Ron Baensch

Ron Baensch

Personal information
Full name Ronald Baensch
Born (1939-06-05) 5 June 1939
Melbourne, Australia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight 58 kg (128 lb; 9.1 st)
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Track
Role Rider
Rider type Sprinter
Professional team(s)
1965 Lamot-Libertas
1966 Libertas
1967 Casagrande
1970 Carlton-Truwel-Campagnolo

Ronald "Ron" Baensch (born 5 June 1939) is an Australian former racing cyclist, specialising in track sprinting events. He represented Australia at the 1960 Olympics and several World Championships in the 1960s and in 1970.

Cycling career

1960 Olympic Games

Baensch competed in the 1,000 metre sprint at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Losing to eventual gold medalist Sante Gaiardoni in the semi-final and to Valentino Gasparella in the final round race for bronze, Baensch finished in fourth place.[1][2]

UCI Track Cycling World Championships

Baensch won a bronze medal in the men's amateur sprint at the 1961 World Championships in Zurich.[3] After turning professional in 1964, he won silver in the men's sprint at the 1964 World Championships in Paris,[4] bronze in the 1965 (San Sebastian)[5] and silver again in 1966 (Frankfurt).[6]

Baensch was fined ƒ 2,000 and disqualified from the 1967 World Championships in Amsterdam after testing positive to ephedrine.[7] He claimed to have taken the drug to combat a heavy cold.[7]

Baensch was beaten by Angelo Domiano in the quarter finals at the 1970 World Championships in Leicester.[8]

Later life

After his professional cycling career, Baensch was a truck driver in Europe and, on his return to Australia in 1974, he settled in Newcastle, New South Wales and worked on oil rigs.[9] He continued to compete in local cycle races in Australia until 1980, winning his last race.[9] In 2011, Baensch was inducted into the Victorian Cycling Hall of Fame.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Baensch among World cyclists". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 1960. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  2. ↑ "Cycling at the 1960 Roma Summer Games: Men's Sprint". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  3. ↑ "World Championship, Track, Sprint, Amateurs 1961". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  4. ↑ "Baensch Second in Wild Finish". The Age. Melbourne. 15 September 1964. p. 26. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  5. ↑ "Baensch third in world sprint title". The Age. Melbourne. 14 September 1965. p. 28. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  6. ↑ "Italian retains cycling title". The Age. Melbourne. 6 September 1966. p. 27. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  7. 1 2 "Eight more out for dope". Cycling. 9 September 1967. p. 9. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  8. ↑ "Day of ups and downs for Australia". The Age. Melbourne. 13 August 1970. p. 26. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  9. 1 2 Hood, Edmond (9 March 2011). "A Man From The Golden Age: Ron Baensch". Pez Cycling News. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Victorian Cycling Hall of Fame Presentation night". Cycling Victoria. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
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