Roy Schuiten

Roy Schuiten

Roy Schuiten in 1974
Personal information
Full name Roy Schuiten
Born 16 December 1950
Zandvoort, Netherlands
Died 19 September 2006 (aged 55)
Praia do Corveiro, Portugal
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Team information
Discipline Road and track
Rider type Time-trialist, pursuit
Professional team(s)
1974–1975 TI-Raleigh
1976–1977 Lejeune-BP
1978–1979 Scic-Bottecchia
1980 Inoxpran
1981 Kotter-GBC
1982 Kelme-Merckx
Managerial team(s)
1986 PDM-Concorde
Major wins
World Individual Pursuit Champion (1974, 1975)
Grand Prix des Nations (1974, 1975)
Rund um den Henninger Turm (1975)
Infobox last updated on
27 July 2007

Roy Schuiten (16 December 1950 – 19 September 2006) was a Dutch track and road racing cyclist. After retirement he became a team manager before starting a restaurant.

Background

Schuiten was a tall (1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)), stylish rider who shone as an amateur. He was the 1972 national pursuit champion, broke the amateur record for 4,000 m on an indoor track, and won numerous team time-trials.[1] He finished in fifth place in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[2] He came close to not turning professional because his father died in a traffic accident in 1973.[3] He stopped cycling for a season to help his mother run the family wine and spirits business in Zandvoort. The following year Schuiten's younger brother, Fred, took over the business and on 17 July 1974 Schuiten turned professional for the TI-Raleigh team run by Peter Post.[3]

Track career

Schuiten established himself with Raleigh by winning the world pursuit championship in September 1974, beating Ferdinand Bracke of Belgium in the final. Bracke had been leading until an official indicated there were four laps still to ride when there were six.[3] Bracke faded and Schuiten won.

Schuiten won again in 1975 by beating Knut Knudsen of Norway. He won silver medals in 1976 and 1978.[4] He was national champion five times.

In 1975 Post encouraged Schuiten to attempt Eddy Merckx's world hour record in Mexico.[5] The frame-builder Jan Legrand made him a bicycle weighing only 5.7 kg.[3] but Schuiten failed at his two attempts, unable to cope with the rarified air of Mexico City. Press criticism in the Netherlands was marked and Schuiten, demoralised, never again rode on the track at the same level.[3]

Main track achievements[6]

Road

Roy Schuiten (left) and Gerben Karstens in Rotterdam in 1978

Schuiten rode the Tour de France twice (finishing 2nd and 3rd in time trials) the Giro d'Italia five times .[6] In 1975 he won the Rund um den Henninger-Turm. He won the Grand Prix des Nations in 1974 and 1975. He won the Trofeo Baracchi (1974 with Francesco Moser and in 1978 with Knut Knudsen), the GP Kanton Aargau Gippingen (1976) and the GP Forli (1979).[7]

He changed teams frequently after leaving Raleigh in 1976, doing well in races up to a week long but best of all when riding against the clock.

Main road achievements[6]

Retirement and death

After retirement in 1982 he became manager of PDM-Concorde in 1986 for a year.[8] He then moved to Portugal and started his own restaurant. He died on 19 September 2006 in Praia de Carvoeiro, aged 55, from a stomach haemorrhage.[5][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Roy Schuiten profile at Cycling Archives
  2. ↑ Roy Schuiten. sports-reference.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Coup de Pédales, Belgium, September 2006
  4. ↑ World Championship Track Cycling 2006–1958, bikecult.com
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Roy Schuiten (55) overleden, nos.nl 19 September 2006
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Roy Schuiten, achtergronden, Tourdefrance.nl
  7. ↑ Velo Archive, Riders: S, veloarchive.com
  8. ↑ PDM – Concorde 1986, dewielersite.net
  9. ↑ Coup de Pédale, Belgium, September 2006

External links

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