Jean Graczyk (26 May 1933 – 27 June 2004) was a professional

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 ...

who won two points classifications in the Tour de France and several stages each at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Before turning professional, Graczyk won an Olympic silver medal in the team pursuit for France. His nickname in the sport was Popof. The American-French journalist

René de Latour René de Latour (born New York, United States, 30 September 1906, died Quiberon, France, 4 September 1986) was a Franco-American sports journalist, race director of the Tour de l'Avenir cycle race, and correspondent of the British magazine, ''Sp ...

jokingly said in the British monthly

Sporting Cyclist ''Sporting Cyclist'' was a British cycling A4-sized magazine originally called ''Coureur''. It began in 1955 and ended after 131 issues in April 1968. History ''Coureur'' ''Coureur - the magazine for the sporting cyclist'' was the idea of the ...

that it was because of his habit of attacking alone, or "popping off". De Latour, however, depended too heavily on his readers' understanding of French slang, because Popof is a semi-derogatory term in French for someone of Polish background. The "popping off" suggestion, however, is still widely believed and appears from time to time in histories of the sport.

Major results

;1956 :

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

: :: Silver medal team pursuit : national amateur road race champion ;1957 :Vailly-sur-Sauldre :

Tour du Sud-Est The Tour du Sud-Est was a professional cycle race held as a stage race in France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories ...

;1958 :Cluny :Orchies : Vuelta a España: ::Winner stage 13B :Pleurtuit : Tour de France: :: Jersey green

Winner Points classification ;1959 :Antibes :Hyères :Ronde d'Aix-en-Provence :Saint-Denis l'Hotel :Trofeo Longines (with Jacques Anquetil, André Darrigade, Seamus Elliott and

Michel Vermeulin Michel Vermeulin (born 6 September 1934) is a former road and track cyclist from France, who won the gold medal in the men's team road race at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, alongside Arnaud Geyre and Maurice Moucheraud. He ...

) :

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

: Tour de France: ::Winner stage 5 ;1960 : Tour de France: ::Winner stages 4, 12, 17 and 21 : Jersey green

Winner Points classification : Critérium International *

Super Prestige Pernod International The Super Prestige Pernod was a season-long competition in road bicycle racing between 1958 and 1987. For the first edition it was known as the Prestige Pernod, and for the last four years as the Super Prestige Pernod International. History Disa ...

:Brignolles :GP Monaco :Saint-Claud :Saint-Hilaire de Harcouet ;1961 :Challenge Laurens :GP de Fréjus :Neuvic sur l'isle :Roma-Napoli-Roma :Saint-Just-sur-Loire :Sanvignes :Vailly-sur-Sauldre :La Charité-sur-Loire ;1962 :GP Vercors :Lubersac : Vuelta a España: ::Winner stages 6, 13, 14 and 16 :Soings ;1963 :GP Monaco :Soing-en-Sologne :Vailly-sur-Sauldre :Royan :Montélimar ;1964 :Gap :Montélimar ;1965 :Belvès :Sin-le-Noble :Vailly-sur-Sauldre :Montélimar ;1969 :Quesnoy

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Jean Graczyk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graczyk, Jean 1933 births 2004 deaths Sportspeople from Cher (department) French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners Olympic silver medalists for France French people of Polish descent French Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of France Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics French track cyclists Super Prestige Pernod winners Cyclists from Centre-Val de Loire