Klaus-Peter Thaler (born 14 May 1949 in Eckmannshausen,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

) is a former professional cyclist whose career spanned from 1976 to 1988, he was successful in road-racing and

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

. He was world cyclo-cross champion twice as an amateur and twice as a professional and German champion eight times.

Biography

Thaler studied at the

University of Siegen The University of Siegen () is a public research university located in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The university was founded in 1972. ...

and received a post-graduate degree as a middle school teacher for physical education and geography. From 1974-76 he attended the German Coaching Academy in Cologne, writing his diploma thesis under the guidance of

Arnd Krüger Arnd Krüger (born July 1, 1944) is a German professor of sport studies. Krüger earned his BA (English major) from UCLA in 1967 and his PhD from the University of Cologne (Modern and Medieval History) in Germany in 1971. He attended UCLA on a ...

. In 1976, Thaler entered the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, in the road race. He finished in ninth place. He turned professional one year later. In the 1978 Tour de France, Thaler led the race for two days, after his team won the

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

. Thaler organises the Tour of Hope bicycle charity ride, and was given the

Pierre de Coubertin medal The Pierre de Coubertin Medal is a special decoration awarded by the International Olympic Committee that "pays tribute to institutions with a pedagogical and educational role and to people who, through their research and the creation of intell ...

for that in 2005.

Career achievements

Major results

Source: * World Champion Cyclo-cross: 1985,1987 * German champion cyclo-cross: 1976,1977,1978,1979,1982,1986,1987,1988 * German cycling road champion for amateurs: 1976 *

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

1977: Stage 1B * Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1979: Stage 1 *

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, 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 ...

1980: Stage 5

Tour de France results

Source: *

1977 Tour de France Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

: did not finish, won stage 9 *

1978 Tour de France The 1978 Tour de France was the 65th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 29 June and 23 July, with 22 stages covering a distance of . The 1978 Tour had a high-profile doping case when Michel Pollen ...

: 35th place, won stage 3, wore the yellow jersey for

2 days ''Two Days'' () is a 2011 Russian romantic comedy-drama film directed by Avdotya Smirnova Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova (; born 29 June 1969) is a Russian screenwriter, film director, producer, TV host and literary critic, winner of numerous awards an ...

* 1979 Tour de France: 37th place *

1980 Tour de France The 1980 Tour de France was the 67th edition of the Tour de France. The total distance was over 22 stages. In the first half of the race, Bernard Hinault started out strong by winning the prologue and two stages. However, knee problems forced H ...

: 49th place * 1981 Tour de France: 90th place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thaler, Klaus-Peter 1949 births Living people People from Siegen-Wittgenstein Cyclists from Arnsberg (region) German male cyclists German cyclo-cross cyclists German Tour de France stage winners Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany University of Siegen alumni UCI Cyclo-cross World Champions (men) Olympic cyclists for West Germany West German male cyclists Cyclists at the 1976 Summer Olympics German Vuelta a España stage winners