Gert-Jan Theunisse
Encyclopedia
Gert-Jan Theunisse is a Dutch
former road bicycle racer. In the 1989 Tour de France, he won the King of the Mountains competition.
and had places of honour in races such as the GP Fourmies and the GP d'Isbergues in 1986. However it was not until 1988 that he achieved great success. In the 1988 Tour de France
he challenged his former teammate, Pedro Delgado
. However he tested positive for testosterone
and received a 10-minute penalty which moved him from fourth to 11th overall. Theunisse returned the following year and won the polka dot jersey
and the stage up Alpe d'Huez
in the 1989 Tour de France
.
In 1990 he also tested positive in the Flèche Wallonne and Bicicleta Vasca. He abandoned the second stage of the 1995 Tirreno–Adriatico and stopped his career after receiving medical advice for heart trouble. He began advising Mario Gutte and then mountain biker Bart Brentjens
from late 1995. The following year he drew up a training scheme for Brentjens for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Brentjens won the Dutch national championship, the world championship, the World Cup, the Tour de France VTT and then gold at the Olympic Games. Brentjens signed with the Specialized Mountain Bike team at the end of 1996 and stipulated in the contract that Theunisse would be team manager.
During this time, Theunisse rode occasional regional mountain bike races. On 8 September 1997 he was hit by a car while training with the team. He was diagnosed as having a paraplegia
, the result of a spinal cord injury when the car hit him. Theunisse was unable to walk but recovered over the six months and returned to coaching the Specialized team. In January 1999, he won a mountain bike race in the United Kingdom
but could not walk for three days afterwards. In June 1999 he had a heart attack. In 2000 he admitted using illegal substances but denied taking testosterone. Theunisse continued working with Specialized until the sponsor left the sport at the end of 2001. Theunisse then moved to Majorca, where he began riding his mountain bike 150 km a day . He won the European over-30 championship in 2002. He competed from 2003 to 2005 despite consistent pain due to spinal damage, difficulty walking straight as well as involuntary muscle or spastic attacks
. Theunisse had twelve wins as an active Mountain bike cyclist. Theunisse was sponsored by PowerPlate-Giant and concentrated on the mountain bike marathons of the World and European championships. Theunisse rode his final mountain bike race in October 2005 at a race at Scheveningen, in the Netherlands and discussed plans to build a sports centre for disabled competitors. Theunisse is said to be 13 per cent handicapped and aims to compete in the Paralympics.
1989 –PDM-Concorde
1991 –TVM-Sanyo
1992 –TVM-Bison
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
former road bicycle racer. In the 1989 Tour de France, he won the King of the Mountains competition.
Biography
Theunisse turned professional in 1984 with the Panasonic cycling team. That year he came third in the Ronde van NederlandRonde van Nederland
The Ronde van Nederland is a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 the tour was replaced by the Eneco Tour of Benelux....
and had places of honour in races such as the GP Fourmies and the GP d'Isbergues in 1986. However it was not until 1988 that he achieved great success. In the 1988 Tour de France
1988 Tour de France
The 1988 Tour de France was the 75th Tour de France, taking place from July 4 to July 24, 1988. It consisted of 22 stages over 3281 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.909 km/h...
he challenged his former teammate, Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado
Pedro Delgado Robledo , also known as Perico, is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989....
. However he tested positive for testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
and received a 10-minute penalty which moved him from fourth to 11th overall. Theunisse returned the following year and won the polka dot jersey
Polka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
and the stage up Alpe d'Huez
Alpe d'Huez
L'Alpe d'Huez is a ski resort at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, in the commune of Huez, in the Isère département in the Rhône-Alpes region.-Tour de France:L'Alpe d'Huez is one of the main mountains in the Tour de France...
in the 1989 Tour de France
1989 Tour de France
The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,...
.
In 1990 he also tested positive in the Flèche Wallonne and Bicicleta Vasca. He abandoned the second stage of the 1995 Tirreno–Adriatico and stopped his career after receiving medical advice for heart trouble. He began advising Mario Gutte and then mountain biker Bart Brentjens
Bart Brentjens
Bart Jan-Baptist Marie Brentjens is a Dutch racing cyclist in mountain biking.Brentjens won a gold medal for mountain biking in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first to recognize cross-country mountain biking as an event. He followed this with bronze in the 2004 Summer Olympics...
from late 1995. The following year he drew up a training scheme for Brentjens for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Brentjens won the Dutch national championship, the world championship, the World Cup, the Tour de France VTT and then gold at the Olympic Games. Brentjens signed with the Specialized Mountain Bike team at the end of 1996 and stipulated in the contract that Theunisse would be team manager.
During this time, Theunisse rode occasional regional mountain bike races. On 8 September 1997 he was hit by a car while training with the team. He was diagnosed as having a paraplegia
Paraplegia
Paraplegia is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek: παραπληγίη "half-striking". It is usually the result of spinal cord injury or a congenital condition such as spina bifida that affects the neural elements of the spinal canal...
, the result of a spinal cord injury when the car hit him. Theunisse was unable to walk but recovered over the six months and returned to coaching the Specialized team. In January 1999, he won a mountain bike race in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
but could not walk for three days afterwards. In June 1999 he had a heart attack. In 2000 he admitted using illegal substances but denied taking testosterone. Theunisse continued working with Specialized until the sponsor left the sport at the end of 2001. Theunisse then moved to Majorca, where he began riding his mountain bike 150 km a day . He won the European over-30 championship in 2002. He competed from 2003 to 2005 despite consistent pain due to spinal damage, difficulty walking straight as well as involuntary muscle or spastic attacks
Spasticity
Spasticity is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance in muscle tone involving hypertonia, which is also referred to as an unusual "tightness" of muscles...
. Theunisse had twelve wins as an active Mountain bike cyclist. Theunisse was sponsored by PowerPlate-Giant and concentrated on the mountain bike marathons of the World and European championships. Theunisse rode his final mountain bike race in October 2005 at a race at Scheveningen, in the Netherlands and discussed plans to build a sports centre for disabled competitors. Theunisse is said to be 13 per cent handicapped and aims to compete in the Paralympics.
Palmarès
1988 –PDM-ConcordePDM (cycling team)
PDM-Concorde also PDM-Ultima was a Dutch professional cycling team from 1986 until the end of 1992. Gin-MG was co-sponsor in Spanish races and Cidona was co-sponsor in the 1991 Nissan Classic. The team was sponsored by Philips Dupont Magnetics, a joint venture between the electronics company,...
- 1st, Clásica de San SebastiánClásica de San SebastiánThe Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa - Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián is a cycle race that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián, Spain...
1989 –PDM-Concorde
PDM (cycling team)
PDM-Concorde also PDM-Ultima was a Dutch professional cycling team from 1986 until the end of 1992. Gin-MG was co-sponsor in Spanish races and Cidona was co-sponsor in the 1991 Nissan Classic. The team was sponsored by Philips Dupont Magnetics, a joint venture between the electronics company,...
- 4th, Overall, Tour de France1989 Tour de FranceThe 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,...
King of the Mountains- 1st, Stage 17 (BriançonBriançonBriançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
- Alpe d'HuezAlpe d'HuezL'Alpe d'Huez is a ski resort at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, in the commune of Huez, in the Isère département in the Rhône-Alpes region.-Tour de France:L'Alpe d'Huez is one of the main mountains in the Tour de France...
)
- 1st, Stage 4, Tour de TrumpTour de TrumpThe Tour de Trump was a road bicycle race in the United States held in 1989 and 1990 and was sponsored by Donald Trump. The Tour DuPont replaced the Tour de Trump, from 1991 to 1996.- 1989 Tour de Trump :...
- 1st, Overall, Vuelta a AsturiasVuelta a AsturiasVuelta a Asturias is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early May each year. The event was first run in 1925 but has not been held consistently until 1968 to present. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour...
- 1st, Stage 6
1991 –TVM-Sanyo
TVM (cycling team)
TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...
- 1st, Vuelta a los Valles Mineros
- 1st, Overall, Tour de LuxembourgTour de LuxembourgTour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.HC, the highest rating below the ProTour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale , the sport's governing body. In 2006, the Tour was part of the UCI Europe...
- 1st, Stage 1
1992 –TVM-Bison
TVM (cycling team)
TVM was a Dutch road bicycle racing team. It folded in 2000, two years after suffering a doping scandal. Farm Frites continued as a sponsor in 2001 with the new team, .-Names:-Riders:...
- 1st, Stage 3, Tour de LuxembourgTour de LuxembourgTour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.HC, the highest rating below the ProTour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale , the sport's governing body. In 2006, the Tour was part of the UCI Europe...