Charly Gaul died on Tuesday.

For me he was with Federico Bahamontes the greatest of the climbers over the
last 50 years. I took up cycling in 1956 in a club and region full of
hill-climbers and immediately tried to model Gaul’s small-geared, seated
climbing. To me every picture of him shows the perfect mountain stylist. I
followed his exploits in Miroir-Sprint and But-Et Club as well as Cycling Weekly
for the Tour. As he and Bahamontes were eclipsed I remorselessly searched each
year for reports of a new climbing sensation – Jiminez, Fuentes, Motta, Van
Impe, Herrera … but one never emerged until perhaps the unfulfilled Pantani.
Gauls' mountain wins were over the Alps, Pyrenees and Dolomites. He was
prominent on all the major climbs of Galibier, Croix de Fer, Izoard, Ventoux,
Aubisque, Puy de Dome, Stelvio,

Althogh it seemed he was comparatively ignored in the 1970s and 1980s now in
this age of statistics and pre-occupation with climbing the English speaking
press at least recognise Gaul for his worth and his achievements are
well-documented. His rivals whom he beat in the mountains were Tour, Giro or
KoM winners such as Bobet (a 3 times TdF winner), Anquetil (5 times winner),
Bahamontes, Kubler, Nencini and formidable riders such as Geminiani. It was
said that “in the mountains when Gaul presses on his pedals the following race
convoy press on their accelerators”.

He triumphed in the worst of cold, stormy, windy or freezing conditions but
many times suffering and failing in the heat. In a Tour national team regime as
a Luxembourger he rode with weaker teams so had to be an opportunist. His first
exploit was aged 17 when he won on the Glossglockner. Later he said “In the
hills I dominate easily when either there’s a hill finish or a long stage”.
Only now does one realise how rare such riders are who as Tour contenders can
attack from the beginning of stages. And can recover from 10 minute setbacks.

In 1954 at 21y he won the Circuit des Six Provences (Dauphine Libere) over the
Galibier “in a massive snow-storm following tyre marks of race cars”. In 1955
he led over the Galibier by 16m winning by 14m over Kubler, Bobet. The next day
he attacked to have an 11m lead on the Vars and la Cayolle with icy rain and
strong winds to be later dropped before Monaco by Geminiani. His first 1956
Giro win was in the same freezing conditions that Andy Hampsten won in the
Dolomites. Near the end of the Dolomite stage on Mont Bondone he was carried
frozen to a hostel to recover then continued at the finish having his jersey cut
off and no memory of the last 4km. I remember the photographs of Gaul and
Geminiani in his 1958 Chartreuse win in a terrible icy rain-stormy day over the
Luitel, Porte, Granier and Cucheron where in a lone breakaway he gained 15m on
maillot jaune Geminiani. Bahamontes was on his wheel but was dropped. It was
said "he attacked on the first bend and wasn't seemn on
the second of the Luitel". In the last 20km he got hunger-knock and seized a
proferred baguette from a spectator thinking it was a banana “riding on dry
bread”.. In the heat two days previously he’d lost 10 minutes on the Gap stage
where he’d been dropped by Anquetil on the Casse Deserte Izoard to such effect
that Anquetil could stop for a drink. In 1956 he’d been second to Huot over the
Izoard. As Francois has recounted he was rushed to an ambulance after his 1958
Ventoux win in the heat after beating Bahamontes by 31s.. Three years
previously in 1955 in strong Ventoux heat of 40C in the shade he’d lost 5m23s to
Bobet the reigning world champion who had led at the summit. That was the year
Mallejac collapsed to near death, van Genechten nearly asphyxiated and Kubler
finished 20m down – Kublers mind affected by the heat and ending his career. In
1959 in the heat of the Pyrenees he and Bobet lost 32m to Anglade and Anquetil
on the Albi-Aurillac stage. Later he was 2nd on
the Puy de Dome TT to Bahamontes and won the St Etienne-Grenoble stage after a
66km breakaway from the Col de Romeyere with Bahamontes at 3m over Graczyk., 12m
over Bobet.

Pierre Chany says he climbed with a heart-rate at best performance of 90BPM
for long periods even with accelerations and high altitude effects and at a
cadence of 65 when most riders were 47-55. But Chany's data could be
innaccurate. A recent book shows his team looking in wonderment at his results
of a lung test before the Tour. Gaul said “On a hill I don’t bother about
others. I pedal at my own rhythm and if there’s someone still there I ride
faster then faster until he’s dropped. Sometimes somebody escapes but I don’t
bother about following immediately, it would be an error - in the mountains
one’s muscles tire easily and I’d have to then recover at some point”. Chany
assessed him as a cool tactician who didn’t panic in adversity but with the
panache of a boxer to deliver knock-out blows of 14 minute wins at the most
opportune time and place. The day before his classic 1958 Chartreuse 7m win he
said “Tomorrow I will attack on the Luitel if it rains”. His sense of their
climbing status caused him and Bahamontes to accelerate and drop the lowly
Englishman Vic Sutton needlessly on the Col de Romeyre in 1959 (the start of a
classic 66km duo breakaway win) when Vic approached them on a mountain stage to
form a threesome. Even when Gaul performed relatively badly finishing 32m down
in the flat 1956 Tour he still took the KoM from Bahamontes winning the
Turin-Grenoble stage by attacking on the Croix de Fer and Izoard. He beat
Anquetil in the Tour of Italy in 1959 climbing at speed on the Petit St
Bernard.. He won on the Stelvio climbing it 15m faster than 1960 and 1961 world
champion and multi-classics winner Rik van Looy.

Gaul had a well-documented enmity with 3 times Tour winner Bobet across the
Giro and Tour. In 1955 he’d dropped Bobet by 16m on the Galibier. He lost the
1957 Giro because of a duel with Bobet who linked with Italians to attack him
but whom Gaul later despatched by coalescing with Nencini. But they are
photographed together in the 1955 Tour which Bobet won sharing food “in an epic
struggle where the enemy wasn’t the other but hunger and thirst” on the Aubisque
where Gaul led Bobet by 50metres at the top, Gaul had won the previous days
stage to St Gaudens.over the Aspin, Peyresourde.

He came 5th to Longo in the world cyclo-cross championship and was twice
Luxembourg c-c champion, He won flat or hilly time trials beating Anquetil – who
would have expected to win on such courses - in his 1958 Tour victory averaging
44.2kph for a 74km TT. But he’d won other non-mountain TTs in the Tour such as
1956 in Rouen. So as we all know a specialist mountain climber should also be
also a top roadman.

He was called the Butcher of Battenberg from his beginnings as butcher’s boy,
The Helicopter, the Angel of the Mountains, the Angel of the Rain , the
Archangel and he won the King of the Mountains. He was slender with steely
blue eyes, 173cm height and 64kg weight. More recently J-M Leblanc described
him as very modest, a true cycling fan of the current scene with his home packed
full of cycling photos. It’s said he worked as archivist for L’Equipe
.
He congratulated Vaughters on his 1999 Ventoux win of 56m55s and supported
Pantani.as his friend. His own time was 1h2m9s in 1958 on a hot day beating
the favoured Bahamontes by 31s and 5th placed Anquetil at 4m9s. Considering the
roughish surface and probably around 1kg (or 2% rider/bike) extra bike weight
this was a fast ride.




Mike Fletcher

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