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

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish

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 com ...

, with an impressive record in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. Diederich was born in

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (, ; ; or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is a city in Luxembourg and the country's List of communes of Luxembourg by population, second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, . It lies in the south-west of the ...

, 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 on the Col d'Aspin by some French sup ...

(finishing in

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

), the

1951 Tour de France The 1951 Tour de France was the 38th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 29 July. It consisted of 24 stages over . The race started outside Île-de-France for the first time since 1926; a change that Grand Départ, remained perm ...

(from

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, 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 h ...

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 (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

). 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, and the grandfather of cyclist Laurent Didier.

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 UCI race classifications, 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the UCI World Tour, World Tour, by 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 of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

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

::Winner stage 5 :1st Tour de Lorraine

References

External links

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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