Henk Steevens (4 October 1931 in

Geleen Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg in the Netherlands. With 31,670 inhabitants in 2020, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Gele ...

– 29 May 2020) was a Dutch cyclist. He was professional from 1953 to 1955. Steevens won the GP of Aken and the Grote Continental Prijs of Hannover. He was named together with

Sjefke Janssen Sjefke Janssen (28 October 1919 – 3 December 2014) was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer. He is most known for his bronze medal in the Elite race of the 1947 UCI Road World Championships. Janssen was a professional cyclist from 1946 t ...

and

Jan Nolten Jan Nolten (20 January 1930 – 13 July 2014) was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer. Nolten participated in five Tours de France, and won two stages. Death Nolten was hospitalized in July 2014 after suffering a brain hemorrhage and ...

the “three of Elsloo” (in Dutch: Drie uit Elsloo), as they came all three from Eeslo. It was remarkable, three of the best Dutch cyclists of a city of only 4500 inhabitants at the time. They were all three part of the Dutch team at the

1953 Tour de France The 1953 Tour de France was the 40th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 3 to 26 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Louison Bobet, the first of his three consecutive wins. At first, internal struggles in the ...

, aged 21. Initially Steevens didn’t want to start, but due to pressure from his team manager

Kees Pellenaars Cornelis Petrus "Kees" Pellenaars (10 May 1913 – 30 January 1988) was a Dutch road cyclist and coach. In 1934 he won the amateur road race at the world championships, which was the first world road title for the Netherlands. The same year he tur ...

he did start “to learn”. During the first stage he had a puncture and lost his watch. He fell in the fifth stage, but was able to finish. Steevens did not finish the complete Tour as he had to quit after six stages. He was part of the pre-selection for the

1954 Tour de France The 1954 Tour de France was the 41st edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 8 July to 1 August 1954. It consisted of 23 stages over . The race was won by Louison Bobet, the second of his three consecutive wins. Teams As was the cust ...

, but was not selected. After his active career he became team manager of “Ovis” and “Driessen Stoffen”. He was also a staff member of the TVM cycling team. His brother

Harrie Steevens Henri "Harry/Harrie" Steevens (born 27 April 1945) is a retired Dutch cyclist who was active between 1960 and 1972. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in the individual road race and finished in 40th place. Two years later he won a silver ...

was also a cyclist. Steevens died in May 2020 due to cancer, aged 88.

Teams

:1953 Locomotief - Remington - Pontiac (The Netherlands) until 02-07 :1953 Locomotief - Remington - Pontiac (The Netherlands) from 27-07 :1954 Individual :1954 Maggi (The Netherlands) :1955 Nescafé (The Netherlands)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steevens, Henk Date of death missing 1931 births Dutch male cyclists Place of death missing People from Geleen 2020 deaths Cyclists from Limburg (Netherlands)