René Pijnen

René Pijnen
René Pijnen in 1975
Personal information
Full nameMarinus Augustinus Josephus Pijnen
NicknameRené
Born (1946-09-03) 3 September 1946 (age 77)
Woensdrecht, the Netherlands
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineTrack and road
RoleRider
Rider typeSix-day / Madison race
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
Men's road bicycle racing
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City Team time trial
UCI Road World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1967 Heerlen Amateur road race
UCI Track Cycling World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1973 San Sebastian Individual pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 1974 Montreal Individual pursuit

Marinus "René" Augustinus Josephus Pijnen (born 3 September 1946) is a Dutch former racing cyclist.

He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time-trial in the 1968 Summer Olympics with Joop Zoetemelk, Fedor den Hertog and Jan Krekels; he finished fifth in the individual road race.[1]

Professional career

A professional from 1969 to 1987, Pijnen was a capable track cyclist, winning the European madison championship six times, a record he shares with Patrick Sercu). He also won 72 six-day races out of 233 starts, with numerous partners. He was also a time trial expert, winning several. He won four stages of the Vuelta a España, three of those in the 1971 Vuelta, which he led for 10 days.[2]

Pijnen rode on the road with TI–Raleigh, managed by another Dutch track specialist, Peter Post, but he said the length of road races bored him, and that he frequently found himself looking at his watch to see how much longer he would have to ride.[2]

After cycling

When he retired, he ran – among other enterprises he already started during his cycling career – a hotel in Bergen op Zoom, the North Brabant province where he was born.

See also

References

  1. ^ René Pijnen. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ a b René Pijnen at Cycling Archives
Pijnen in July 1969