Jan Janssen (cyclist)

Jan Janssen

Jan Janssen in 1967
Personal information
Full name	Johannes Adrianus Janssen
Born	(1940-05-19) 19 May 1940 (age 76) Nootdorp, South Holland, Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All rounder
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1968) Points classification (1964, 1965, 1967) 7 individual stages Vuelta a España General classification (1967) Points classification (1967, 1968) 3 individual stages Stage Races Paris–Nice (1964) Ronde van Nederland (1965) Single-Day Races and Classics World Road Race Champion (1964) Bordeaux–Paris (1966) Paris–Roubaix (1967) Züri-Metzgete (1962)
Medal record Representing the  Netherlands Men's road bicycle racing World Championships 1964 Sallanches Elite Men's Road Race 1967 Heerlen Elite Men's Road Race

Grand Tours

Stage Races

Single-Day Races and Classics

Johannes Adrianus "Jan" Janssen (pronounced [jɑn jɑnsɛn]; born 19 May 1940) is a Dutch former professional cyclist (1962–1972). He was world champion and winner of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He was the first Dutch rider to win the Tour de France and the first to win the Vuelta a España. He rode the Tour de France eight times and finished all but the first time. He won seven stages and wore the yellow jersey for two days (after stage 16 in 1966 and after stage 22B in 1968). He was easily spotted in the peloton because of his blond hair and his glasses.

Janssen was born at Nootdorp, a small town near The Hague and Delft, just five days after the Netherlands surrendered to the Nazis. He later moved to Putte, a village on the Belgian border between Roosendaal and Antwerp. He worked with his parents as a youth, digging the heavy ground of the western Netherlands to excavate foundations for the buildings the family firm erected. He joined the cycling club at Delft when he was 16 and as a novice won 25 races in two years.

Janssen turned professional after an amateur career in which he won several Dutch classics and rode for the Netherlands in the Tour de l'Avenir, which was then open to amateurs and to independents, or semi-professionals. Janssen rode for French teams and is especially associated with Pelforth-BP, sponsored by a brewer and an oil company. His talent, authority, and command of French quickly established him as the team leader. At first he had a reputation as a sprinter but he quickly developed into a rider of multi-day races.