Born in
Cologne, Kunde started his cycling career in 1959 as amateur. In 1962 he became professional. His biggest success was in the
1966 Tour de France, where he wore the
yellow jersey for five days. This was even more special considering he received hardly any support from his teammates. Kunde started 5 times in the Tour de France, but only finished three times, in
1964,
1965 and
1966. Because he was relatively small (, and ), Kunde was nicknamed
Bergfloh and
Karl, der Kurze (Karl the short). The French reporters named him
Le petit Kunde, and his concurrent
Jacques Anquetil named him
Mikrobe. Kunde was also a
Cyclo-cross-cyclist. In 1973 Kunde ended his cycling career, and started a bicycle shop in Cologne. == Palmarès ==