"They laughed at him in the team and I couldn’t stand that": José De Cauwer recalls his role in Hennie Kuiper’s rise to world champion

Belgian former rider and current Sporza commentator José de Cauwer has reflected on his close relationship with Hennie Kuiper. They were teammates for six years (1975-1980), a period where both achieved great success, particularly Kuiper.

De Cauwer described how their bond developed despite (or perhaps because of) their very different characters. “I always wanted to do everything as fast as possible, Hennie wanted to do everything as long as possible. Normally that doesn’t work, but with us it did,” he said in quotes gathered by Wieler Revue.

Sharing a room also made De Cauwer aware of how Kuiper was treated within the team. Kuiper, who had a stutter, was sometimes mocked by teammates. “They laughed at him in the team and I couldn’t stand that. The other Dutch players on the team know that. I can assure you, you have to tighten your belts when you're on the team with people from The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam."

From a sporting perspective, De Cauwer never doubted Kuiper’s engine. "In training, Hennie just kept riding, even though he couldn't really race very fast. I told Hennie he needed to assert himself more. Despite having already become Olympic champion in 1972, it wasn't really coming to fruition yet. I saw in training that he had a lot of potential, but Hennie couldn't race yet."

De Cauwer emphasised that his influence on Kuiper was mostly about professionalism, particularly in terms of care and preparation, which were not Kuiper's strengths. This helped him to become a world champion in 1975.

“We really did everything,” De Cauwer said of their preparation to the World Championships. On the eve of the race, Kuiper called him to ask what he could realistically expect. "Hennie called me the night before the World Championship and asked me about his expectations. I said a top-five finish would be fantastic. Hennie never boasted, but he replied, 'If I can finish in the top five, I can win.'"

And Kuiper was right, as he went on to become world champion, beating riders such as Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck. That victory has been accompanied by stories about internal rivalries in the peloton, such as Lucien Van Impe refusing to collaborate with de Vlaeminck to close the gap Kuiper had opened. 

However, Kuiper does not really appreciate that anecdote according to de Cauwer. "It takes away from the shine of his performance."