Allan Peiper (born 26 April 1960), is a retired

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

professional cyclist and current pro cycling team manager. He began cycling at 12 years of age, competing on both road and track, with success. Selected for the Australian team, at the 1977 Junior World Championships in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. The 16 year old Peiper, then went to race in Belgium. He stayed for the next three years. Winning races, as a junior, then amateur, hardened a mindset & reputation, that remains to this day. Intense racing and travelling, eventually, took its toll on his health. In late 1979, following an illness, he returned to Australia, to recover. He didn't race again, until late 1980. A key figure in Peiper's recovery, and return to top level racing, was Peter Brotherton a former British Olympic cyclist (he settled in Melbourne, after the 1956 Summer Olympics) who was building frames & helping riders with training advice. A highly successful return to racing in 1981, winning often, and the Dulux Tour of New Zealand, gave Peiper, the chance to return to Europe in 1982, with the ACBB amateur team, based in Paris, France. The 1982 season with ACBB was successful. Winning 14 races, amateur classics, and the prestigious Grand Prix des Nations TT. This earned him a professional contract with

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

for 1983. In 10 years, he rode the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

five times, the Giro d'Italia four times & the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

once (10 Grand Tours). In his career, Peiper raced with 3 Professional Cycling teams:

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

and

Tulip Computers Tulip Computers NV was a Dutch computer manufacturer that manufactured PC clones. History It was founded in 1979 as ''Compudata'', as an importer of American microcomputers. Compudata was the distributor for Europe for the Exidy Sorcerer, a ...

, winning more than 35 races, including stages of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. Allan now resides in Belgium. After six years working with

BMC Racing Team CCC Pro Team () was a UCI WorldTeam co-owned and managed by American cyclist Jim Ochowicz, who founded the 7-Eleven Cycling Team. After its last title sponsor, CCC, a Polish shoe retailer, pulled out due to financial difficulties resulting from t ...

, the team disbanded at the end of the 2018 season. In 2019, Allan, will be working with

UAE Team Emirates UAE Team Emirates () is an Emirati road bicycle racing team. The team competes at UCI WorldTeam level and has done so since the UCI World Tour was formed as the top category of road cycling in 2005. However the team was temporarily suspended fro ...

as Lead DS.

Amateur career

1972–77: Australia

Beginning to race in the local club cycle races, he soon progressed to open road races, and following success, he was often selected* for the state cycling team of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

at various Australian Cycling Championships. :*''(In the early years, riders could compete in Australian Cycling Championships only if selected by the rider's state of residence. Nowadays, riders, can enter state or national championships, without restriction)''. State Championship wins on the road, and in the pursuit, followed quickly by the Oceania Cycling Championships, where, Peiper cleaned up in the Junior category. He was selected for the Junior World Cycling Championships in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where, he placed 3rd in the Junior Points race.

1977–79: Belgium

At 16 years of age, Peiper (after the World Junior Cycling Championships) in

travelled to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, to live and race in the daily Kermiskoersen. In that first season (1977) in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, he won one race, but finished second 39 times. He had been living in a small butchers shop, in

, with several other cyclists, before befriending

Eddy Planckaert Eddy Planckaert (born 22 September 1958 in Nevele) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Belgium. In 1988, Planckaert enjoyed perhaps his best year by capturing the green jersey (points competition) at the 1988 Tour de France and w ...

and being invited to live with the Planckaert family, in

Nevele Nevele () is a village and former municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2018, the municipality of Nevel ...

. The following year (1978) he returned to the World Junior Cycling Championships held in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, USA, where he competed in the road race, and came second in the points race. Returning to Belgium, he continued to race, winning another 10 races, and placing second, a further 25 times. Peiper, was a "professional junior" until the middle of 1979, when, following a bout of ill health, he returned to Australia, to recover.

1980–81: Australia

It was not until November 1980, that Peiper, had recovered enough to begin racing again. He was helped and mentored, in his recovery by Peter Brotherton a former Olympic cyclist, (who competed in the

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

) for Great Britain. In 1981 Peiper, raced mainly in Australia and New Zealand, where he won the Dulux Tour of the North Island. This earned an invitation to join the famous ACBB amateur cycling team, based in Paris, France, for 1982.

1982: ACBB

The Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt (ACBB) cycling team, had a ruthless reputation and culture, where riders were expected to win. If they did not, they were soon discarded. Previous English-speaking cyclists (who raced with the team) include

Paul Sherwen Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...

, Graham Jones,

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of t ...

, Phil Anderson,

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...

and

Sean Yates Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif. Career Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mi ...

.
By the September, Peiper, had won 14 races, including several classics, and the prestigious GP des Nations time trial. The

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

were to be held in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in late September 1982.

Cycling Australia Cycling Australia (CA), the trading name of the Australian Cycling Federation Inc, was the national governing body for bicycle racing in Australia, and represented the interests of affiliated cycling clubs and State federations. It covered the d ...

would not consider Peiper, for the national cycling team, as he had not raced any Australian selection events.
That was the end of Peiper's amateur career. He was to become a professional cyclist, with Peugeot in 1983.

Professional career

1983–1985: Peugeot

Peiper made his professional cycling debut in the traditional early season races based around the South of France. In his second year (1984) Peiper began to win more races. Many cycle stage races, begin with a short time trial (called a prologue). This determines the first race leader, and these intense, time trial efforts, were something of a "trade mark" of Peiper. By winning the opening race prologue, the rider also leads the race overall, gains the race leader's jersey, and receives considerable publicity for himself and the cycling team. In 1984, Peiper won 3 prologues at:

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

Tour de l'Oise The Tour de Picardie was a professional stage race, multi-stage road bicycle racing, cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The ...

& the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is par ...

. He also won the

Tour of Sweden The Tour of Sweden (or Postgirot Open) was an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's ...

stage race, by winning the final time trial. Peiper made his debut in the 1984

by placing 3rd in the opening prologue. On the opening road stage, he again, placed 3rd. Second place, would have given him the race lead and the yellow jersey. He also led the best young rider classification "White Jersey" competition. Peiper, finished his debut Tour de France in 95th position.

1986–1990: Panasonic

After three seasons, racing with

, Peiper joined the Dutch

team, managed by

Peter Post Peter Post (12 November 193314 January 2011) 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 for Six-day racing, having competed in 155 races and wo ...

. The Spring Classics of 1987, were a turning point for Peiper. Intensive training began to show results. He was in the race winning moves at Het Volk, Milan–San Remo, E3 Prijs, Driedaagse de Panne, Ronde van Vlaanderen,

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the To ...

. He also started, but did not finish

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

and

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five '' Monuments'' of the European professional ...

. A block of April races, that would be unlikely to occur (with one rider) nowadays. In 1988, the World Road Championship, was held in

Ronse Ronse (; french: Renaix, ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clu ...

. The race was decided, from a select 13 man group (including Peiper), who started the last lap together. Claude Criquelion attacked, quickly caught by

Maurizio Fondriest Maurizio Fondriest (born 15 January 1965) is a retired Italian professional road racing cyclist. Career Born in Cles, Trentino, Fondriest turned professional in 1987 with the Ecoflam team. He subsequently rode for Alfa-Lum in 1988, winning th ...

, with

Steve Bauer Steven Todd Bauer, MSM (born June 12, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from Canada. He won the first Olympic medal in road cycling for Canada and until 2022 he was the only Canadian to win an individual stage of the Tour de Fr ...

and

Martial Gayant Martial Gayant (born 16 November 1962 in Chauny) is a former French cyclist, now a team captain of . In 1988, Gayant came second in the World road Championships. Major results Source: ;1981 * GP des Nations, amateurs ;1984 * Giro d'Italia: s ...

chasing behind. Peiper was next, in turn, being chased down by seven riders, including

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured ...

. At the finish, Criquelion & Bauer collided Fondriest won the race. Peiper, was caught and passed, within the last 100m, by the chasing group. He finished 10th

Major results

;1982 : 3rd

Paris–Roubaix Espoirs Paris–Roubaix Espoirs is a one-day road cycling race held annually in France. In 2005 the race was integrated into the UCI Europe Tour as a category 1.2U race. Held since 1967, it is the under-23 version of the Monument classic Paris–Roubaix ...

;1983 : 7th Circuit des Frontières ;1984 : 1st Jersey green 2

Overall

::1st Prologue : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 8b ( ITT) : 1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 5th Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 9th Overall

::1st Prologue ;1985 : 1st Prologue Paris–Nice : 1st Prologue

: 3rd

Grand Prix de Cannes The Grand Prix de Cannes was a single-day road cycling held annually in Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Canne ...

;1986 : 1st GP Impanis : 1st Stage 4a

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Bet ...

: 2nd Overall

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annually ...

::1st Stages 3, 9 & 13 : 3rd

Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (Championship of Flanders) or Koolskamp Koerse is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Koolskamp (part-municipality of Ardooie), West Flanders, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a ...

: 8th Overall

Three Days of De Panne 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

: 9th

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...

;1987 : 1st Circuit des Frontières : 1st

: 4th Overall

: 5th

: 10th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

::1st Prologue : 10th

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and orga ...

;1988 :

::1st Stages 1 ( ITT) & 10 : 1st Stage 5 Nissan Classic : 2nd Overall

: 2nd

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

: 3rd Overall

: 5th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk : 6th Overall

: 8th Veenendaal–Veenendaal : 8th GP Impanis : 10th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 10th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 unt ...

;1989 : 2nd

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Mino Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial, from 1944 it w ...

(with

) : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 4th Grand Prix de la Libération : 7th

: 8th Overall

Tour de Trump The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestige ...

;1990 : 1st Stage 14 Giro d'Italia : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

: 7th Overall

: 8th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk ;1991 : 6th Overall

: 7th

Grand Prix Eddy Merckx Grand Prix Eddy Merckx was a cycle race around Brussels, where Eddy Merckx was born. It was held between 1980 and 2004, disappearing after the creation of the UCI ProTour in 2005. The race was initially an individual time trial An individual tim ...

: 10th Overall

Ronde van Nederland The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948 in sports, 1948. It's an annual race since 1975 in sports, 1975. Because of the start of the Union Cycliste Intern ...

: 10th

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peiper, Allan 1960 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists from Victoria (Australia) People from Alexandra, Victoria