Piet van Kempen

Piet van Kempen 1936

Pieter Dingeman "Piet" van Kempen (* December 12, 1898 in Ooltgensplaat, today in Oostflakkee , † May 5, 1985 in Brussels ) was a Dutch track cyclist .

Piet van Kempen was one of the most successful track cyclists in the Netherlands for over two decades. Before the First World War he took part in the “Elfsteden Rijwieltocht”, a 200-kilometer-long popular festival-like race for everyone along the eleven cities of Friesland (comparable to the “ Elfstedentocht ” for speed skating ). In 1916 he became the Dutch sprint champion for amateurs . In 1919 he became a professional and from then on drove mainly six days .

Van Kempen (left) with Paul Broccardo at the six-day race in Brussels in 1936

Between 1920 and 1939 van Kempen started in 108 six-day races and won 32 of them, including nine in North America and two in Berlin . He did not have a standard partner and achieved his success with various partners such as Jan Pijnenburg , Paul Buschenhagen , Oscar Egg , Marcel Buysse , Reggie McNamara and others. His nicknames in the halls were "De Vgende Hollander" or "Zwarte Piet" (Dutch name for the " evil companion " of Nicholas). He is considered the first "six-day boss" who determined the course of the races and also took most of the fee for himself. At the 20th Berlin six-day race in 1928, the "Zwarte Piet", along with eight other racing drivers and his manager Cor Blekemolen, was excluded by the sports director Walter Rütt because he had instigated and bribed them to postpone the race in his favor. In addition, his racing license for Germany was revoked for one year.

Van Kempen raced six times in New York by 1928 ; There is a rumor that he clashed with the organizer John Chapman because of his dominant appearance and therefore did not start there afterwards. Until he was "dethroned" by the Canadian William Peden in 1938 , he was the six-day driver with the most victories.

In the 1950s, Piet van Kempen tried unsuccessfully to make a comeback.

Piet van Kempen lived mainly in and around Brussels throughout his life. After his cycling career, he ran a hotel-restaurant near the Brussels train station from around 1940. In June 1941 he was sentenced to imprisonment for forging accommodation certificates for the German occupation army. After the war he became very wealthy, owned racehorses and two Ferraris . After the death of his wife in 1968, however, he gambled away all of his fortune and went into debt.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Renate Franz: Fredy Budzinski. Cycling journalist - collector - chronicler , Cologne 2007, p. 44.
2. ↑ Alfons Arenhövel: Arena of Passions. Berliner Sportpalast and its events 1910-1973 Berlin 1990, p. 260 f.
3. ^ The German cyclist , June 11, 1941

swell

• Roger de Maertelaere, Mannen van de Nacht , Eeklo 2000, p. 236.
• Peter Ouwerkerk: Op de Rotterdamse latten , Rotterdam 2006, p. 30f.

Web links

• Piet van Kempen in the Radsportseiten.net database