Jean Stablewski (21 May 1932 – 22 July 2007), known as Jean Stablinski, was a French professional cyclist from a family of Polish immigrants. He rode from 1952 to 1968, winning 105 races as a professional. He won the national road championship four times - 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964. He was also world road champion in 1962, and won the Vuelta a España in 1958.

Biography

Jean Stablinski was born in Thun-Saint-Amand in the mining area of the Nord department of France, the son of Polish immigrants. His father died in a work accident in 1946 and Jean, at 14, started working in the mine to provide income for his family. It was at this time that he won a bicycle in an accordion competition. Legend says that his mother was so displeased by her son's new hobby that she damaged his bike. Jean, still known as Stablewski, became naturalised as French at 16 and rode his first races. It was while riding the

Peace Race The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...

that a journalist's error in writing his name 'Stablinski' created the surname by which he became known.

Professional career

Stablinski turned professional at 21. From 1958 until 1967 he rode in the same teams as

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...

, always as a support rider, or domestique. Stablinski won the national road championship four times and came second twice, all within six years, an achievement no rider has matched. Stablinski stayed with Anquetil until his team-mate wrote a series of newspaper articles, one of which Stablinski believed criticised him even though he had devoted his career to Anquetil. The two rarely spoke after that and Stablinski joined the team headed by Anquetil's biggest rival,

Raymond Poulidor Raymond Poulidor (; 15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou" (), was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for his entire career. His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding riders – Jacques Anquet ...

. Stablinski was recognised as a rider who made up for physical limitations by his tactical sense and his chance to profit from the moment. His knack, riders recognised, was to recognise which breakaway attempt would count and not to waste effort on the others. Stablinski was twice suspended for doping.

Retirement

Stablinski retired from racing and was for six years manager of the Sonolor-Lejeune, signing

Lucien Van Impe Lucien Van Impe (; born 20 October 1946) is a Belgians, Belgian cyclist, who competed professionally between 1969 and 1987. He excelled mainly as a climbing specialist, climber in multiple-day races such as the Tour de France. He was the winner ...

and

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

as young unknowns. His son, Jacques Stablinski, born 1956, also became a professional cyclist and rode for Gitane-Campagnolo. He became known as "Petit Stab" but never had his father's talent. Jean Stablinski never stopped riding a bike until the illness that led to his death. He said he never put a drinks bottle on his bike when he rode for pleasure. He had spent too many years racing as a professional with no chance to stop and look around or to meet people, he told the historian Jean-Paul Ollivier on French television. If he had no water on his bike but a few euros in his pocket, he could stop and buy a drink at any bar he fancied and get into conversation with whomever he met. He became a member of Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix, enthusiasts and workers for the spring classic. It was Stablinski who suggested the cobbled path through the Arenberg forest. His qualifications were impeccable: as a miner he had worked beneath the road and as a cyclist he had ridden along it. He died after a long illness. On 7 April 2008 he was remembered by a memorial beside the Wallers-Arenberg road he had introduced to

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

. The memorial was made in blue limestone from

Soignies Soignies (; nl, Zinnik, ; pcd, Sougniye; wa, Sougniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, ...

by the sculptor Michel Karpovitch. The ''

Velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

Couvert Regional Jean-Stablinski'' in

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

is named after him.

Major results

; 1954 : 1st

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle racing, road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Centre (French region), Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it ha ...

;1956 :1st Tour du Sud-Est ;1957 : 1st Stage 12

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 ...

;1958 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

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 ...

::1st Stages 5a ( TTT) & 8 ;1960 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 13 Giro d'Italia ;1961 : 1st Stage 7

;1962 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 1st

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 14

: 1st Stage 11

;1963 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 1st Stage 10

: 1st Stage 4 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ;1964 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 21

;1965 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Bet ...

: 1st

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 Thorsten Rund (born 25 February 1976 in Lübben) is a German former profes ...

: 1st

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Mino Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial, from 1944 it w ...

(with

) : 1st Stage 4 Grand Prix du Midi Libre ;1966 : 1st

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

;1967 : 1st Stage 19

: 1st Stage 8 Giro d'Italia ;1968 : 1st

Grand Prix de Denain Grand Prix de Denain is a professional cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions whi ...

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Jean Stablinski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stablinski, Jean 1932 births 2007 deaths French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners French people of Polish descent Vuelta a España winners French Vuelta a España stage winners French Giro d'Italia stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Sportspeople from Valenciennes Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Cyclists from Hauts-de-France