Niki Rüttimann

Niki Rüttimann
Personal information
Full name	Niki Rüttimann
Born	18 August 1962 (age 61); Untereggen, Switzerland
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
1984–1987	La Vie Claire
1988–1990	Weinmann–La Suisse–SMM Uster
Major wins
	Clásica de San Sebastián (1984); Tour de France, 1 stage
Medal record
Men's road bicycle racing
Representing Switzerland
World Championships

Niki Rüttimann (born 18 August 1962 in Untereggen) is a Swiss former road bicycle racer. Ruttiman was one of the most important domestiques of the La Vie Claire teams of the mid 1980s. In the 1984 Tour de France he finished 11th overall riding in support of Bernard Hinault who placed 2nd. During the 1985 Tour de France as well as the 1986 Tour de France he was right there between Hinault and Greg LeMond as they battled for Tour victories both years. He finished 13th in 1985 and 7th in 1986 while also winning stage 14. In 1987 he won a stage in the Tour de Romandie and a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné and went into the Tour supporting Jean-François Bernard being as Hinault had retired and LeMond was recovering from a gunshot wound. Bernard held the yellow jersey late in the race and finished 3rd overall as Ruttiman was there until the end, but abandoned on the final stage in the high mountains.^[1] He won two stages and finished 2nd overall in the 1988 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.