Bulla book presented

He was one of Austria’s greatest sporting heroes

Max Bulla was one of Austria's most internationally acclaimed athletes in his day.

(Bild: Nachlass Max Bulla)

He was one of Austria's greatest sporting heroes. The Viennese professional cyclist Max Bulla delivered his masterpiece in 1931 when he won three stages of the Tour de France. Now sports historians Matthias Marschik and Rudolf Müllner have reconstructed his life in detail. Their book "Max Bulla, Cyclist" was presented in Vienna on Wednesday evening.

The authors invested two years of work. They delved into various archives, read hundreds of newspaper clippings and received a wealth of information from Max Bulla's son Michael. To research the numerous pictures, Marschik and Müllner traveled to France, among other places, where they found what they were looking for at the sports daily L'Équipe and in the French National Library.

Max Bulla with his older son Maximilian

(Bild: Nachlass Max Bulla)

As a child, Bulla passed the Danish king
Numerous guests followed the presentation in the "Star Bike" in the second district on Wednesday. They learned that Bulla won his three Tour de France stages as a private rider without team support ("tourist routier"), that he only arrived on the night train an hour before the start of his overall victory in the first Tour de Suisse and how, even as a child, he passed the Danish king on his bike in Copenhagen to ask him to extend his stay after the First World War.

At the book presentation at "Star Bike" in Vienna, visitors soaked up everything they could about Max Bulla.

(Bild: Richard Hollinek)

The inventor of the Tour de France celebrated Bulla
The Tour de France in 1931 was the highlight of his career. On the second day of the 25th edition of the Tour, the Viennese rider achieved a sensation. On the flat stage from Caen to Dinan, Bulla won with a riding time of six hours, 37 minutes and four seconds ahead of all the aces of the favored national teams and slipped into the yellow jersey. Henri Desgrange, editor-in-chief of the French sports newspaper "LÀuto" and inventor of the Tour de France, paid tribute to this success on the front page of his paper. It was, "if his memory serves him right", the first time that a "tourist routier" had won the yellow jersey. This was no surprise, however, because the Viennese rider was of considerable quality and had taken the decisive initiative in the race.

Alone against the phalanx of the world's elite road riders
The success on the twelfth stage from Montpellier to Marseille was also reflected in the Austrian press in extravagant eulogies. The commentators hardly omitted a superlative. They emphasized the "sweltering heat" that had to be overcome and the overall "heroic achievement when an individual, completely on his own, achieves such great success in such a gigantic and nerve-wracking struggle against a phalanx of the world's elite road riders, who are given every possible support."

Outsprinted the eventual overall winner in the final sprint
Bulla's third stage win came in the 17th stage, a very demanding 230-kilometre mountain stage from Grenoble to Aix les Bains, which included a climb over the 2658-metre-high Col de Galibier. It was decided in a sprint finish, in which Bulla beat the eventual overall winner Antonin Magne. From this point on at the latest, the Viennese's subsequent success in the "tourist classification" was as good as certain.

Austrian stage winners in the Tour de France

1931: Max Bulla (three stages)

2005: Georg Totschnig (one stage)

2021: Patrick Konrad (one stage)

2023: Felix Gall (one stage)

Marschik emphasizes: "As a private rider, Bulla had no mechanic to support him. Nobody helped him at the finish. And afterwards he also had to organize food and accommodation." Müllner adds: "When you see how bad the roads were back then and the bikes were of course not as good as they are today, his achievements seem even more extraordinary."

Profile of Max Bulla

Born on: September 26, 1905 in WIen

Died on: March 1, 1990 in Pitten

Greatest successes in his 26-year professional cycling career: three stage victories in the Tour de France 1931, overall victory and two stage victories in the first Tour de Suisse 1933, two stage victories in the Vuelta 1935.

Finding personal happiness through cycling
Born in 1905, Bulla had completed an apprenticeship as a furrier and earned extra money by delivering newspapers on his bike. This sideline led him to cycling and to personal happiness. It was through a club colleague at the SC Grandhotel that Bulla met his future wife Josefine Sapletan, who was a racing cyclist herself. As an "all-rounder", he rode not only major tours and one-day races over long distances, but also mountain races, criteriums and often competed on the track, from sprint races to six-day competitions.

Sports historian Rudolf Müllner at the presentation.

(Bild: Richard Hollinek)

Bulla wrote postcards and letters to the "Kronen-Zeitung" newspaper
He took over personal contact with the media from his friend Franz "Ferry" Dusika. For example, he wrote postcards and letters to the "Kronen-Zeitung" newspaper of the time. One such letter is reproduced here: "Dear Kronen-Zeitung. I have been down in the sunny south since January, my wife and my boy are still in Juan les Pins, where we have rented a small house. Of course, yours truly only ever comes for a short visit, because the life of a professional cyclist is, as you know, very erratic. But I'm happy with my lot, because I always have nice successes and the main thing is that it also pays a bit." Bulla also emphasized in the letter: "I often think of Vienna and the Viennese, especially when I read the Kronen-Zeitung. For my wife, the daily Kronen-Zeitung is the greatest joy. She is probably one of your most attentive readers."

Cycling from Vienna to Marrakesh with Dusika at the age of 67
After his 26-year career, he worked as a manager, cycling equipment dealer, event organizer, consultant and expert. And he remained very active into old age. On his 60th birthday in 1965, Bulla cycled the route of his first professional victory (from Schwechat to Fischamend and back) four minutes faster than he did at the time. And in 1973, he cycled 5500 kilometers from Vienna to Marrakesh with Franz Dusika. At the beginning of the 1980s, Bulla said that he was never ill, that he "didn't even know what a handkerchief was". In 1984, shortly after Franz Dusika's death, Bulla suffered a stroke. In March 1990, the Austrian cycling legend died at the age of 84.

This is what the cover of the book looks like.

(Bild: Verlag Brüder Hollinek)

Book tip: Matthias Marschik, Rudolf Müllner: "Max Bulla, Radrennfahrer". Published by Brüder Hollinek. 187 pages. 39 euros.