Former cyclist Gerben Karstens passed away on Saturday at the age of 80. His family confirmed this to the ANP news agency. Karstens was a successful cyclist in the 1960s and 1970s: he won stages in all three major cycling rounds.
In 1964 Karstens won a gold medal at the Olympic Games for the team time trial. He wore the yellow jersey for two days in the 1974 Tour de France. In total he won a stage during the Tour six times, including the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1976. He also won a stage during the Tour of Spain and a stage during the Tour of Italy fourteen times.
Karstens will also be remembered for his jokes and pranks during matches. He was therefore also nicknamed ‘the clown’. In an interview with regional newspaper BN DeStem in 2017, he said he went through life like “a mad dog.” But he was also serious about his achievements: “In my entire career there has never been a man who could keep up with my wheel when I attacked. People think the sprint was my strongest weapon. Not so. My strongest weapon was always leaving on time. Like that time on the Champs-Élysées.”
Karstens had a stroke a few weeks ago. He died on Saturday in the North Brabant town of Dongen.