Hennes "Hans" Junkermann (6 May 1934 – 11 April 2022) was a German professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing ...

who won 35 road races in 18 seasons from 1956 to 1973. He won the German National Road Race in 1959, 1960, and 1961.

Biography

Junkermann was born in St. Tönis, near

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

. He excelled in mountainous stage races and hard one-day events. He won nine Six Day races and the European

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

championship in 1965. He rode the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

eight times. Junkermann showed class as an amateur and was approached twice in 1954 to defect to the GDR and become a paid amateur, but he wanted to stay in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and be a professional. He turned professional in 1955 season for the small Bauer team. In May 1957 he won

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 unt ...

, followed by fourth in the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

, the start of his excellent record in the Swiss tour, a hilly stage race. In 1959 he moved to Faema-Molteni under

Rik Van Looy Henri "Rik" Van Looy (born 20 December 1933 in Grobbendonk) is a Belgian former professional cycle sport, cyclist of the post-World War II, war period, nicknamed the ''King of the Classics'' or ''Emperor of Herentals'' (after the small Belgian ...

, winning the national road championship, a feat he repeated in 1960 and 1961. He won his first Tour de Suisse in 1959 after finishing second the previous year. Defensive riding and no support from his team stopped him from winning the

. He came fourth in 1960 and fifth in 1961. He abandoned in 1962, claiming his food was tampered with in Luchon. Junkermann came second in the 1961 Tour of Germany and sixth in the Giro d'Italia. In 1962 he switched to Wiel’s-Groene Leeuw with 1963

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Benoni Beheyt Benoni Beheyt (born 27 September 1940) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer who raced from 1962 to 1968. Beheyt won 22 races and is most famous for winning the 1963 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Cycling ...

of Belgium. Junkermann won the 1962 Tour de Suisse and came third in

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

. In 1963 he won the

Rund um den Henninger Turm Rund is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cathleen Rund (born 1977), German swimmer * Hanno Rund (1925–1993), German mathematician * Thorsten Rund (born 1976), German road and track cyclist See also * Rand (surname) Rand ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. This was the 29-year-old's last big victory on the road although his career continued for a further ten years. His best results in latter years were 11th in the 1967 Tour de France and 7th in the 1965

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

. In 1964 he won six-day races at

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and

, riding with specialists

Peter Post Peter Post (12 November 193314 January 2011) was a Dutch professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1956 to 1972. Post competed in road and track racing. As a rider he is best remembered for Six-day racing, having competed in 155 races and won ...

and

Rudi Altig Rudi Altig (; 18 March 1937 – 11 June 2016) was a German professional track and road racing cyclist who won the 1962 Vuelta a España and the world championship in 1966. After his retirement from sports he worked as a television commentator. A ...

. After retirement in 1973 Junkermann coached young riders for 25 years, first with the RSV City Neuwied cycling team and between 1984 and 1998 with Olympia Dortmund. At

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, he brought

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced most of his career with Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cycl ...

, Udo Bolts,

Rolf Aldag Rolf Aldag (born 25 August 1968 in Beckum, West Germany) is a former professional road bicycle racer who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 2005. He raced in 10 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia and 5 Vuelta a España. Prior to joining Telekom, h ...

, Kai Hundertmarck and Bernd Groene through the ranks to become professionals. Junkermann lived in Krefeld and at 70 was still riding several hundred kilometres a week. He died on 11 April 2022, at the age of 87.

Major results

;Road *1957:

*1958:

(one stage) *1959: Tour de Suisse (overall and one stage), German RR Champion *1960: German RR Champion *1961: German RR Champion *1962: Tour de Suisse (overall and two stages),

Dauphiné Libéré The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centur ...

(one stage) *1963:

;Six Day victories *1960:

(with Klaus Bugdahl),

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

(with Fritz Pfenninger) *1962:

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

(with

), Munster (with Rudi Altig) *1963:

(with Rudi Altig) *1964: Essen (with Rudi Altig), Frankfurt (with Rudi Altig), Cologne (with Peter Post)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Junkermann, Hans 1934 births 2022 deaths German male cyclists German cycling road race champions People from Viersen (district) Sportspeople from Düsseldorf (region) People from the Rhine Province Tour de Suisse stage winners Cyclists from North Rhine-Westphalia