| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Reimund Dietzen | ||
| Born | May 29, 1959 Trier, Germany |
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| Team information | |||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Directeur sportif | ||
| Rider type | All-rounder | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 1982 1983–1990 |
Puch Teka |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on September 22, 2007 |
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Reimund Dietzen sometimes written Raimund Dietzen (born May 29, 1959 in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a retired road and cyclo-cross cyclist from Germany, who was a professional rider from 1982 to 1990. He is currently a directeur sportif with the Gerolsteiner cycling team.
Dietzen was a successful amateur winning the German cyclo-cross championship in 1980 and 1981 as well as winning in road races. He turned professional with the Swiss team Puch in 1982. He won the cyclo-cross race the Grand Prix Jean Bausch-Pierre Kellner that year. The following year he joined a Spanish cycling team Teka with whom he would stay with for the rest of his career. In his first year with his new team he won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The following year he became the champion of Germany in the road race and cyclo-cross as well his first stage victory in the Vuelta a España. He won the stage to the Lagos de Covadonga which is a very steep climb and a prestigious stage to win. He would finish that year's edition of the Vuelta third overall.[1] The following year he was again cyclo-cross champion as well as the winner of the Vuelta a Cantabria. In 1986 he was again German road champion and won a second stage in the 1986 Vuelta a España. In 1987 he wore the leader's jersey in the 1987 Vuelta a España for five days before losing it to Herrera and then finishing the race second overall to Luis Herrera of Colombia. Dietzen finished the 1988 Vuelta a España second overall, this time to Sean Kelly of Ireland. In the 1989 Vuelta a España, Dietzen won a stage but several days later he crashed. He had ridden into a tunnel which was not illuminated and crashed, suffering career-ending injuries. He was only 30 years of age when the following year he stopped as a professional after not recovering. Seventeen years later, the Supreme Court of Spain ordered the organisers of the Vuelta a España to pay damages to Dietzen.[2] Dietzen obtained nearly all of his success in Spanish races[3] with wins in Vuelta a La Rioja, Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme. Since 2003 Dietzen is a directeur sportif with Team Gerolsteiner. He currently lives in Spain.