Johan van der Velde (born 12 December 1956 in

Rijsbergen Rijsbergen a town in the municipality of Zundert in the southern Netherlands. In the town used to be an AC (Aanmeldcentrum, i.e. Asylum Request Center). Until 1997 Rijsbergen was an independent municipality, after which it was added to Zundert. ...

) is a former

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 ...

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. In the 1980 Tour de France, he won the young rider classification, also placing 12th in the general classification that year. He had been a racing cyclist for only a year. In the

1981 Tour de France The 1981 Tour de France was the 68th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 25 June and 19 July. The total race distance was 24 stages over . It was dominated by Bernard Hinault, who led the race from the sixth stage on, increasing h ...

, he took first place on the second and 21st stages, finishing 12th overall for the second year. He rode with

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 ...

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 ...

from 1979 to 1983 and the

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team where he won Stage 5 and wore the Yellow Jersey for two days in the

1986 Tour de France The 1986 Tour de France was a cycling race held in France, from 4 July to 27 July. It was the 73rd running of the Tour de France. Greg LeMond of won the race, ahead of his teammate Bernard Hinault. It was the first ever victory for a rider outs ...

Decline

He was distinctive in the peloton for his lean, long-legged appearance, his smooth pedalling style and his long hair. He rode in support of riders such as Joop Zoetemelk, whom he could pace over mountains at impressive speed, but he was also capable of winning on his own. Success came to him early and, he said in an interview with the author

Jan Siebelink Jan Geurt Siebelink (born 13 February 1938 in Velp, Gelderland) is a Dutch author. In 2005, he wrote the novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English w ...

("Pijn is genot") that he had trouble coping when that success began to dry up. Van der Velde said he remembered shivering at the start of an Italian race, the skin of his arms wrinkled in goosebumps, because of the amphetamine he had taken just to start. Addiction to amphetamine and a lifelong habit of petty theft, which he said came from seeing his father bring home things he had stolen from work, brought him into trouble with the law. He was caught stealing lawnmowers and breaking into post office stamp machines to raise money to cover his addiction and his gambling. The jail sentence and the loss of all he had won forced him and his Belgian wife, Josée, to sell the villa they had owned. They moved into a series of anonymous houses and apartments. Van der Velde began hospital treatment for his addiction and became deeply religious. He began work on building sites, rarely saying who he was or what he had been, to rebuild his self-esteem. For many years he tried to keep his address and his identity secret.

Rehabilitation

Van der Velde is now often seen at junior races, where he accompanies his son, also a racer. He took part in a celebrity edition of the '' Big Brother'' television series in 2000 and has worked in public relations for the

Quickstep The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal ...

team, driving its guests at races. It was announced that van der Velde would join the new Roompot Orange Cycling Team as a driver for 2015. His manager at Ti-Raleigh,

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 ...

, said he had always considered Van der Velde the son that he had never had.

Career achievements

Major results

;1977 : 1st Stages 3 & 5

Tour de Liège The Tour de la province de Liège (English: Tour of the Province of Liège) is a cycling race held annually in the Liège province of Belgium. Although it isn't part of UCI Europe Tour, it has been won by many famous cyclists since its creation ...

;1978 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

::1st Stages 1 & 5 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Britain ::1st Stage 4 : 1st Jersey yellow

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. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005, it was replaced by the Eneco ...

::1st Stage 4 ;1979 : 1st Stage 2

;1980 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 12th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stages 1b ( TTT) & 7b (TTT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Stage 6 : 2nd Overall

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of ...

::1st Stages 1, 4a, 4b & 5 ;1981 : 1st Stages 1b (TTT), 2, 7 (TTT) & 21

: 1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 1st Stages 1, 2 & 4

: 1st Stage 5a

: 1st Stage 4b

GP du Midi-Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation co ...

: 1st Stage 4

;1982 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 9a (TTT) : 1st Stage 2

: 1st Stage 5a

;1983 : 1st

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 ...

: 1st Stage 5

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour in the second half of Ma ...

;1984 : 1st Stage 5a

;1985 : 1st Jersey violet

Points classification Giro d'Italia : 1st

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 1919 the business magnate Antonio Bernocchi founded the Coppa Bernocchi (or Bernocchi Cup) ...

: 1st Stage 4

;1986 : 1st Stage 5

: 1st Stage 19 Giro d'Italia : 1st

Brabantse Pijl The Brabantse Pijl ( en, Brabant Arrow, french: italic=yes, Flèche Brabançonne or ''Flèche Branconne'') is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant and in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been or ...

;1987 : 9th Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Jersey violet

Points classification ::1st Stages 15 & 16 : 1st Stage 3 Tour de Suisse ;1988 : 1st Jersey violet

Points classification Giro d'Italia

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Official website Johan van der Velde (Dutch)
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velde, Johan Van Der 1956 births Living people Doping cases in cycling Dutch male cyclists Dutch sportspeople in doping cases Dutch Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from Zundert Dutch Giro d'Italia stage winners Tour de Suisse stage winners