TI–Raleigh was a Dutch professional

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

and

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

between 1972 and 1983. In that decade the team won over 900 races. The team was created and led by

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 ...

. In his own cycling career, his nickname was the ''Six Days Emperor'', being a track champion. He also won the 1964 fast edition of

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' ...

. Post was pretty harsh on himself. He had no time to celebrate and was always looking ahead at the next race. That attitude might have been the key to the team's success. The team was successful in classics and in stage races. Notable riders included

Joop Zoetemelk Gerardus Joseph "Joop" Zoetemelk (; born 3 December 1946) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He started and finished the Tour de France 16 times, which were both records when he retired. He also holds the distance record in Tour de F ...

Jan Raas Jan Raas (born 8 November 1952) is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg, the Tour of Flanders in 1979 and 1983, Paris–Roubaix in 1982 and Milan–San Remo in 1977. He w ...

Gerrie Knetemann Gerard Friedrich Knetemann (6 March 1951 – 2 November 2004) was a Dutch road bicycle racer who won the 1978 World Championship. He wore the Yellow Jersey early in each Tour de France for four consecutive years between 1977 and 1980. A four-ti ...

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 ...

Urs Freuler Urs Freuler (born 6 November 1958) is a Swiss cyclist, who raced professionally between 1980 and 1997, during which he won 124 victories. He was named Swiss Sports Personality of the Year in 1982 and 1983. Career He was born in Bilten. As an a ...

Henk Lubberding Henk Lubberding (born 4 August 1953 in Voorst) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1977 to 1992. As an amateur, he finished third in the 1976 Tour de l'Avenir. The following year he turned professional ...

René Pijnen Marinus "René" Augustinus Josephus Pijnen (born 3 September 1946) is a Dutch former racing cyclist. He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time-trial in the 1968 Summer Olympics with Joop Zoetemelk, Fedor den Hertog and Jan Kre ...

Johan van der Velde Johan van der Velde (born 12 December 1956 in Rijsbergen) is a former Dutch cyclist. 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 ...

and

Dietrich Thurau Dietrich "Didi" Thurau (; born 9 November 1954) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland Tour and surpr ...

. The team was known for discipline;

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

s were a speciality. The frame-building was overseen by Jan le Grand at Raleigh's SBDU Ilkeston facility.

Team Time Trials

TI–Raleigh was unbeatable in the

s of the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1982 Tour de France The 1982 Tour de France was the 69th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 2 to 25 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over . It was won by Bernard Hinault, his fourth victory so far. Teams In response to the finish of the ...

. In those five years, they won eight Tour TTTs. Driving forces in those TTTs were Jan Raas and Gerrie Knetemann, who decided team tactics during the race. They gave directions and changed the order at will. In the last few kilometers before the finish, Raas began to shout and curse in order to wring out every last bit of energy. After the finish, the riders were exhausted, but it was also time to celebrate. TI–Raleigh had changed its formation tactics, from the traditional double paceline to a single paceline. 1964 Olympic TTT champion

Gerben Karstens Gerben Karstens (14 January 1942 – 8 October 2022) was a Dutch professional racing cyclist, who won the gold medal in the 100 km team trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics, alongside Bart Zoet, Evert Dolman, and Jan Pieterse. At the same Ol ...

came up with the idea, when they were faced with a 153 km (95 miles) long TTT in the 1978 Tour. In a single line formation, the riders get more time to recover. The duration of the pull is varied. Strong riders like time trial specialist

Bert Oosterbosch Bert Oosterbosch (30 July 1957 – 18 August 1989) was a Dutch racing cyclist. Oosterbosch was a successful Track cycling, track and Road bicycle racing, road racer. Early career In 1978, he won the World amateur team time trial championship (wi ...

should not increase the pace, but rather take longer turns. Stronger and weaker riders are mixed, which keeps a steadier pace. Knetemann could gently pick up the pace, without anyone noticing. The team had a profound disgust for team members that did not do their utmost to help the team. It was not a problem when you were the weakest link, because in every team there are specialists for the mountain stages that won't be tough time trial riders. However, the team expected every rider to take their turns, until they could no longer keep up the pace. In that situation you'd take a last pull, and drop off the team. The only exception were the General Classement-riders that had to finish in the same time as the team. When in 1978

Klaus-Peter Thaler Klaus-Peter Thaler (born 14 May 1949 in Eckmannshausen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former professional cyclist whose career spanned from 1976 to 1988, he was successful in road-racing and cyclo-cross. He was world cyclo-cross champion twice ...

could win the yellow jersey if he'd finish with the team, he refused to take his turns and kept last position, which slows the team down. After 30 km in the wheels, Knetemann and Lubberding were fed up with their selfish "team mate". They started to entice him to take over, and even deliberately gapped themselves, in order to shake him off. This didn't help and also slowed down the team. They were told to knock it off, and Thaler did get his career highlight: the yellow jersey. The

1980 Tour de France The 1980 Tour de France was the 67th edition of the Tour de France. The total distance was over 22 stages. In the first half of the race, Bernard Hinault started out strong by winning the prologue and two stages. However, knee problems forced H ...

had an early TTT. The prologue was the day before, and in the morning the riders had had a stage of 133 km (83 mi).

Bert Pronk Bert Pronk (24 October 1950 – 15 March 2005) was a Dutch road cyclist who won the Tour de Luxembourg and Ronde van Nederland in 1977. He rode Tour de France in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980 with the best achievement of 12th place in 1977. A few y ...

had jumped ahead, riding in the breakaway. That helped Jan Raas to win the stage. Pronk didn't recuperate fast, and like every TI–Raleigh rider who was not a TT specialist, or had a bad day, he did fear the TTT that afternoon. Pronk followed the team custom of pulling as long as he could, but he dropped off early in the 46 km (29 mi) long race. When your team is one of the last to start, there are not a lot of cars or teams behind you to pull yourself up to. TI–Raleigh won, but went so fast, that Pronk finished outside the time limit. The next TTT, Raas en Kneet decided to start slowly in order to not repeat the disaster, but they did not tell Zoetemelk or Post about it...

Sponsorship

The team was sponsored by British cycling manufacturer

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

and Raleigh's holding company Tube Investments (TI). Raleigh's sponsoring goes back at least as far as 1893, when they had given

Arthur Augustus Zimmerman Arthur Augustus Zimmerman (June 11, 1869 – October 22, 1936) was one of the world's great cycling sprint riders and winner of the first world championship in 1893. His prizes as an amateur were a consideration in the establishment of the Intern ...

two of their bicycles and advertised Zimmy riding them. Over the years, they've sponsored a whole range of cyclists and teams, based in Great Britain, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Switzerland, Canada and Argentina. Subsponsors were *

Campagnolo Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagsh ...

, an Italian manufacturer of high-end

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

components * Creda, made cooking appliances and showers, was at the time a part of TI *

McGregor McGregor may refer to: People * McGregor (surname) * Clan MacGregor, a Scottish highland clan * McGregor W. Scott (born 1962), U.S. attorney Places in Canada: * McGregor Lake, Alberta; a lake * McGregor, British Columbia * McGregor Plateau, Nec ...

could be a sportswear brand * Admiral Sports British sportswear manufacturer

The end of the TI-Raleigh team

At the end of the 1983 season, the TI–Raleigh team split up because of tension between former world champion

and team leader

, with seven cyclists following Post to the new

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

team and six cyclists joining Raas on the Kwantum team. Gerrie Knetemann (to Europ Decor) and Johan van der Velde (to

Metauro The Metauro is a river in the Marche region of central Italy. It rises in the Apennine Mountains and runs east for or if the Meta is included as its uppermost reach. The name of the river in Latin is ''Metaurus'' or ''Mataurus.'' In Ancient Gr ...

) did not join the division. In the next nine years, the gap and the animosity grew, and it culminated into a breakaway standstill in the Tour de France of 1992. The backlash made perfectly clear that this could not go on. In the middle of the night, in the middle of a French forest, by shimmering torch lights, the men vowed to end the quarrels. The divorce was finally accepted and dealt with.How an emberrassing cycling quarrel came to the lowest point:

Notable riders

Cees Priem Cees Priem (born 27 October 1950) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer. After his cycling career, Priem became team manager of TVM. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. ...

Roy Schuiten Roy Schuiten (16 December 1950 – 19 September 2006) was a Dutch track cycling, track and Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. After retirement he became a team manager before starting a restaurant. Background Schuiten was a tall (), sty ...

Frank Hoste Frank Hoste (born 29 August 1955) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1977 until 1991. He won the points classification in the Tour de France in 1984. He rode in 13 grand tours throughout his career ...

Peter Winnen Peter Johannes Gertrudis Winnen (born 5 September 1957) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in road racing and finished in 26th place. After the Games he turned professional in 1981. Among his 14 vict ...

Ludo Peeters Ludo Peeters (born 9 August 1953) is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was professional from 1974 to 1990. He rode ten editions of the Tour de France and won 3 stages, one in 1980, one in 1982 and one in 1986. He also wore t ...

Gordon Singleton Gordon Singleton (August 9, 1956 – March 23, 2024) was a Canadian world-record holding track cyclist. In 1982, he became the first Canadian cyclist to win a world championship. He was the first, and only, cyclist in history to simultaneousl ...

1982 track * David Lloyd 1973 to 1975 *

Sid Barras Sid Barras (born 3 April 1948) is an English former professional road racing cyclist from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. He was a professional for 18 years. One of Britain's foremost racing cyclists in the 1970s and 1980s with 380 wins, in 18 ...

1974 * Brian Jolly 1974

Major wins

;1974 :

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 ...

, Roy Schuiten : World Champion,

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 women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

: European championship Madison,

Six Days of Dortmund The Six Days of Dortmund is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Dortmund, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north ...

, René Pijnen :

Six Days of Rotterdam The Six Days of Rotterdam is a Six-day racing, six-day track cycling race held annually in Rotterdam, the Netherlands at the Rotterdam Ahoy. The event was first held in 1936. Winners References External links

* Cycle races in the ...

, René Pijnen :

Six Days of Berlin The Six Days of Berlin is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Berlin, Germany. The event was first held in 1909. In its first edition, 15 teams of two cyclists each competed in the exhibition hall at Berlin Zoo for glory and, not leas ...

, René Pijnen with Roy Schuiten ;1975 :

Rund um den Henninger-Turm Rund is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cathleen Rund (born 1977), German swimmer * Hanno Rund (1925–1993), German mathematician * Thorsten Rund (born 1976), German road and track cyclist See also * Rand (surname) * R ...

, Roy Schuiten : World Champion,

, Roy Schuiten :

Six Days of Bremen The Six Days of Bremen is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Bremen, Germany. The event was first held in 1910 as a one-off event and has been a regular event since 1965. It is held at the ÖVB Arena. The event was cancelled in 2021 an ...

, René Pijnen :

Six Days of Frankfurt am Main 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

, René Pijnen with

Günther Haritz Günther, Guenther, Ginther, Gunther, and the variants Günter, Guenter, Guenther, Ginter, and Gunter, are Germanic names derived from ''Gunthere, Gunthari'', composed of '' *gunþiz'' "battle" (Old Norse ''gunnr'') and ''heri, hari'' "army". Gun ...

Six Days of London 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

, René Pijnen with Günther Haritz :

Six Days of Munich The Six Days of Munich was a six-day track cycling race held annually in Munich, Germany. The event was first held in 1933 with the last edition held in 2009. Starting in 1972, the event was held at the Olympiahalle The Olympiahalle ''(Englis ...

, René Pijnen with Günther Haritz :

Six Days of Münster The Six Days of Münster was a six-day track cycling race held annually in Münster, Germany from 1950 to 1988. Gustav Kilian, who had become renowned for his successes at other six-day races, entered as favourite and ended up winning the 1950 r ...

, René Pijnen with Günther Haritz : Six Days of Zurich, Günther Haritz ;1976 :

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 ...

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 ...

: 4 stages (Hennie Kuiper,

(2), Team time trial) : European championship Madison, Réne Pijnen with Günther Haritz :

, René Pijnen with Günther Haritz :

Six Days of Grenoble The Six Days of Grenoble () is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Grenoble, France. Since 2012, the competition is called Four Days of Grenoble. It takes place in the Palais des Sports Palais des Sports (French: Palace of Sports) is ...

, Günther Haritz ;1977 :

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 ...

, Gerrie Knetemann :

: 8 stages (

(5),

(2), Hennie Kuiper); 1st young rider classification (Dietrich Thurau), 1st team classification : Six Days of Herning, René Pijnen : Six Days of Cologne, René Pijnen with Günther Haritz :

, René Pijnen :

* Cycle races in the ...

, René Pijnen :

, René Pijnen ;1978 :

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Jan Raas :

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 ...

, Jan Raas :

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 ...

Paul Wellens Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens RFC, St Helens in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain national rugby l ...

: World Champion, Elite road, Gerrie Knetemann :

: 10 stages (Jan Raas (3), Gerrie Knetemann (2), Paul Wellens,

, team time trial); 7 yellow jerseys (Jan Raas (3), Gerrie Knetemann (2), Klaus-Peter Thaler (2)); 1st (Henk Lubberding) young rider classification ;1979 :

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 ...

, Jan Raas :

, Wilfried Wesemael : World Champion, Elite Road, Jan Raas : World Champion, Elite

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 women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

: 6 stages (

(2), team time trial (2), Jan Raas,

: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré,

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 ...

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 ...

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium (; ) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several races were not org ...

: 11 stages (Jan Raas (3), Joop Zoetemelk (2), 2 x team time trial,

, Bert Oosterbosch, Henk Lubberding,

); 11 yellow jerseys (Joop Zoetemelk (10), Gerrie Knetemann); General classification: 1st (Joop Zoetemelk); 1st (Johan van der Velde) young rider classification ;1981 :

Omloop Het Volk , previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and holds significant pre ...

, Jan Raas :

Ad Wijnands Ad Wijnands (born 10 March 1959 in Maastricht) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who won two stages in the 1981 Tour de France. Major results ;1980 :Omloop der Kempen ;1980 :Ronde van Zuid-Holland ;1981 :GP E5 : Six Days of Ma ...

: 7 stages (team time trial (2), Ad Wijnands (2),

(2),

); 4 yellow jerseys (

) ;1982 :

, Jan Raas :

, Frank Hoste :

Jacques Hanegraaf Jacobus Johannes Henricus "Jacques" Hanegraaf (born 14 December 1960) is a retired road bicycle racer from the Netherlands, who was a professional rider from 1981 to 1994. He twice won the Dutch title in the men's road race (1981 and 1985). His ...

: 6 stages (

(2), Jan Raas, Frank Hoste, Ludo Peeters, team time trial); 1 yellow jersey (Ludo Peeters) : World Track Championships, Leicester England,

Gold in Keirin, Silver in Sprint ;1983 :

Leo van Vliet Leonardus Quirinus Machutus ("Leo") van Vliet (born 15 November 1955) was a professional racing cyclist from 1978 to 1986. He came in 40th in the road race at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.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 ...

, Leo van Vliet :

, Ludo Peeters : Championship of Zurich,

: 4 stages (

(2),

); 1st team classification

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:TI-Raleigh Defunct cycling teams based in the Netherlands Cycling teams based in the Netherlands Cycling teams established in 1974 Cycling teams disestablished in 1983 1972 establishments in the Netherlands 1983 disestablishments in the Netherlands

Team Time Trials

Sponsorship

The end of the TI-Raleigh team

Notable riders

Major wins

References

Further reading

External links