Rudy Pevenage was the man behind Jan Ulrich and guided him to a Tour de France win and many other successes, but let’s not forget he was a top rider in his own Pro career. Not much has been heard of the man from Moerbeke recently, so Ed Hood looked him up on his visit to Belgium for the Omloop. Yes, that Rudy Pevenage, the guy who was involved in the Jan Ulrich controversies a few years ago. But surely there’s more to the man than that?He rode in the pro peloton for 14 seasons; Ijsboerke, Capri Sonne, Del Tongo and Superconfex – some of the 70’s and 80’s best squads. He held the yellow jersey in le Tour for nine days, he won the green jersey in le Tour, he stood on the second step of the podium in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Tour de Suisse – and The Tour of Scotland ‘Milk Race’.And he managed some of the biggest names in the sport with teams like Histor and Telekom. We caught up with him at the Restaurant Hemelrijk atop the legendary Muur in his home town of Geraardsbergen, the day after Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. I opened by asking him about how he got his first contract, with Ijsboerke:“I knew the DS, Wily Jossaert well and I had good results as an amateur. I was second in the amateur Tour of Flanders and of the five big amateur classics in Belgium, I was second in three and third in one.”Through the...
View the full article
View the full article
