- Peter Post
Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Peter Post
fullname = Peter Post
nickname = De Keizer van de Zesdaagse
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1933|11|12
country = NED
height =
weight =
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Road/Track
role = Rider
ridertype =
amateurteams =
amateuryears =
proyears =
proteams =
majorwins = Paris-Roubaix 1964 National road race champion 1963
updated =June 6 ,2008 Peter Post (born
November 12 ,1933 inAmsterdam ,Noord-Holland ) was a Dutch professional cyclist whose career lasted from 1956 to 1972. Post competed in road and track racing. As a rider he is best remembered forSix-day racing , having competed in 155 races and won 65. Because of this success he was known as “De Keizer van de Zesdaagse” or “The Emperor of the Six Days”. In road racing his main achievements were winning the 1964Paris-Roubaix and becoming national road race champion in 1963. He was on the podium three times at theLa Flèche Wallonne but never won. Post’s other nickname was “de Lange” or “Big Man” because he was tall for a cyclist [http://www.dewielersite.net/db2/wielersite/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=3991 www.dewielersite.net.] Gives nicknames and birth date.] . After retiring from racing he had success as aDirecteur sportif .Road career
Post turned professional in 1956 with the small Dutch team R.I.H. He rode for the first few years with Gerrit Schulte, a track rider who also rode on the road and was an inspiration to him. Notable early career successes on the road came when he won the
Ronde van Nederland in 1960 and the 1962Deutschland Tour . In 1963 he became national road race champion as well as winning theTour of Belgium .In 1964 Post had his finest moment in road racing when he became the first Dutchman to win Paris-Roubaix. The race was run at top speed from the start and favourites
Rik van Looy ,Raymond Poulidor andRudi Altig were caught out by the fast pace and missed the decisive break atArras . Post’s team mate, Willy Bocklant, was in the break and sacrificed his chances by keeping the pace high for his leader. Five riders entered thevelodrome atRoubaix with Post winning the sprint by beating the world championBenoni Beheyt in the finishing straight. The high pace ensured that Post was also awarded the Ruban Jaune for the highest speed in a classic, the 265km run at 45.131 km/h. This 1964 record still stands as the fastest Paris-Roubaix although the route has altered since then."A Century of Paris-Roubaix" Gives information on 1964 Paris-Roubaix.] [cite web|url=http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/Mar08/Mar_feature08_PR64.htm|title=Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same)|publisher=Cycling Revealed.com|accessdate=2008-03-05]Post was delighted with his victory, but always the businessman, his delight was increased when he realised his appearance money at the winter six-day races would be increased. In 1965 Post made his only appearance in the
Tour de France but he abandoned beforeParis . (He subsequently acknowledged that he had doped at the Tour de France [ [http://geschiedenis.vpro.nl/artikelen/35548104/ History of the Tour de France and the Great Slikken., Geschiedenisportaal of the VPRO (Dutch Ref -Geschiedenis van de Tour de France en het Grote Slikken.)] ] .) His only other noteworthy result on the road came in 1967 when he finished runner-up toEddy Merckx inLa Flèche Wallonne although he had wins in smaller races. Post was votedDutch Sportsman of the year in 1964 and Dutch cyclist of the year in 1963 and 1970. [http://www.velo-club.net/article.php?sid=4374 www.velo-club.net.] Gives details of awards.]Track career
Post rode his first six-day in 1956 and his first victory came in 1957 in
Chicago , partnered by Harm Smits. Post had three partners with whom he had most success. In 1960 he teamed with Rik van Looy and won ten sixes. In 1963 he formed his most successful partnership with the SwissFritz Pfenninger and they had 19 victories until 1967, when Post joined the BelgianPatrick Sercu , with whom he had 14 victories up to 1971 and his final and 65th six-day inFrankfurt . Post's 65 six-day wins stood as a record for a few years, beatingRik van Steenbergen 's 40 wins when at theMilan six in 1968 when partnered byGianni Motta . However since thenRené Pijnen (72 wins), Danny Clark (74 wins) and Patrick Sercu (88 wins) have all passed Post's total with Sercu as the new record holder.Post won the Dutch
individual pursuit championships six times between 1957 and 1963. He took 14 European track titles (mostly madison andderny races). In 1965 inAntwerp he set the derny-paced hour record of 63.783km, beatingStan Ockers ' record which had stood for nine years.After retirement
Post retired from riding in 1972 and became
directeur sportif of theTI-Raleigh team in 1974. He was a former rider who knew the inside of cycling but also a shrewd businessman who could negotiate with sponsors. Post had a reputation of being hard on riders but his success with TI-Raleigh was exceptional. Post had riders such asHennie Kuiper ,Gerrie Knetemann ,Jan Raas andJoop Zoetemelk (all Dutch), one of the best squads in the world for a decade.In 1983 Raleigh pulled out of sponsorship and Post found a new backer in
Panasonic . The success continued, this time with mainly non-Dutch riders such asPhil Anderson ,Eric Vanderaerden ,Viatcheslav Ekimov ,Olaf Ludwig andMaurizio Fondriest . After the withdrawal of Panasonic, Post led the Histor and then Novemail teams before leaving cycling in 1995. He is ranked as the second most successful director behind Guillaume Driessens [http://www.cyclingranking.com/rankings/dirsportif_overall.php www.cyclingranking.com.] Gives all time rankings of director sportifs.] . Post returned to cycling as an adviser to the Rabobank team in 2005. [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jan05/jan06news www.cyclingnews.com.] “Post to advise Rabobank“.]Post also organised six-day races in
London andRotterdam .ix-day wins
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