Quick Facts
GeminiBiography
Jean Graczyk (26 May 1933 – 27 June 2004) was a professional road bicycle racer who won two maillot vert (or green jersey) points competitions at the Tour de France and has won several stages each at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Before turning professional, Graczyk won an Olympic silver medal in the team pursuit for France.
His nickname in the sport was Popof. The American-French journalist René de Latour jokingly said in the British monthly Sporting Cyclist that it was because of his habit of attacking alone, or "popping off". De Latour, however, depended too heavily on his readers' understanding of French slang, because Popof is a semi-derogatory term in French for someone of Polish background. The "popping off" suggestion, however, is still widely believed and appears from time to time in histories of the sport.
Major results
- 1956
- Summer Olympics:
Silver medal team pursuit
France national amateur road race champion- 1957
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Tour du Sud-Est
- 1958
- Cluny
- Orchies
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stage 13B
- Pleurtuit
- Tour de France:
Winner Points classification
Winner Points classification- 1959
- Antibes
- Hyères
- Ronde d'Aix-en-Provence
- Saint-Denis l'Hotel
- Trofeo Longines (with Jacques Anquetil, André Darrigade, Seamus Elliott and Michel Vermeulin)
- Paris–Nice
- Tour de France:
- Winner stage 5
- 1960
- Tour de France:
- Winner stages 4, 12, 17 and 21
- Winner Points classification
- Critérium International
- Super Prestige Pernod International
- Brignolles
- GP Monaco
- Saint-Claud
- Saint-Hilaire de Harcouet
- 1961
- Challenge Laurens
- GP de Fréjus
- Neuvic sur l'isle
- Roma-Napoli-Roma
- Saint-Just-sur-Loire
- Sanvignes
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- La Charité-sur-Loire
- 1962
- GP Vercors
- Lubersac
- Vuelta a España:
- Winner stages 6, 13, 14 and 16
- Soings
- 1963
- GP Monaco
- Soing-en-Sologne
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Royan
- Montélimar
- 1964
- Gap
- Montélimar
- 1965
- Belvès
- Sin-le-Noble
- Vailly-sur-Sauldre
- Montélimar
- 1969
- Quesnoy
Teams
- 1955: La Perle-Hutchinson
- 1956: Individual
- 1957–1958: Helyett-Potin
- 1959: Helyett-Fynsec
- 1960: Helyett-Fynsec-Leroux
- 1961: Helyett-Fynsec-Hutchinson
- 1962: Saint-Raphael-Helyett
- 1963–1964: Margnat-Paloma
- 1965: Ford France-Gitane
- 1966: Ford France-Geminiani
- 1967–1968: Bic
- 1969–1970: Sonolor-Lejeune
- 1970–1972: Individual