Jean "Bim" Diederich (20 February 1922 – 6 December 2012) was a professional

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ian

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, with an impressive record in 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 ...

. Diederich was born in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

, and was active in competition from 1946 to 1954. He finished sixth in the road race at the 1947 Road World Championships. He had fourteen wins, including stage wins in the

1950 Tour de France The 1950 Tour de France was the 37th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 13 July to 7 August. It consisted of 22 stages over . Gino Bartali, captain of the Italian team, threatened and assaulted by some French supporters accusing hi ...

(finishing in

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

), the

1951 Tour de France Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

(from

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, leading the race solo over the

Muur van Geraardsbergen The Muur van Geraardsbergen (English: ''Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont'', French: ''Mur de Grammont'') is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hil ...

before crossing the finish line, earning the nickname "Le Duc de Grammont" or "the Duke of Geraardsbergen"), and the

1952 Tour de France The 1952 Tour de France was the 39th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 25 June to 19 July. It was composed of 23 stages over . Newly introduced were the arrivals on mountain peaks. The race was won by Italian Fausto Coppi. Coppi d ...

(into

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

). He wore the yellow jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

for three days during the 1951 Tour. He was the father-in-law of cyclist

Lucien Didier Lucien Didier (born 5 August 1950) is a former Luxembourgian cyclist. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics. He rode in ten Grand Tours between 1978 and 1984, including six Tours de France. In each of his Tour star ...

, and the grandfather of cyclist

Laurent Didier Laurent Didier (born 19 July 1984) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed between 2006 and 2018 for the , Designa Køkken, and teams. Career Didier is from Dippach, Luxembourg and his ancestors are no strangers ...

Major results

;1947 :2nd Overall

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the ...

:6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships ;1949 :1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg :Athus ;1950 :

::Winner stage 15 :2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg ;1951 :

::Winner stage 2 ::Wearing

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

for three days :2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg ;1952 :

::Winner stage 5 :1st Tour de Lorraine

References

External links

* *
Official Tour de France results for Bim Diederich
1922 births 2012 deaths Luxembourgian male cyclists Luxembourgian Tour de France stage winners Sportspeople from Esch-sur-Alzette {{Luxembourg-cycling-bio-stub