1967

Our year of birth is 1967. On 25.07.1967, my father and four other teammates rode over the Col d'Iseran. Two years earlier, they had done a bike tour over the Stelvio Pass and thought they had conquered the highest Alpine pass. When they discovered the Iseran, which is even higher, they planned a trip there. It took them 8 days to cover 882 km and 6558m elevation gain with full luggage.

12 days before their Iseran crossing, something happened at the Tour de France on Mont Ventoux that contributed to the myth of this mountain. Tom Simpson, who had become world champion two years earlier and was considered one of the favorites, collapsed 1.5 km before the summit and died. He had been riding in a zigzag pattern and had already crashed earlier and gotten back on his bike. Since amphetamine tablets and alcohol were found in his blood, he was considered the first doping case in cycling.