Roy Schuiten in 1974
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Personal information | |
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Full name | Roy Schuiten |
Born |
Zandvoort, Netherlands |
16 December 1950
Died | 19 September 2006 Praia do Corveiro, Portugal |
(aged 55)
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) |
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.
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. He finished in fifth place in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He came close to not turning professional because his father died in a traffic accident in 1973. 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.
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. Bracke faded and Schuiten won.
Schuiten won again in 1975 by beating Knut Knudsen of Norway. He won silver medals in 1976 and 1978. He was national champion six times.
In 1975 Post encouraged Schuiten to attempt Eddy Merckx's world hour record in Mexico. The frame-builder Jan Legrand made him a bicycle weighing only 5.7 kg. 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.
Main track achievements
Schuiten rode the Tour de France twice (finishing 2nd and 3rd in time trials) the Giro d'Italia five times . 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).