race not held 1955 Jean Dotto 1956 Angelo Conterno 1957 Jesús Loroño 1958 Jean Stablinski 1959 Antonio Suárez 1960 Frans De Mulder 1961 Angelino Soler 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Jacques Anquetil 1964 Raymond Poulidor 1965 Rolf Wolfshohl 1966 Francisco Gabica 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Felice Gimondi 1969 Roger Pingeon 1970 Luis Ocaña 1971 Ferdinand Bracke 1972 José Manuel Fuente 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 José Manuel Fuente 1975 Agustín Tamames 1976 José Pesarrodona 1977 Freddy Maertens 1978 Bernard Hinault 1979 Joop Zoetemelk 1980 Faustino Ruperez 1981 Giovanni Battaglin 1982 Marino Lejarreta 1983 Bernard Hinault 1984 Éric Caritoux 1985 Pedro Delgado 1986 Álvaro Pino 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Pedro Delgado 1990 Marco Giovannetti 1991 Melcior Mauri 1992–93–94 Tony Rominger 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–97 Alex Zülle 1998 Abraham Olano 1999 Jan Ullrich 2000 Roberto Heras 2001 Ángel Casero 2002 Aitor González 2003–04 Roberto Heras 2005 Denis Menchov 2006 Alexander Vinokourov 2007 Denis Menchov 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde 2010 Vincenzo Nibali 2011 Juan José Cobo 2012 Alberto Contador 2013 Chris Horner 2014 Alberto Contador

German National Road Race Champions (men) 1900–1919 Karl Wittig (1910) Ernst Franz (1913) Richard Golle (1919) 1920–1939 Paul Koch (1920) Adolf Huschke (1921) Richard Huschke (1922) Richard Golle (1923) Paul Kohl (1924) Richard Huschke (1925) Felix Manthey (1928) Kurt Stöpel (1934) Bruno Roth (1935) Georg Umbenhauer (1936) Erich Bautz (1937) Jupp Arents (1938) Walter Löber (1939) 1940–1959 Georg Stach (1940) Erich Bautz (1941) Karl Kittsteiner (1946) Georg Voggenreiter (1947) Otto Schenk (1948) Otto Ziege (1949) Erich Bautz (1950) Ludwig Hörmann (1951–1952) Heinz Müller (1953) Hermann Schild (1954) Hans Preiskeit (1955) Valentin Petry (1956) Franz Reitz (1957) Klaus Bugdahl (1958) Hans Junkermann (1959) 1960–1979 Hans Junkermann (1960–1961) Dieter Puschel (1962) Sigi Renz (1963) Rudi Altig (1964) Winfried Bölke (1965–1967) Rolf Wolfshohl (1968) Peter Glemser (1969) Rudi Altig (1970) Jürgen Tschan (1971) Wilfried Peffgen (1972) Günter Haritz (1974) Dietrich Thurau (1975–1976) Jürgen Kraft (1977) Gregor Braun (1978) Hans-Peter Jakst (1978) 1980–1999 Gregor Braun (1980) Hans Neumayer (1981–1982) Gregor Braun (1983) Reimund Dietzen (1984) Rolf Gölz (1985) Reimund Dietzen (1986) Peter Hilse (1987) Hartmut Bölts (1988) Darius Kaiser (1989) Udo Bölts (1990) Falk Boden (1991) Heinrich Trumheller (1992) Bernd Gröne (1993) Jens Heppner (1994) Udo Bölts (1995) Christian Henn (1996) Jan Ullrich (1997) Erik Zabel (1998) Udo Bölts (1999) 2000–2019 Rolf Aldag (2000) Jan Ullrich (2001) Danilo Hondo (2002) Erik Zabel (2003) Andreas Klöden (2004) Gerald Ciolek (2005) Dirk Müller (2006) Fabian Wegmann (2007–2008) Martin Reimer (2009) Christian Knees (2010) Robert Wagner (2011) Fabian Wegmann (2012) André Greipel (2013–2014)