Tino Tabak is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

-born

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

cyclist who raced in 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 ...

in the 1970s.

Biography

Born Jentinus (Tino) Johannes Tabak in

Egmond aan Zee Egmond aan Zee () is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, about 9 km west of Alkmaar. Egmond aan Zee was a separate municipality until 1978, when it merged with E ...

in the Netherlands on 6 May 1946, he emigrated with his father Gerben and mother Hendrika to New Zealand in December 1952, aged 6. Tino's younger brother Corrie was born in New Zealand. From the age of 10 he aspired to race in the

. At the age of 19, Tabak won the 1965 Senior New Zealand Road Cycling Championships. He won the

Tour of Southland The Tour of Southland is a road bicycle racing stage race held in the Southland region of New Zealand. From 2005 until 2009, the Tour of Southland has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour however the 2010 event was held as a National Tour. The To ...

(youngest rider ever) in 1965, then again in 1966 and 1967. He also won the Tour of Manawatu in 1966 and 1967. And he won the Dulux Six-day Tour of the North Island in 1966 and 1967. In the

1966 Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth Par ...

he competed in the Road Race, coming 15th. Tabak is the only rider ever to win all three major New Zealand tours (Manawatu, Dulux and Southland) in one year – twice; in 1966 and 1967. He left New Zealand for Europe "to learn how to ride a bike" in December 1967. In Europe he raced as an amateur from 1968 to 1970, winning several races, including the 1970 Tour of North Holland (beating future world champion

Hennie Kuiper Hendrikus Andreas "Hennie" Kuiper (born 3 February 1949) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic road race at Munich in 1972, becoming world professional road race champion in 1975, a ...

). In 1971 he turned

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

and rode in the

, placing in the top ten in two stages, and is reported as "The Revelation of the Tour" by

Jock Wadley John Borland Wadley (1914 – March 1981) was an English journalist whose magazines and reporting opened Continental cycle racing to fans in Britain. Wadley covered 18 Tours de France from 1956. He worked for the British weekly, ''The Bicycle'' ...

. In 1972 Tabak won the

Dutch National Road Race Championships The Dutch National Road Race Championships take place annually, on the weekend prior to the start of the Tour de France. First held in 1888, today it is organized by the Top Sports Group, commissioned by the KNWU. Men Until 1927, the race wa ...

. That year he came 18th in 1972 Tour de France, which is still the best result of any New Zealander (second best was George Bennett who came 24th in 2019, and third best was

Harry Watson (cyclist) Henry George Watson (13 June 1904 – 25 December 1996) was the first New Zealander to ride in the Tour de France. In 1928, he teamed up with Australian cyclists, Hubert Opperman, Percy Osborn and Ernie Bainbridge. They were the first Engli ...

who came 28th in 1928). He won the major Dutch

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

Acht van Chaam Acht van Chaam ( en, Eight of Chaam) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Chaam, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1932 and since 1992 the event also includes a women's race. Results Men S ...

, in 1972 and 1975. In 1977 he came 7th in the 597 km French Classic

Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional cycle race was one of Europe's classic cycle races, and one of the longest in the professional calendar, covering approximately – more than twice most single-day races. It started in northern Bordeaux in sout ...

. Tino Tabak retired from cycling after crashing in the 1978 Tour of Holland. He returned in 1995 to live quietly in

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

Teams

* 1969 – Dutch National Team * 1970 – Dutch National Team * 1971 – Flandria-Mars * 1972 – Goudsmit-Hoff * 1973 – Sonolor * 1974 – TI-Raleigh * 1975 – TI-Raleigh * 1976 – Flandria-Velda * 1977 – De Onderneming * 1978 – Zoppas-Zeus

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Tino Tabak: Dreams and Demons
biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tabak, Tino 1946 births Living people New Zealand male cyclists People from Egmond Dutch emigrants to New Zealand Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand Cyclists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Dutch male cyclists Cyclists from North Holland