A question for mostly for aussies and belgians how do you rate allan pieper?I have always rated him highly but he was always in phil andersons shadow.
allan pieper
- Thread starter miss claire
- Start date
The one thing I always dug about Peiper was his drive to be a good pro. Seemed the guy was as hard as anyone and really knew how to get the best out of himself. The perfect classics make-up.
I love how he now sells sausage sandwiches and frites out of a stand, but has always been a vegetarian (vegan I believe). Gotta make your buck!
I love how he now sells sausage sandwiches and frites out of a stand, but has always been a vegetarian (vegan I believe). Gotta make your buck!
I'm not Belgian or Australian but I grew up near Belgium and was into following pro racing when Peiper made a name for himself.
read an article in a magazine covering the various Aussie pros, some were already retired (like Peiper, Anderson). interesting bit in Peiper's interview was that he wishes he hadn't raced so clean because he felt he could have stepped up a level as a pro if he had. He admitted trying dope but said he was scared off it.
an article in VeloNews I think it was mentioned he was riding next to Chiapucci and Chia's heartrate was 98 and Pieper's was 160 (!). Peiper explained that away as the difference between a champion and himself. this is when heart rate monitors first gained favor.
finally who can forget him (while racing for Tulip) chatting with the camera during the Tour while trying to eat a dry looking sandwich, half of which floated out of his mouth while he was talking. it looked like he was blowing bread bubbles every time he opened his mouth.
he always raced hard and unselfishly, doing what had to be done. a consumate pro.
read an article in a magazine covering the various Aussie pros, some were already retired (like Peiper, Anderson). interesting bit in Peiper's interview was that he wishes he hadn't raced so clean because he felt he could have stepped up a level as a pro if he had. He admitted trying dope but said he was scared off it.
an article in VeloNews I think it was mentioned he was riding next to Chiapucci and Chia's heartrate was 98 and Pieper's was 160 (!). Peiper explained that away as the difference between a champion and himself. this is when heart rate monitors first gained favor.
finally who can forget him (while racing for Tulip) chatting with the camera during the Tour while trying to eat a dry looking sandwich, half of which floated out of his mouth while he was talking. it looked like he was blowing bread bubbles every time he opened his mouth.
he always raced hard and unselfishly, doing what had to be done. a consumate pro.
I remember reading an article in an aussie cycling mag re Allan Pieper.My memory is abit hazy but i think it Allan said when he first got to Belgium as a Pro he found the racing so easy.I think he had a sprinting duel with Greg Lemond in one race...Then Allan got sick and had to return home to Oz for a period of time and he said that when he returned after recovering from illness he was never able to ride at the same standard as before he was ill.
Hopefully someone can confirm and elaborate on what ive said,sorry i cant remember the full details.
Hopefully someone can confirm and elaborate on what ive said,sorry i cant remember the full details.
Great, solid rider, who never got what was coming to him, but he was racing against the very big boys in the Northern Classics...
i rate him, and aus cyclists of his era, very very highly. they helped forge cycling in this country to point where it is now very strong.
very difficult back then...aussies moving to europe was not common.
he was your typical solid professional rider, a benefit to any team. solid worker, great team member, with a sprinkling of talent. i think the aussie riders model themselves on this, there are a few around today/recently who would be similar (matt white spring to mind without thinking too hard, scott sunderland, neil stephens etc).
still to this day...teams need blokes like Alan Peiper.
very difficult back then...aussies moving to europe was not common.
he was your typical solid professional rider, a benefit to any team. solid worker, great team member, with a sprinkling of talent. i think the aussie riders model themselves on this, there are a few around today/recently who would be similar (matt white spring to mind without thinking too hard, scott sunderland, neil stephens etc).
still to this day...teams need blokes like Alan Peiper.
