Charly Grosskost (5 March 1944 – 19 June 2004) was a French

racing cyclist Cycle sport is 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 cyclin ...

who in 1968 won the prologue time-trial of both the Giro d'Italia and 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 consist ...

. He won stages of the Tour de France and of the Giro d'Italia and on the track was French pursuit champion nine times. His sporting career began with A.C.B.B. Paris.

Early career

Grosskost came to notice when he was 19, when he won a stage of the Route de France – amateur counterpart of the Tour de France – and then won Strasbourg-Campagne by nearly 10 minutes after riding ahead of the race for more than 50 km. In 1965, he won the Route de France and five of its seven stages and became favourite for the still bigger race, the Tour de l'Avenir. There, however, he dropped out in the Pyrenees. A drug test that followed his retirement – it has entered cycling legend that other riders pushed him off his bike for his own safety as he began foaming at the mouth and riding erratically – led to his being suspended for a year. To his death, Grosskost insisted that he had been drugged by a team helper.

Professional career

Grosskost turned professional for Peugeot on 1 May 1966, alongside

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

of Belgium, whom he beat to win his Giro prologue. He then moved to the Bic team alongside

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 y ...

. In 1968 he won the prologue of the Giro d'Italia and became the third Frenchman to wear the leader's pink jersey after

Louison Bobet Louis "Louison" Bobet (; 12 March 1925 - 13 March 1983) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 t ...

and

Raphaël Géminiani Raphaël Géminiani (born Clermont-Ferrand; born 12 June 1925) is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-FerrandColin, Jacques (2 ...

. That same year, Grosskost won the prologue time-trial of the

at Vittel and then the first conventional stage. He wore the leader's yellow jersey for three days and finished the Tour in 17th place.

Post-career

In retirement he became a cycle dealer. Grosskost died in 2004, after he was hit by a car while cycling with friends.

Major results

;1965 : 1st Overall

Route de France The Route de France was a multi-day road cycling race held in France between 1951 and 1990. The race was considered an amateur version of the Tour de France and competed with the Tour de l'Avenir after its creation in 1961. Its route traveled throu ...

::1st Stages 1, 2, 4 & 5 : 3rd Overall Tour d'Eure-et-Loir ;1966 : 8th

Critérium des As The ''Critérium des As'' (''Race of the Aces'') was a cycle race that was generally held at the end of the season, with entry by invitation only, for the leading riders of the season. Competitors rode behind pacers on tandems or motorcycles. It w ...

;1967 : 2nd Grand Prix de Cannes ;1968 :

::1st Prologue & Stage 1Statistics from the official Tour site about Charly Grosskost
Letour.fr. Retrieved on 17 July 2015. ::Held Jersey yellow

for 2 days : 1st Prologue Giro d'ItaliaResults of the 1968 Giro d'Italia
. Memoire-du-cyclisme.net. Retrieved on 17 July 2015. : 2nd

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is ...

: 6th Overall

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 overlook ...

::1st Prologue : 7th Critérium National de la Route : 9th Overall

Tour de l'Oise The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was called Tour de l'Oise ...

;1970 : 2nd Grand Prix de Saint-Raphaël : 3rd Overall GP du Midi Libre : 6th

: 7th Critérium National de la Route ;1971 : 1st Prologue & Stage 4

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been h ...

;1972 : 1st Prologue & Stage 3b

Étoile des Espoirs The Étoile des Espoirs was an end of the season French cycling stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day eve ...

: 1st Prologue

: 8th Overall

;1973 : 7th Overall

Track

;1966 : 1st MaillotFra

Pursuit,

National Championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

;1967 : 1st MaillotFra

Omnium,

;1968 :

::1st

Pursuit ::1st MaillotFra

Omnium ;1969 : 1st MaillotFra

Pursuit,

;1970 : 1st MaillotFra

Pursuit,

;1974 : 1st MaillotFra

Pursuit,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosskost, Charly 1944 births 2004 deaths Sportspeople from Bas-Rhin French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners French Giro d'Italia stage winners French track cyclists Tour de France prologue winners Doping cases in cycling Cyclists from Grand Est

Early career

Professional career

Post-career

Major results

Track

See also

References

External links