Fritz Ryser
Swiss cyclist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fritz Ryser (26 May 1873 – 13 February 1916) was a Swiss cyclist. He won the UCI Motor-paced World Championships in 1908 and finished in third place in 1901.[1][2]
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 26 May 1873 Huttwil, Switzerland | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 February 1916 (aged 42) Berlin, Germany | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Cycling | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ryser started with road racing and won a national title in 1899.[3] The same year he turned professional and won a national title in motor-paced racing. Although in 1908 he became the first Swiss cyclist to win a world title in this discipline, his career was marred with bad luck. Eight days after the race, his pacer Joseph Black died in a race in Düsseldorf. Next year Ryser himself got into a serious accident in Berlin – his pacer Emil Borchardt while trying to avoid a fallen rider hit the stands; his motorcycle exploded killing nine people. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Ryser was detained for alleged espionage while racing in Poland,[4] whereas his pacemaker was deported to Siberia.[5] Ryser died from a stroke in Berlin, aged 42.