Johan van der Velde


Johan van der Velde 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 only a year. In the 1981 Tour de France he took first place on the second and 21st stages, finishing 12th overall for the second year. He rode with TI–Raleigh in the Tour de France from 1979 to 1983, and the Panasonic team where he won Stage 5 and wore the Yellow Jersey for two days in the 1986 Tour de France.

Decline

He was distinctive in the peloton for his lean, long-legged appearance, his smooth pedalling style and his long hair. He rode in support of riders such as Joop Zoetemelk, whom he could pace over mountains at impressive speed, but he was also capable of winning on his own. Success came to him early and, he said in an interview with the author Jan Siebelink that he had trouble coping when that success began to dry up. Van der Velde said he remembered shivering at the start of an Italian race, the skin of his arms wrinkled in goosebumps, because of the amphetamine he had taken just to start.
Addiction to amphetamine and a lifelong habit of petty theft, which he said came from seeing his father bring home things he had stolen from work, brought him into trouble with the law. He was caught stealing lawnmowers and breaking into post office stamp machines to raise money to cover his addiction and his gambling. The jail sentence and the loss of all he had won forced him and his Belgian wife, Josée, to sell the villa they had owned. They moved into a series of anonymous houses and apartments. Van der Velde began hospital treatment for his addiction and became deeply religious. He began work on building sites, rarely saying who he was or what he had been, to rebuild his self-esteem. For many years he tried to keep his address and his identity secret.

Rehabilitation

Van der Velde is now often seen at junior races, where he accompanies his son, also a racer. He took part in a celebrity edition of the Big Brother television series in 2000 and has worked in public relations for the Quickstep team, driving its guests at races. It was announced that van der Velde would join the new :nl:Roompot Orange Cycling Team|Roompot Orange Cycling Team as a driver for 2015.
His manager at Ti-Raleigh, Peter Post, said he had always considered Van der Velde the son that he had never had.

Career achievements

Major results

;1977
;1978
;1979
;1980
;1981
;1982
;1983
;1984
;1985
;1986
;1987
;1988

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour19791980198119821983198419851986198719881989
Vuelta a España———————————
Giro d'Italia—————52216965DNF
Tour de France1412123DNF——52———

—Did not compete
DNFDid not finish