Gerard Peters

Gerard " Gerrit " Peters ( born July 31, 1920 in Haarlem, † April 6, 2005 ) was a Dutch road bicycle racer and world champion.

In 1941, Gerrit Peters Dutch champion of amateurs on the street. The following year he turned professional; In 1946 he became Dutch champion in the individual pursuit on the track and eventually world champion in this discipline. During the Championships in Zurich

Shortly after Peters crashed at a track race in Ghent hard and broke his arm, which remained limited. With moderate success Gerrit Peters drove in the following years in road racing. He was more successful in Six Days, where he started 37 times. Six times he was in Six Days - 1954 Berlin - win, together with Gerrit Schulte, who had been his biggest competitor in the individual pursuit on the track. They were called " the two Gerrits ". In 1956 he ended his cycling career after Schulte, had always stood in the shadow of the quiet Peters, the co had finished with him in favor of Peter Post.

Once, in 1951, Peters took part in the Tour de France, where he less by driving skills successes caused a sensation as by legendary saying. When his countryman and team-mate Wim van Est, who wore the yellow jersey at the time, rushed and an embankment fell, Peters looked from the top of this down and said: ". Het is net een boterbloem " (Dutch = " It's just a buttercup. " ) the next day was taken the entire team of team leader Kees Pellenaars out of the race.

Gerrit Peters, who was also known by fans simply as " Gé ", was married to the daughter of the sprint Olympic champion Jacobus van Egmond. For a time he ran a restaurant in Zandvoort. He was also sports director of the cycling teams "Caballero".