Kurt Stöpel

Kurt Stöpel (born 12 March 1908 in Berlin, † June 11, 1997 ) was a German racing cyclist.

His first major victory celebrated Kurt Stöpel 1928 at 275 km long race from Berlin to Szczecin - Berlin. He later won the traditional race as an amateur Berlin- Cottbus- Berlin, Around the Hainleite in Thuringia and the more than 600 km leading endurance race Cologne - Berlin.

In 1930, he was as a professional fourth in the World Cup in Liege, Giro d' Italia, he reached in 1932 the fifth and 1933 to eighth place in 1934 he became German champion and won in the same year, the traditional race Rund um Köln and around Berlin, the oldest classics of the German road cycling.

It was 1932, the first German racing cyclist, who won a stage of the Tour de France on July 7, 1932 by Caen to Nantes. At the same time he was after this victory at the top of the field and thus was also the first German winner of the yellow jersey. In the next stage 3, on July 9, from Nantes to Bordeaux, forced Stöpel Punctures seven times from the wheel, the tip position was not respected: the yellow jersey when André Leducq, the superstar of those years, the July 31, Tour 1932 won.

A total of five times started Kurt Stöpel in the Tour de France:

In 1938 he ended his cycling career final. Later he worked as an interpreter and taxi operators in Berlin. On 11 June 1997 three weeks before the tour started, which should become the first German Jan Ullrich, Kurt Stöpel wanted to get a drink in the kitchen of his retirement home something. By mistake, he picked up a bottle of cleanser. He died the same day.

6 May 2008 Kurt Stöpel ( posthumously ) were inducted into the Hall of Fame of German sport.