Roger Walkowiak was born on the 2nd of March in 1927.
He started his career as a professional cyclist in 1951 and retired in 1960.
His biggest victory was to win the Tour de France 1956, almost his only one success of his entire career. (He also won 2 Vuelta a Espana stages in 1956 and 1957).
He earned the yellow jersey as a member of a successful 31-man break with a gap on 18 minutes on the 7th stage. A few days later he lost it but still remained in an advanced position.
The 18th stage delivered a battle between the two climber giants Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes. They both rode for the KOM jersey. Gaul’s attack caused problems in the peloton. Walkowiak took advantage of the situation and got the yellow jersey back.
Unfortunately, his triumph used to be called “the less deserved victory” in the history of Tour de France. The French audience wanted to see Jacques Anquetil, the rising star to win the race. They were quite disappointed with the success of a relatively unknown rider. Nevertheless, the race director, Jacques Goddet praised his performance, because it demonstrated excellently what a Grand Tour is about: using the legs to gain and the head to secure the best position.
Walkowiak retired from racing in 1960. He was depressed by the opinion of the cycling fans. He run a bar but gave it up when his customers started to talk about the way he won the Tour. Later he was an employee of the car factory, where he was also working before his cycling career as a young man.
He died on 7 February 2017 as the then-current oldest living winner of the Tour de France.