Legends of Roubaix: Peter Post

Peter Post: Nov/12/1933 – Jan/14/2011

Over the next few months we’ll be celebrating Paris-Roubaix and the history, heroes and drama of this incredible race. We’ll also be honouring some of the illustrious men that have braved the cobbles of the Hell of the North. First off we have Peter Post, the first Dutchman to win Paris-Roubaix, who sadly passed away last week.

The ‘Keizer’ of the six-days was, as the name would suggest, one of the most successful six-day racers in history. He partnered with Belgian track legend Patrick Sercu for numerous victories and, in 1965, set the derny paced hour record of 64km at the velodrome in Antwerp.

On the road Post began his pro racing career for the Dutch bike manufacturers RIH Sport. In 1963 he won the Tour of Belgium and his national road race title. The following year he rode Paris-Roubaix for the Flandria-Romeo team. Battling with the likes of Raymond Poulidor, Rudi Altig and classics master Rik Van Looy, Post helped set the incredibly fast-paced break, which left such names behind. He entered the velodrome at Roubaix with four others and won the sprint to the line. Although nowadays the route is different, the 1964 edition of L’Enfer du Nord still stands as the fastest paced in history. Thus Post’s 45km hour average over 265km makes him the fastest ever Roubaix winner.

Post went on to have great successes as team manager of the Dutch-based TI-Raleigh team with his hard-nosed approach, culminating in the 1980 yellow jersey for Joop Zoetemelk and 11 stage wins for his team. He is ranked as one of the most successful team directors the sport has ever seen.