The last Dutchman to win the KoM in le Tour was Gert-Jan Theunisse. He was also the last Dutchman to win atop Alpe d'Huez. The year was 1989 and I was too busy riding crotch-rockets, water skiing, and coiffing the plumage of my mullet to notice much else besides an American and fellow Minnesotan had just won the closest tour in history. But that last bit about the mullet, and that he's a cyclist, piqued my interest in the man who's name holds a spot on the eighth corner of Alpe d'Huez. Eight Dutch riders have won on the Alpe. Only two have gone on to win the polka dot jersey.
Boxing Theunisse into the Evanescent Riders of the 90's category seems fitting. His career as a pro road racer displayed flashes of “brilliant” riding and was riddled with positive controls. Though his professional road tenure spanned 11 years, his notable palmares were all garnered between 1988 and 1992. These include the previously mentioned KoM at le Tour as well as the top spot at San Sebastian, a stage win at the failed Tour de Trump, and an overall and stage win in Luxembourg. Oh to be back in the day when a rider received a 10 minute time penalty rather than a two year ban for pissing a positive. That said, I wonder if it isn't more appropriate to say positive riders of the time were 'caught out' as opposed to 'caught up' in le dopage.
One could also make an argument for Gert-Jan's hardness on the Jens Scale. His palmares may not quite make the case for him being an Unsung Hardman but the adversity Theunisse has overcome comes closer. During the second stage of Terrino-Adriatico in 1995 Gert-Jan was diagnosed with a heart problem and abandoned professional road racing. After being struck by a car while mountain biking he was paralyzed in 1997. He was unable to walk for six months but slowly regained his mobility and began coaching in the fastly growing mountain bike scene. Then in 1999 his heart trouble resurfaced in the form of a heart attack. Despite, or perhaps because of his injuries, he relocated to Majorca and rode himself back into form on a mountain bike where he met with success in European mountain biking.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Gert-Jan Theunisse/”/]
As with all of the lauded riders on these pages, Gert-Jan Theunisse seems to be as a complex character as they come. Two things stand out about him for me. The first is that his Spotted Jumper victory in 1989 is largely overshadowed, understandably so, by one of the greatest G.C. battles of all time. But to be able to reflect on riding le Tour in 1989 and being witness to such an epic, let alone winning the dots, would be fantastic. The second, which I think is the more interesting, is that pro cycling was cruel to Theunisse. Sure he made his own choices but in the end he chose to stick with what he surely knew and more than likely loved, riding a bike. Others could be forgiven for walking away from two wheels forever. Chapeau, Gert-Jan Theunisse, you are a true Velominatus for continuing to ride.
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Excellent job Marko! I was a big fan of Gert back then, along with Rooks, Lemonster, Yates, and the list goes on. This was all back when I couldn't wait for my copy of Bicycle Racing Illustrated to show up in the mailbox (I'm having similar anticipation these days for my first copy of Velo to show up).
I also seem to remember a mention of rumors of quasi nefarious rituals that he and his Velomihottie would do to give him extra strength. This only added to his badassedness in my eyes. Of course all of his doping positives disappointed me a little, but back then I can't say that they were big surprises either.
And of course his grinta in the face of his post Pro career trials and tests only adds to his stature.
On L'Alpe:
I always wondered what kind of character Theunisse was, getting a corner for himself on the way to Alpe d'Huez. Thanks for filling that gap for me.
@Marko
Factoid before Oli points it out:
Theunisse was not the second Dutchman to win; several others have won there before. Peter Winnen won twice, as did Hennie Kuiper, Joop Zoetemelk. That's eight wins in total. That makes us the most winning country atop that fabled hill. Which is two more than Italy. And is also why we call it Dutch Mountain. And why we're so awesome.
And by the way, awesome post and awesome to see someone give the old chap a head's up. And here's an example of why the Dutch are good at going uphill even though they hail from a mostly flat country. (Some of my relatives in NL live "at elevation". Which mean that they live at, literally, 3m.)
@frank
Of course, terribly egregious error on my part. Funny, that factoid wasn't squaring with my memory as I was writing it. Turns out I was looking at the dutch dots winners tab when I should have clicked on the dutch alpe winners tab. Thanks for catching that, turns out I'm not crazy, just lack attention to detail. Fixed it.
Furthermore, the whole bloody head is eerily reminiscent of Ten Dam this year.
My favorite GJT factoid is this: After one of his recoveries (I believe from the car accident), he had the ambition of returning to professional road cycling, but wasn't sure how to get his climbing legs back. The solution? Buy a house at the top of l'Alpe d'Huez and ride it nonstop. If I'm not mistaken, his record was riding it 20 times in one day.
@frank
That video always cracks me up. Any idea how fast the wind was blowing in that?
here's a factoid: anyone...I mean anyone who can ride w/panache & a mullet is a stud. Now before you bust your hymen, this feat is not easily balanced and only for the EuroPRO's lest you fall into weirdoville.
Not to mention your 'hill repeats' just happen to be Alpe d Huez...peats sake man.
Chapeau!
All right Marko. I saw Gert in person at a stage of the Tour Dupont/Trump, both Gert and Leman at the start and Gert was the guy you couldn't stop looking at, a striking face. I might argue he didn't have a mullet as much as a long thin hair, f'ing Mario had a true euro-mullet. Any photos of yours? He asked politely.
In the world of professional cycling, where conformity is the rule, he always stood out as his own person.