Tiemen Groen

Tiemen Groen ( born July 6, 1946 in Follega, today Lemsterland ) is a former Dutch cyclist and World Champion.

In the 1960s Tiemen Groen was one of the dominant amateur racers on the track in the Netherlands. Three times he was world champion of amateurs in the individual pursuit and four times he got in this discipline as well as in the 1000 -meter time trial the Dutch title. In 1966 he finished also at the UCI Road World Championships in Cologne with the Dutch team took second place in the team time trial.

Groen participated in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 and took part as the gold favorite in the individual pursuit only place 4 There was public speculation, the winner of the semifinal, Giorgio Ursi, had been doped. Other sources say that Groen got very homesick. Although his father, a Frisian farmer, was quickly traveled from the Netherlands, the son had his performance can not retrieve them.

1967 Groen turned pro and won in the same year the world title in the individual pursuit, felt in the professional scene, however uncomfortable and ended the year after his career. He opened an antique shop. From 1986 to 1995 he traveled in a truck with a camper trailer around the world and sent the antiques that he was traveling to the Netherlands for sale. 1995 Tiemen Groen traveled to South Africa and lived there ever since. It is made public for the rights of the black population.