Johannes Adrianus "Jan" Janssen (born 19 May 1940) is a Dutch former professional cyclist. He was world champion and winner of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

and the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, 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'Ital ...

, the first Dutch rider to win either. He rode the Tour de France eight times and finished all but the first time. He won seven stages and wore the yellow jersey for two days (after stage 16 in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and after stage 22B in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

). He was easily spotted in the peloton because of his blond hair and his glasses. As of the death of Federico Bahamontes in August 2023, he is the oldest surviving winner of the Tour de France, but not the most ancient winner:

Lucien Aimar Lucien Aimar (; born 28 April 1941) is a French cyclist, who won the Tour de France in 1966 Tour de France, 1966 and the French National Road Race Championships, national road championship in 1968. He is now a race organizer. Amateur career Luc ...

won in 1966.

Early life

Janssen was born at Nootdorp, a small town near

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, just five days after the Netherlands surrendered to the Nazis. He later moved to Putte, a village on the Belgian border between Roosendaal and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. He worked with his parents as a youth, digging the heavy ground of the western Netherlands to excavate foundations for the buildings the family firm erected. He joined the cycling club at Delft when he was 16 and as a novice won 25 races in two years."The world pro champion remembers Bill and Ben", Sporting Cyclist, 1964

Career

Janssen turned professional after an amateur career in which he won several Dutch classics and rode for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

, which was then open to

amateurs An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History H ...

and to independents, or semi-professionals. Janssen rode for French teams and is especially associated with Pelforth-BP, sponsored by a

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

company. His talent, authority, and command of French quickly established him as the team leader. At first he had a reputation as a sprinter but he quickly developed into a rider of multi-day races. He competed in the individual road race at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. He rode his first Tour de France in 1963, when he won a stage, but a crash forced him to retire. In 1964 he won

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, then two stages and the green jersey of points leader in the Tour. Later that year he became world champion at

Sallanches Sallanches (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, M ...

, in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He wore the green jersey again in the Tour of 1965 and in 1966 came close to winning overall. But it was finally in 1968 that he became the first Dutchman to win the Tour de France, beating the Belgian, Herman Van Springel, by 38 seconds. That remained the smallest winning margin until 1989, when

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

won by only eight seconds ahead of

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, as well as the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He held the title of FICP World No. 1 in 1989. Fignon came ...

. Janssen had not worn the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification in 1968 until he reached

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the end of the final stage, an individual time-trial. The Tour in 1968 was, like the previous year, for national teams rather than trade teams. The organisers resolved to "experiment" with national teams in a measure widely interpreted as revenge by the organiser, Félix Lévitan, on sponsors he thought had provoked a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

against drug tests the previous year. Putting into one team riders who the rest of the year rode for rival sponsors proved a problem and internal rivalries were said to divide the Dutch team more than most. Janssen had to overcome these internal problems to win. His victory in the orange jersey of the

rather than the blue, yellow and white of the Pelforth team made his first win for the Netherlands all the more popular at home.

Retirement

He retired from racing, he says, after being left behind in the Tour of Luxembourg and being ashamed to hear his name listed on the race radio service among other also-rans."There are no more hungry riders – says Janssen", Cycling, 8 February 1990 "I knew then that I was Jan Janssen, winner of the Tour de France and the championship of the world and that it was time for me to stop", he says. He left the peloton to run a bicycle frame-building business in the south-western village of Putte, which is divided by the border with Belgium. That company still bears his name today. His neighbours there included another 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 bicycle racing, road race at 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich in 1972, becoming world ...

. Janssen continued to ride his bike in retirement as a member of the Zuid-West Hoek club. He continues to make personal appearances along with other Dutch riders of his era. He said he enjoyed being recognised while on training rides.

Personality

The Dutch race organiser Charles Ruys, who called Janssen a businesslike, honest and straightforward man, said: :Anybody who tries to do something unpleasant to Jan, may it be in a race or a matter of money, has a very tough opponent. Like most successful bikies, Jan knows the value of money. So much so that he gives the impression that he is our Minister of Finance. A bit of insight into his personality, showing the respect and compassion he showed for his fellow riders, can be gathered from a 2007 interview regarding the feisty British rider Tom Simpson (see the Death of Tom Simpson): :"Occasionally Tommy could be annoying. When it was rolling along at 30kmh and - paf!… he’d attack. Oh leave us alone! There's still 150km to go pipe down. But often, he wanted war.” Janssen went on to say, “Even in the feed zones. It's not the law, but it's not polite. Musettes (lunch bags) were up in the air there was panic and crashes. It was Simpson acting like a jerk. It didn't happen often. Occasionally I was angry at him. I’d say to him in his native English: You fucking cunt... There were often many teams, five or six, in the same hotel together every evening. Each had their own table. And at a certain moment, Tommy walked into the restaurant like a gentleman, with a cane, bowler hat and in costume… He was like a Lord in England and the rest of us were in tracksuits. Everyone saw that, laughed, and the things he had done during the race were forgotten.”

Views of modern racing

Janssen spent most of his career with a French sponsor, profiting from the higher rate that the French franc enjoyed then against the guilder. But since then things have changed, he said. :We had to be good all the time, from the first of February until the end of October. Because it was my duty to make the most of my sponsor's name, to get publicity. And if you had an off-day, well, you were letting your sponsors down. Now the whole sponsorship of sport has taken off. It has become so interesting to a company, because a company that wants to get its name known, you can buy a good team, with good management, good public relations, and you can get all the big names. I think, too, that the motivation has changed with the professionals as well. You get riders like

Steven Rooks Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995. Career In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish o ...

and Gert-Jan Theunisse saying that after the Tour they are stopping at home because they can't be bothered with

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, ...

s, and that's not attractive for the public."There are no more hungry riders" – says Janssen, Cycling, 8 February 1990

Career achievements

Major results

;1959 : 2nd

Ronde van Overijssel Ronde van Overijssel () is an elite men's road bicycle racing event held annually in Overijssel, Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overse ...

;1960 : 1st Ronde van Midden-Nederland : 1st

;1961 : 1st Ronde van Noord-Holland : 3rd Ronde van Midden-Nederland : 9th Overall

::1st Stage 13 ;1962 : 1st

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; ; ) was a European Classic cycle races, Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014. It was a race with a long history ...

: 3rd Overall Olympia's Tour ::1st Stage 4 : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 1, 4 & 7 : 5th Tour des Quatre-Cantons : 6th Overall Deutschland Tour : 8th Road race, National Road Championships : 8th Rund um den Henninger Turm ;1963 :

::1st Stages 2b ( TTT) & 7 : 2nd Overall

Grand Prix 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 3 & 5 : 2nd

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

: 2nd Omloop van Oost-Vlaanderen : 3rd

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

: 4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne : 4th Grand Prix du Parisien ( TTT) : 6th Tour des Onze Villes : 7th Road race, UCI World Championships : 7th Brabantse Pijl : 8th Overall Tour of Belgium ::1st Stage 3a : 9th Overall Tour du Var : 9th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

;1964 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race, UCI World Championships : 1st Jersey white

Overall

::1st

Points classification :

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 7 & 10a : 2nd

: 3rd Paris–Camembert : 6th Overall Paris–Luxembourg : 6th

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

: 6th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 7th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 8th

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

;1965 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Ronde van Nederland ::1st Stage 3 : 1st Grand Prix du Parisien ( TTT) : Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 7a : 2nd Overall Circuit du Provençal ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 3a : 2nd Critérium des As : 5th Overall

::1st Stage 3a : 5th Omloop Het Volk : 6th

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

: 7th

: 9th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 12 : 9th Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 10th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne ;1966 : 1st Brabantse Pijl : 1st

Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional road bicycle racing, 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 north ...

: 2nd Overall

::Held

after Stage 16 : 2nd Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

: 2nd

: 4th

: 5th Critérium des As : 6th Dwars door België : 7th

: 9th

;1967 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 1b ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Paris–Luxembourg ::1st Stage 1 : 1st

: 1st Genoa–Nice :

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) 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 the Basque Country. The race has had ...

::1st Stages 4b, 6 & 7a : 2nd Silver medal uci

Road race, UCI World Championships : 2nd

: 3rd Overall Tour of Belgium : 3rd

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a ...

: 3rd Tour de l'Hérault : 5th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 13 : 5th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 6th À travers Lausanne : 8th GP Union Dortmund : 9th Road race, National Road Championships : 9th

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

: 9th

: 10th Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke ;1968 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 14 & 22b ( ITT) : 1st Stage 5

Vuelta a Mallorca The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (, ) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparato ...

: 2nd Maël-Pestivien : 3rd

: 3rd

: 4th

: 5th Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 6th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 1a & 1b ( ITT) ::Held Jersey yellow

after Stages 1a–3a : 7th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 8th

: 9th Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke ;1969 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 2a : 1st

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand Prix d'Isbergues is a professional cycle road race held in Isbergues, Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which ...

: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 2 : 2nd

: 6th Overall

::1st Stage 5b : 7th

: 9th Overall

: 9th

: 10th Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () 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, which is on the calend ...

::1st

Points classification ;1970 : 1st Stage 3a Tour of the Basque Country : 1st Stage 2

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 7th

: 7th

: 8th

: 9th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré :

::Held

after Stages 2 & 3a ;1971 : 4th

: 6th Overall Tour de la Nouvelle-France ::1st Stage 5b : 6th

: 7th

Bruxelles–Meulebeke Brussels-Meulebeke () was a men's road cycling road race held in Belgium annually in May from 1964 to 1975. The competition's roll of honor includes two victories by Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx. The record of victories, however, belongs to Fred ...

: 9th

;1972 : 1st Stage 2

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a UCI race classifications, 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the UCI World Tour, World Tour, by the ...

: 10th Rund um den Henninger Turm

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Major championship results timeline

Notes

References

External links

www.janjanssen.nl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Jan 1940 births Living people Dutch male cyclists Tour de France winners Vuelta a España winners Dutch Tour de France stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Dutch Vuelta a España stage winners People from Pijnacker-Nootdorp Olympic cyclists for the Netherlands Cyclists at the 1960 Summer Olympics UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Cyclists from South Holland Super Prestige Pernod winners 20th-century Dutch sportsmen 21st-century Dutch people

Early life

Career

Retirement

Personality

Views of modern racing

Career achievements

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Major championship results timeline

See also

Notes

References

External links