From the Tour de France to the Giro and from the Vuelta to the Draai van de Kaai: the voice of Kees Maas (77) could be heard at just about every finish line. The cycling speaker says goodbye on Sunday at the place where he was born and raised, during the Tour of Etten-Leur.
In all those years, Kees built up a special bond with the riders. “I have a great relationship with the old cycling heroes,” he says proudly. “Miguel Indurain, five-time winner of the Tour de France, cycled the entire peloton to shreds in Roosendaal. Afterwards he said thanks. That was really great!'”
“When Indurain came on stage, he walked around Mart Smeets with a big bow.”
A year later, the two met again at the Amstel Gold Race in Maastricht. “Mart Smeets and I presented the riders. When Indurain came on stage, he walked around Mart Smeets with a big bow and greeted me with ma amigo! That felt good, yes,” says the grinning cycling speaker.
Another nice story: “Jan Raas came by on my mother-in-law’s birthday. I had asked him that. She had baked an apple pie and the whole family was there. Immediately after the Acht van Chaam he called my mother-in-law. She is been upset for three weeks,” he says with a laugh.
In 2019, Kees already retired as a speaker at the highest level. In Ahoy he was serenaded by Lee Towers during the track cycling event Wooning Six Days. But he didn’t really stop. He wanted to continue with the criteria. “And the start of the Vuelta in Breda was the icing on the cake.”
“The public is going to miss his voice, humor and the excitement of the riders.”
Ronnie Buiks is chairman of the Ronde van Etten-Leur and regrets that Kees is stopping. “The public is going to miss his voice, his humor and the excitement of the riders.”
Ria Maas is very much looking forward to saying goodbye on Sunday. She then stands at the finish line with a lot of friends and relatives. “I’m very proud of Kees,” she beams. “I don’t think there is a better speaker. You can be proud of that.”
And Kees himself? “I say goodbye to my speaker career after more than half a century. That is a sensitive moment.” Officially, the Ronde van Etten-Leur is not the very last performance of the cycling speaker. “That is only next Friday at the professional round in Almelo.”
READ ALSO: The Voice of Cycling Kees Maas says goodbye after forty years: ‘I enjoyed the riders’