Hennie KUIPER

Hennie Kuiper was a Dutch cyclist who burst on the scene by winning the gold medal in the road race at the 1972 Olympics, riding the last 40 km in a lone breakaway. He never won a grand tour, but was second at the Tour de France twice, in 1977 and 1980, and placed fourth in 1979. In 1975 he won the World Championship road race, making him the second person, and one of only three to win the Olympic road race and the world professional championship (Ercole Baldini and Paolo Bettini are the others). Kuiper also won four of the five monument races, the biggest of the one-day classics. He won the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Giro di Lombardia in 1981, Paris-Roubaix in 1983, and Milano-Sanremo in 1985, failing to win only at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.