Bert Oosterbosch (born Eindhoven, 30 July 1957, died

Lekkerkerk Lekkerkerk is a town and former municipality on the Lek River, now part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, South Holland province, the Netherlands. Since 1 January 1985 Lekkerkerk is no longer an independent municipality. Lekkerkerk is mos ...

, 18 August 1989) was a Dutch

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

. Oosterbosch was a successful track and

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

racer.

Early career

In 1978 he won the World amateur team time trial championship (with Jan van Houwelingen, Bart van Est and Guus Bierings). A year later, he turned professional for the

TI–Raleigh TI–Raleigh was a Dutch professional track cycling and road bicycle racing team between 1972 and 1983. In that decade the team won over 900 races. The team was created and led by Peter Post. In his own cycling career, his nickname was the ''Six D ...

team of

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 ...

. That year he won the World Professional

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 ...

title beating

Francesco Moser Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition. Moser wa ...

in the final. He was also three times Dutch pursuit champion.

Road success

As a professional Oosterbosch was especially successful in

time trials In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

; he won 14 stage race prologues, including three 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 ...

. He won three other stages of the Tour: his victory in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

in 1983 was the one hundredth Dutch stage win in the Tour. Oosterbosch also won stages in 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 ...

and the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

. In 1982 he won the

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 ...

Poor health

Oosterbosch suffered poor health on occasions, twice contracting meningitis. In 1988 he was hit by severe knee trouble and had to end his professional career. He returned as an amateur and on 13 August 1989 he won a race. Five days later he died, aged thirty-two years old, after an acute cardiac arrest. He was buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery Our Lady of Lourdes in Eindhoven. His tombstone depicts cycle racing. Bert Oosterbosch was married to Marian Bik. The couple had two daughters: Nathalie and Joyce.

Allegations of doping

It has been suggested that Oosterbosch's early death was caused by EPO use, but this is disputed. Willy Voet, the disgraced former soigneur, talks about Oosterbosch riding the 1982

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...

. Oosterbosch came in 18th at more than two and a half minutes behind the winner

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

, even though he was expected to do well. Voet said "Oosterbosch was flat from the start due to the Synacthen he had taken. The drugs initially blocked his ability to work hard. An hour after the injection it started working as planned and his tempo increased." In fact, Oosterbosch came third in the 1982 event. Voet may be referring to the 1979 or 1984 runnings which Hinault also won.Palmares of the Grand Prix des Nations at
. Memoire-du-cyclisme.net (15 August 2009). Retrieved on 2012-11-18.

Major results

;1979 : World Professional pursuit champion ;1980 : Tour of Luxembourg : 1 stage,

;1981 : Four Days of Dunkirk ;1982 :

: 1 stage,

;1983 : Tour of the Americas :

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 ...

: 2 stages,

;1984 :

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 ...

: Driedaagse van De Panne : 1 stage,

;1985 : 1 stage,

References

External links

Oosterbosch at veloarchive.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oosterbosch, Bert Dutch male cyclists Sportspeople from Eindhoven Dutch Tour de France stage winners Dutch Vuelta a España stage winners Doping cases in cycling 1957 births 1989 deaths Tour de Suisse stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Dutch track cyclists Cyclists from North Brabant 20th-century Dutch people