The unnecessary loss of Auch

On the eve of the Tour de France 1977, the roles are set. Kuiper is the team leader, Knetemann and Thurau have a free role. Karstens is the road captain. The others ride in service of the team. Crucial turns out to be the prologue in Fleurance. There, Post’s big favorite Didi Thurau captures the yellow jersey. It is the first yellow jersey for Raleigh and it is cherished as a precious possession that - if possible - should remain in the team for a few days.

The first stage leads over a not too difficult course to Auch, towards the Pyrenees. Even for non-climbers, it is not a stage to worry about. There is one climb on the way to the finish, the Col de Tournecoupe, but the altitude (283 meters) will not even disturb the biggest anti-climber’s sleep. José De Cauwer, the always alert half of the Kuiper-De Cauwer duo, sees a problem there. The last kilometers of the stage, as he has seen in the roadbook, lead over a winding course and through narrow streets. Therefore, it is important to stay at the front of the peloton. ‘Then the chance of losing time in the finale due to an unexpected crash is smallest,’ emphasizes De Cauwer. He urges Hennie to follow that advice. When the pace picks up in the finale, everything goes well until De Cauwer gets a flat tire over 15 kilometers from the finish. He will lose time, but that is not a disaster. The overall classification does not matter for him as a helper. He has done his job for Hennie and can calmly ride to the finish. De Cauwer gets another bike and continues his way.

Go Hennie: on the wheel’

Meanwhile, Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho has also suffered a flat tire. He is the leader of the Flandria team. The whole team waits for the Portuguese. De Cauwer can thus join the Flandria train that quickly catches up with the peloton with De Cauwer. The Belgian looks up and who does he see at the back of the peloton? Hennie Kuiper. Well damn. He warned him… It is less than ten kilometers to the finish. De Cauwer rides up to the leader and says, ‘Go Hennie, on the wheel!’

Even though Hennie may be in his fifth season as a professional cyclist, he still fears the inevitable jostling in the peloton. In that respect, he remains a scaredy-cat. De Cauwer works his way up in the peloton, looks back, but whoever he sees: no Kuiper. Damn it, he works hard to bring the leader to the front, but the leader doesn’t follow.

De Cauwer drops back and shouts at Hennie: ‘Come on, now move up.’ And once again De Cauwer pushes himself to the front of the group in an attempt to deliver his leader to the first row. But again Kuiper loses the wheel of his helper. The peloton is three kilometers from the finish line. It’s frustrating. José is furious: ‘Figure it out yourself now. I’ve done my best enough.’ A few seconds later, De Cauwer hears: crash. Fall. He knows Kuiper is involved in that crash, that he will lose time…

Afterwards, José explodes. ‘I’m killing myself trying to bring you back and you’re not there.’ The damage is 15 seconds. Hennie brushes it off lightly.

‘Oh, what are 15 seconds. Later in the mountains they’ll throw around with minutes.’ De Cauwer replies: ‘But you’ve lost those seconds. That could come back to haunt you.’ They will later prove to be prophetic words.

José is furious. First Kuiper loses the wheel and then he responds so nonchalantly. Hennie and José never fight, and they will never do so later either, but after that incident De Cauwer doesn’t speak to Kuiper for three days. He needs to vent his frustration and especially make it clear to the leader that he made a catastrophic mistake.

Hennie Kuiper converses with journalists after the race. Far left - with a cigarette - Hans Coolegem from Sijthoff Pers. To his right, with a mustache, Nino Tomadesso from the Limburgs Dagblad. To Kuiper's right, Leo van de Ruit from the ANP. And all the way to the right Maarten Noppen from the Algemeen Dagblad.