German professional cyclist Rolf Wolfshohl was very successful and participated in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in Cologne on December 27, 1938, and spent his formative years there in the Buchheim neighborhood. Despite being bullied for his lack of athleticism in school, Wolfshohl developed a passion for cycling after observing riders practicing while commuting to his job as a lathe mechanic. He became a member of the RC Tempo Mülheim cycling team and trained with German national champion Jupp Arents there.
In 1956, Wolfshohl won the German juvenile road racing championship, which marked the beginning of his cycling career. Two years later, he won the elite cyclocross national championship. Wolfshohl prioritized cyclocross racing while briefly competing in track cycling at the behest of the Dortmund Six-Day Race chief. In 1959, while still an amateur, he won the Belgian Limburg Tour.
Winning the Tour de France was Wolfshohl’s ultimate objective. Between 1962 and 1972, he took part in the race nine times, acquiring the moniker “le loup” (the wolf) due on his last name. He finished sixth overall after crashing during the race, having won two stages in 1967 and 1970 and donning the yellow jersey for two days in 1968.
Together with road racing, Wolfshohl also achieved great success in cyclocross. Over his career, he won the national title 14 times, including once in road racing in 1968 and 13 times in cyclocross. In total, he received 12 world championship medals and won three cyclocross world championships (1959, 1961, and 1963). In 1965 and 1968, he also triumphed in the Vuelta a España and the Paris-Nizza. At two of the five cycling landmarks—Milan-San Remo in 1963 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1962—he came in second. In 1962, he won the Grand Prix d’Orchies, and in 1973, he ended his career as a professional cyclist.
Off the track, Wolfshohl’s son Rolf-Dieter, a cyclist, was paralyzed after sustaining a serious injury. Wolfshohl served as an honorary sporting director for the Rund um Köln event and served as a sporting director for the Rokado cycling team after he retired from competitive cycling. He and his wife currently own and operate the “rowona” brand of bicycle store and frame-building facility in Cologne-Neubrück. In 1997, he received the Federal Cross of Merit for his services to cycling.
Rolf Wolfshohl’s Outstanding Contributions:
The following are Rolf Wolfshohl’s top seven cycling accomplishments:
- 1956: German youth road racing champion
- 1958: Bronze medal in the cyclocross world championships
- Second place in the 1962 Liège-Bastogne-Liège race
- Second place in Milan-San Remo in 1963; victory in the Vuelta a España in 1965.
- 1968: Paris-Nizza champion
- 1970: A Tour de France stage victory
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