Olympic champion, European champion and the best in the world. Harrie Lavreysen is a celebrity in track cycling. For his fans, the Brabander came to ‘his’ Luyksgestel on Monday to participate in a Sprint Cup together with other Dutch toppers. And of course he won it. “Those legs of his are really not normal.”
Harrie often trains at the cycling track in Apeldoorn and travels all over the world for competitions. But despite the fact that he now lives a few kilometers away, he still really feels like a Luyksgestelnaar. “I am proud of the village and the inhabitants are proud of me. That is why it is great for me to show my own villagers what I normally do on the track.”
“We cycle with brakes, which is a lot safer.”
So track cycling on the road, with a few clear differences. “Normally we ride on a bicycle without brakes, that is now the case and that is a lot safer. And we can now shift gears, something we are not used to. We also imitate track cycling as much as possible with 1 against 1 races .”
Luyksgestel has had a cycling round for many years, with a professional round every five years. Although professionals such as Olav Kooij and Jos van Emden now also participated, no one can match Harrie in terms of popularity, who also rode the Sprint Cup earlier in the day. “I would love it if a tradition was born with this. Next year it will be difficult with a view to the Olympic Games, but certainly in two years’ time.”
Just entering Lavreysen made a big impression on the fans. “Those upper legs are not normal size,” said Joris, who cycled with the youth on Monday morning. Frank Theuws couldn’t believe his eyes either. “Harrie just walked past here, those legs are useless. But it’s fantastic that he makes the effort to cycle here. The whole village is proud of him.”
“You shouldn’t be afraid and want to cycle fast.”
Well those legs, Harry can laugh about it himself. “We train every day and in our sport there is a lot of acidification of the legs. They blow up completely.” Not only powerful legs and a strong upper body are requirements for the top in track cycling. “Above all, you shouldn’t be afraid and want to cycle fast. And having fun, that’s very important.”
