Marinus "René" Augustinus Josephus Pijnen (born September 3, 1946 in Woensdrecht

Woensdrecht

Woensdrecht is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands.Woensdrecht is mainly known for Woensdrecht Air Base. In 1983 it was decided that the US would station 48 nuclear armed cruise missiles here, unless the USSR would reduce the number of SS-20 missiles to 378. Since the number was...

, North Brabant

North Brabant

North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

) is a Dutch

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 racing cyclist. He became Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 champion in the 100k team time-trial in the 1968 Summer Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 with Joop Zoetemelk

Joop Zoetemelk

Hendrik Gerardus Jozef "Joop" Zoetemelk is a retired professional racing cyclist from the Netherlands who has emigrated to France. He started the Tour de France 16 times and finished every time, a record. He won the race in 1980 and also came eighth, fifth, fourth and second...

, Fedor den Hertog

Fedor den Hertog

Fedor Iwan den Hertog was a Dutch racing cyclist. He won the Olympic 100 km team time trial in 1968 with Joop Zoetemelk, René Pijnen and Jan Krekels. He also won the national road championship in 1977....

 and Jan Krekels

Jan Krekels

Jan Jozef Alfons Franciscus Krekels is a retired cyclist from the Netherlands. He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time trial in 1968 with Joop Zoetemelk, René Pijnen and Fedor den Hertog. He also won the 19th stage of the Tour de France in 1971 and the prologue of Paris–Nice in 1970...

.

A professional from 1969 to 1987, Pijnen was a capable track cyclist winning the European madison championship six times, a record he shares with Patrick Sercu

Patrick Sercu

Patrick Sercu is a former Belgian cyclist, best known for his exploits on the tracks.In 1964 aged 19 he competed as the star attraction at the Manchester Wheelers' Club Race Meet at the Fallowfield track in Manchester.He won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.Sercu is the record...

). He also won 72 six-day race

Six-day racing

A six or six-day is a track cycling race that lasts six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initially, individuals competed alone, the winner being the individual...

s out of 233 starts, with numerous partners. He also was a time trial

Time trial

In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial  can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...

 expert, winning several. He won four stages of the Vuelta a España

Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

, three of those in the 1971 Vuelta, which he led for 10 days.

Pijnen rode on the road with TI-Raleigh

TI-Raleigh

TI-Raleigh was a Dutch professional road bicycle racing team between 1974 and 1983. The team was created and led by Peter Post.The team was successful in classics and in stage races. Riders included Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Hennie Kuiper, Dave Lloyd, Urs Freuler, Henk Lubberding,...

, managed by another Dutch track specialist, Peter Post

Peter Post

Peter Post 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 won 65. Because of this success he was known as “De Keizer van de Zesdaagse” or “The...

, but he said the length of road races bored him and that he frequently found himself looking at his watch to see how much longer he would have to ride.

When he retired, he ran - among other enterprises he already started during his cycling career -a hotel in Bergen op Zoom

Bergen op Zoom

Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.-History:Bergen op Zoom was granted city status probably in 1266. In 1287 the city and its surroundings became a lordship as it was separated from the lordship of Breda. The lordship was elevated to a margraviate...

, the Noord-Brabant region where he was born.