The man who crossed the finish line just before Huitema (19th), Ubbo Kuper (lived in Exloo at the time, now in Cappelle aan de IJssel), didn’t really have an idea what to expect. “It went very quickly. One day we played a competition in Maasland, the next day we were in a hotel in Leeuwarden. No time to stress, ha ha.” When Kuper walks into the starting cage on the morning in question, he says he feels a bit of a ‘stomach ache’ from tension.
Kuper also had to endure many falls and he also fell over someone. What also stands out to him is the barren stretch towards Bartlehiem. “Wind force seven or eight against. It was really hell, very heavy. It drove Lammert crazy. Have they moved Bartlehiem or something, he shouted.”
Kuper tries to stay ahead of Huitema. “Because I knew that I would end up in the first 20. And so I succeeded.” He keeps the cross at home in an old money box, where passports and other things are also kept. There are sometimes weeks or months that I don’t look at it. The cross doesn’t mean much. It’s about the memory. It is very special how often that day comes back.” Kuper has even mentioned the Elfstedentocht on his CV, he says. “You often have a nice conversation this way. The tour of all tours as an icebreaker, so to speak. Glad I got to drive him.”