road, Anquetil lost contact and a gap of three lengths appeared between the two partners. There followed one of the most sensational things I have ever seen in any form of cycle racing during my 35 years' association with the sport - something which I consider as great a physical performance as a world hour record or a classic road race win. Altig was riding at 30mph at the front - and had been doing so for 15 minutes. When Anquetil lost contact, he had to ease the pace, wait for his partner to go by, push him powerfully in the back, sprint to the front again after losing 10 yards in the process, and again settle down to a 30mph stint at the front. Altig did not this just once but dozens of times. Anquetil reached the stadium where the race finished and hit a pole. He was helped away with staring eyes and with blood streaming from a cut to his head. The pairing nevertheless won by nine seconds. Altig said: "Jacques wasn't happy [during the race], it didn't please him at all, but I wanted us to win. So I got him by the saddle, I got him by the shorts, and hop!." Retirement Altig became directeur sportif of the Puch-Wolber team when he stopped racing and worked for five years as national coach. He was a television commentator. He said of the American rider, Lance Armstrong: "He is a tyrant who exploits his team-mates without leaving them the least initiative." Of his fellow German, Jan Ullrich, he said he would do better to talk less about what he was going to do and get on and do it. He died on 11 June 2016 in Remagen, Germany, as a result of cancer. Six-days Altig won 22 six-days: (with Hans Junkermann) 1962: Berlin, Münster 1963: Essen 1964: Essen (with Fritz Pfenninger) 1964: Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main 1970: Dortmund 1971: Bremen, Cologne (with Dieter Kemper) 1965: Berlin, Frankfurt a. M. 1966: Bremen, Cologne (with Sigi Renz) 1965: Cologne 1966: Berlin, Dortmund, Zürich 1968: Bremen, Cologne 1969: Ghent (with Patrick Sercu) 1968: Dortmund, Frankfurt a. M. (with Klaus Bugdahl) 1968: Münster Major results 1960 1st Individual pursuit, UCI Track World Championships 1st Stage 7 Deutschland Tour 1961 1st Individual pursuit, UCI Track World Championships 6th Overall Deutschland Tour 1962 1st Overall Vuelta a España 1st Points classification 1st Stages