The Most Famous

CYCLISTS from Germany

This page contains a list of the greatest German Cyclists. The pantheon dataset contains 1,613 Cyclists, 83 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 5th most number of Cyclists behind Spain, and Belgium.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary German Cyclists of all time. This list of famous German Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of German Cyclists.

1. Rudi Altig (1937 - 2016)

With an HPI of 54.62, Rudi Altig is the most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Rudi Altig (German pronunciation: [ˈʁuːdiː ˈaltɪç] ; 18 March 1937 – 11 June 2016) was a German professional track and road racing cyclist who won the 1962 Vuelta a España and the world championship in 1966. After his retirement from sports he worked as a television commentator.

2. Jan Ullrich (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 52.21, Jan Ullrich is the 2nd most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Jan Ullrich (German pronunciation: [jan ˈʊlʁɪç] ; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crowd in Hamburg in 1997. He had podium finishes in the hilly classic Clásica de San Sebastián. His victorious ride in the 1997 Tour de France led to a bicycle boom in Germany. He retired in February 2007. In 2006, Ullrich was barred from the Tour de France amid speculation of having doped. In February 2012, Ullrich was found guilty of a doping offence by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He was retroactively banned from 22 August 2011, and all results gained since May 2005 were removed from his palmarès. In 2013 he admitted to blood doping, and in 2023 to using performance enhancing substances.

3. Josef Fischer (1865 - 1953)

With an HPI of 50.16, Josef Fischer is the 3rd most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Josef Fischer (20 January 1865 – 3 March 1953) was a German road bicycle racer. He is best known for winning the first edition of Paris–Roubaix in 1896 and Bordeaux–Paris in 1900.

4. Rolf Wolfshohl (1938 - 2024)

With an HPI of 49.54, Rolf Wolfshohl is the 4th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Rolf Wolfshohl (27 December 1938 – 18 September 2024) was a German professional road bicycle racing and cyclo-cross racing cyclist. Wolfshohl is best known in cyclo-cross for winning the then unoffical cyclo-cross world championship three times, and in road racing for winning the 1965 Vuelta a España. He won the German National Road Race in 1968.

5. Albert Richter (1912 - 1940)

With an HPI of 49.46, Albert Richter is the 5th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Albert Richter (14 October 1912 – 2 January 1940) was a German cyclist who won the world sprint championship. He was taken from a train by the Gestapo and never seen alive again.

6. Heinz Müller (1924 - 1975)

With an HPI of 48.94, Heinz Müller is the 6th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Heinz Müller (16 September 1924 – 25 September 1975) was a German road bicycle racer who won the UCI Road Cycling World Championship in 1952. He also won the German National Road Race in 1953.

7. Carsten Wolf (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 47.67, Carsten Wolf is the 7th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Carsten Wolf (born 26 August 1964) is an East German racing cyclist, who competed for the SC Dynamo Berlin / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. He won the silver medal at the Olympic games in Seoul 1988.

8. Dietrich Thurau (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 46.98, Dietrich Thurau is the 8th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Dietrich "Didi" Thurau (German pronunciation: [ˈdiːtʁɪç ˈtuːʁaʊ] ; born 9 November 1954) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland Tour and surprising the field at the 1977 Tour de France by capturing four stages and holding the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification from the prologue for 15 days. Thurau did win the young rider classification although he lost the overall lead to eventual winner Bernard Thévenet. Thurau was German pursuit champion three times and won 29 six-day races. He is the father of former professional cyclist Björn Thurau. In 1989, he revealed he had doped throughout his career.

9. Olaf Ludwig (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 46.90, Olaf Ludwig is the 9th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Olaf Ludwig (born 13 April 1960 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former German racing cyclist. His career began at the SG Dynamo Gera / Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo. As an East German, he raced as an amateur until reunification of Germany allowed him to become professional with Panasonic team. As a sprinter, the highlight of his career was winning the points classification in the 1990 Tour de France. Other highlights include the Olympic road race in Seoul in 1988, a record 38 stage victories in the Peace Race, winning the Amstel Gold Race in 1992, and podium placings in the Paris–Roubaix. He also won the 1992 UCI Road World Cup. In 1992 he won the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France and won the third Tour stage of his career the following year. His sprinting rivals included Mario Cipollini, Wilfried Nelissen and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. In 1993 he joined Team Telekom, later T-Mobile Team. On retirement in 1996 he took up public relations for the team. He subsequently became principal team manager, but his involvement with the team finished at the end of 2006.

10. Gustav-Adolf Schur (b. 1931)

With an HPI of 45.26, Gustav-Adolf Schur is the 10th most famous German Cyclist. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Gustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur (born 23 February 1931) is a former East German cyclist. He was born in Heyrothsberge, Saxony. His sporting career began with SC DHfK Leipzig. He was the first German to win the amateur competition of the World Cycling Championships and the Peace Race. Between 1958 and 1990 Schur was a member of the Volkskammer, the East German parliament.

People

Pantheon has 117 people classified as German cyclists born between 1865 and 2002. Of these 117, 104 (88.89%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living German cyclists include Jan Ullrich, Carsten Wolf, and Dietrich Thurau. The most famous deceased German cyclists include Rudi Altig, Josef Fischer, and Rolf Wolfshohl. As of April 2024, 33 new German cyclists have been added to Pantheon including Carsten Wolf, Willi Fuggerer, and Uwe Peschel.