Jan Raas

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Jan Raas
Personal information
Full name Jan Raas
Born November 8, 1952 (1952-11-08) (age 59)
 Netherlands
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1975–1976
1977
1978-1983
1984-1985		 TI-Raleigh
Frisol
TI-Raleigh
Kwantum Hallen
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
10 individual stages

Stage Races

Étoile de Bessèges (1981)
Ronde van Nederland (1979)

Single-Day Races and Classics

Jersey rainbow.svg World Road Race Champion
(1979)
MaillotHolanda.PNG Dutch Road Race Championship
(1976, 1983, 1984)
Amstel Gold Race
(1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982)
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (1979, 1980, 1981)
Gent–Wevelgem (1981)
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne (1980, 1983)
Milan – San Remo (1977)
Omloop "Het Volk" (1981)
Paris-Brussels (1978)
Paris–Roubaix (1982)
Paris-Tours (1978, 1981)
Ronde van Vlaanderen (1979, 1983)
Infobox last updated on
June 30, 2008

Jan Raas (born November 8, 1952, Heinkenszand) is a Dutch former professional cyclist whose 115 wins include the 1979 World Road Race Championship in Valkenburg, he also won the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1979 and 1983, Paris–Roubaix in 1982 and Milan – San Remo in 1977. He won ten stages in the Tour de France. In six starts, Raas won the Amstel Gold Race five times.[1]

Raas was a tactician and clever sprinter. He struggled on the long steep climbs but excelled on the short climbs characteristic of the northern classics.

Contents

[edit] Career

Born in Heinkenszand, near Goes in Zeeland, Raas was the son of a farmer and one of 10 children. He showed no interest in cycling until leaving school at 16 when he acquired his first racing bike and started competing as a junior category, taking his first victory in Damme in Belgium on the 21 July 1969. Further success as an amateur, including stage wins in the Olympia Tour and the national championship, prompted Peter Post, the manager of TI-Raleigh, to offer Raas a contract for 1975

The 22-year old had a good first seasonwith two small victories and fourth in the Tour of Belgium. The following year (1976) saw him become national champion, but at the end of that year Raas parted company with TI-Raleigh, looking for more freedom to race.[2]

In 1977 he rode for Frisol. Victories in Milan – San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race made Post rethink and Raas was back with TI-Raleigh for 1978. Raas became the influence behind the success of the team in the late seventies and early eighties. He was joint leader with Gerrie Knetemann, heading members such as Joop Zoetemelk, Ludo Peeters, Cees Priem and Henk Lubberding.

Raas’ highlights for the rest of his career included his 1979 world championship on home soil in Valkenburg, where he outsprinted German "Didi" Thurau in front of 200,000 spectators. He had four more victories in the Amstel Gold Race to give a record of five. Raas regarded the Amstel Gold as his favourite race: “The Gold Race was made for me, I had no ability as a climber, but the short and hard Limburg hills were made for me”, he said. He won Paris–Roubaix at his seventh attempt in 1982 thanks to work by his team, especially Peeters.

Raas crashed in the 1984 Milan – San Remo, injuring his back and internal organs and was never the same, although he took a stage in the 1984 Tour de France. He found the training and recovery hard and retired on 28 May 1985 after a criterium at Hansweert the preceding day.

Raas’ know-how made for a natural move into team management and he became sporting director of Kwantum team. Raas found sponsors when old ones pulled out and the team received backing from SuperConfex, Buckler, WordPerfect, Novell and finally Rabobank.

Raas and his wife Anja suffered an armed raid on their house in March 1994[3] and Raas decide he could no longer spend long periods away from home. He changed from sporting director to manager when Rabobank became the main sponsor in 1995. He spent eight years in this capacity until the end of 2003, the sponsor indicating that insoluble differences prompted Raas' departure.[4]

[edit] Palmarès

1972

1973

  • 1st Ronde van Midden-Nederland

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

[edit] Classics results

This table shows Jan Raas' results in the major classics.

Year Milan-San Remo Gent-Wevelgem Tour of Flanders Paris-Roubaix Amstel Gold Race Paris-Tours
1975 24 40 5
1976 11 7 2 8
1977 1 10 5 6 1
1978 105 4 22 3 1 1
1979 12 3 1 5 1 3
1980 3 6 3 1 35
1981 1 3 5 1
1982 14 13 1 1 24
1983 3 2 1 3 3
1984 30

[edit] Further Reading and Source

[edit] See also

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/04/news/amstel-gold-race-preview-horner-and-hesjedal-are-north-americas-best-chance_111909
  2. ^ Boyce, Barry (2006). "Top 20 All Time Major Classics: Milan-San Remo 1977: Youthful Dutchman Wins a Monument". Cycling revealed. http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/Top_20_Clsscs/top20Cl_18.htm. Retrieved 30 September 2010. 
  3. ^ "Jan Raas" by Noel Truyers, ISBN 90-74128-45-9, Pages 39 and 40
  4. ^ Cyclingnews article

[edit] External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Hennie Kuiper		 Dutch National Road Race Champion
1976		 Succeeded by
Fedor den Hertog
Preceded by
Johan van der Velde		 Dutch National Road Race Champion
1983-1984		 Succeeded by
Jacques Hanegraaf
Awards
Preceded by
Gerrie Knetemann		 Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1979		 Succeeded by
Joop Zoetemelk
Preceded by
Bernard Hinault		 Winner of Paris–Roubaix
1982		 Succeeded by
Hennie Kuiper
Jersey rainbow.svg UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race Jersey rainbow.svg
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