Jan Janssen (cyclist)

Jan Janssen, 1968

Johannes Adrianus "Jan" Janssen (born May 19, 1940 in Nootdorp ) is a former Dutch cyclist . He was one of the best professional cyclists of the 1960s and won the Tour de France in 1968 .

Career

Janssen began his cycling career in 1956 at the age of 16, after receiving a racing bike from his parents for his 15th birthday , and was able to switch to the amateur class with 40 victories. From 1958 to 1962 he was successful there 44 times as a member of the "De Rotterdaamse Leeuwe" association. In 1959 it was used internationally for the first time when it competed in the GDR tour (stage winner in the individual time trial) and then came fourth in the classic Rund um Berlin . In 1961 he distinguished himself as a specialist in stage rides in the 1st Tour de France for amateurs (Tour de l'Avenir) and took 9th place overall. In 1962 he was third in the Tour de l'Avenir with three stage wins. Before he switched to professional drivers, he completed his training as a machine fitter.In 1962, he chose the license as an independent as an intermediate step, because he first wanted to study the races and driving style with the professionals,

His professional career began in the same year when he won the championship in Zurich . Two years later, at the age of 24, he won the road cycling world championship in Sallanches in 1964. Numerous other good placements in classic one-day races followed; Among other things, he won Paris-Roubaix in 1967 and only had to admit defeat to Belgian Eddy Merckx in front of his home crowd in the sprint for the world title on the street .

Janssen, who was particularly successful as an individual time trial driver and premium tracker and, in addition to seven stages, won the Tour's green jersey three times (1964, 1965, 1967), was also able to assert himself in the overall standings: He was the first Dutchman to win the Vuelta a España 1967 or the Tour de France 1968 . Victory on this tour is the second closest to this day with a lead of only 38 seconds. Janssen managed to take off the yellow jersey from Belgian Herman Van Springel on the last stage, an individual time trial .

He won 121 professional victories from 1962 to 1972, including four six-day races in Amsterdam, Antwerp and Madrid from 1965 to 1968. During the 1973 season, he ended his career at the age of 33.

Oddities

Janssen missed the start of the seventh stage of the 1963 Tour de France and only started 15 minutes late. Approx. At 80 km he caught up with the peloton and was mocked by the passengers for his delayed start. Despite the enormous effort to make up the lost quarter of an hour, he won the stage by a second.

Others

Jan Janssen sells its own Jan Janssen bike brand .

He is not to be confused with the Olympians of 1968 , Jan Jansen .

Web links

• Palmarès - List of achievements and placements
• Jan Janssen in the Tour de France database(French / English )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Association of German Cyclists (ed.): Cycling . No. 37/1964 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne, p. 14 .
2. ↑ company website