The drama at the Granier
After the stage, a rest day follows at l’Alpe d’Huez. Prime Minister Dries van Agt, who besides being the head of government is also a cycling enthusiast, joins the Raleigh camp. He feels at home among those men, enjoying himself to the fullest. The leader of the Post team is gearing up for the next stage: the queen stage of this Tour de France. From Grenoble, the peloton will tackle no less than eight (!) climbs, starting with the Col de Porte (1st category), followed by the Col du Cucheron (3), the Col du Granier (2), the Col de Plainpalais (2), the Col de Leschaux (3), Col de la Colombière (1), Col de Châtillon (4) and the Col de Joux Plane (1). It promises to be a long ordeal especially for the riders with less climbing abilities. Hennie, along with his personal helper José De Cauwer and teammate Paul Wellens, extensively explored the route of the seventeenth stage of the Dauphiné Libéré after the stage race. He knows what awaits him and has particularly studied the last mountain, Joux Plane, which is included in the Tour for the first time in history. He wants to make history on that mountain, to turn the Tour in his favor. While few in the caravan give much chance to Hennie’s prospects, he is convinced that he can make his move in this grueling seventeenth stage.
José De Cauwer still shudders at the thought of the reconnaissance with Kuiper and Wellens. Both are good climbers, although not as superior as Lucien Van Impe or the Spaniard José Manuel Fuente, but still riders who can hold their own at the front of a mountain stage; Hennie better and longer than Wellens, but even Wellens does not go to bed on the eve of a mountain stage with the nightmare that he won’t reach the finish before the time limit. For De Cauwer, the reconnaissance is a punishment expedition, in which he only participates because it is important for his team leader.
On the day of the queen stage, Kuiper says in the morning: ‘Today it’s going to happen.’ ‘Calm down, calm down,’ warns De Kneet. He has every interest in making sure that the contenders only really push hard in the finale of this stage. Gerrie already envisions himself desperately trying to stay ahead of the broom wagon and make it to the finish on time. Hennie rides extremely attentively and aggressively. At Col de Porte, Frenchman André Romero reaches the top first, ahead of Hinault and Kuiper. It’s fast, very fast. On Cucheron, the second climb, after just 30 kilometers of racing, Kuiper reaches the top first, ahead of Hinault and Zoetemelk. Hinault urges caution: ‘doucement, doucement’, but Hennie does not want to take it easy at all; he wants to destroy the entire peloton. Kuiper also attacks on the third climb - Granier - at full speed. Once again, he reaches the summit first, this time ahead of Frenchman Mariano Martinez and Hinault. At the top, there are already riders who have fallen half an hour behind. The young French promise Hinault keeps a close eye on Kuiper. What is he planning today? Hennie is on his way to becoming the first Dutchman to win the polka dot jersey. That cannot be missed! Hennie fearlessly plunges into the tricky descent of the mountain. Leading a group of climbers, he navigates sharply through corners and along rock walls. Van Impe warns him. Too much risk. And then he steers into a drainage ditch along a rock wall, desperately trying to get his bike back on track and hits the rock wall.
Hennie crashes mercilessly: a double collarbone fracture.
Henk Lubberding, racing in a chasing group, is first on scene. He sees Kuiper leaning against the rock wall with a face contorted in pain, his right hand on his left collarbone. Hennie knows how bad it is. But as team leader, he feels responsible.
The yellow jersey is definitively out of reach, but there is still another jersey, white for best young rider. That’s why he briefly tells Lubberding: ‘Collarbone. It’s over. Take the white jersey to Paris.’ The withdrawal of their team leader means that Henk Lubberding can now go for his own chance: white jersey. He holds onto that jersey until Paris; a consolation prize for a team that had hoped for more at the start in Leiden.
For Hennie, his dream shatters after that fall. An ambulance arrives. Tour doctor Gérard Porte has already confirmed that indeed his left collarbone is broken. He is transported to a hospital in Chambéry. In their team hotel room sits Hennie’s suitcase. ‘What should I do with this now?’ Post wonders aloud. The prime minister, who was a guest in Tour director Lévitan’s car that day says: ‘I’ll take care of that.’ Hennie Kuiper receives a call that the head of government is on his way. General commotion ensues at the hospital. When a president visits in France, it attracts much more attention than if it were to happen in Netherlands. As Van Agt walks into Hennie’s room at Centre Hospitalier de Chambéry, about ten people crowd around the injured rider’s bed. ‘They were kicked out because we wanted some privacy,’ recalls Hennie. Van Agt gave him words of encouragement which were much needed at that moment. Falling like that feels like facing an apocalypse.
Hennie recalls cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten’s crash during 2016 Rio Olympics when she was on her way to winning gold but painfully crashed due to a steering error during a descent over a curbstone. ‘You are just a heap of misery at such moments,’ reflects Hennie. ‘The disappointment is immeasurable.’ For her it was Olympic gold slipping away; for me - in 1978 Tour - it was my chance for overall victory going up in smoke.’ Jacques Anquetil later told me: “You could have won that Tour.” If there was one Tour against Hinault that I could have won, it would have been 1978.’ He rode his first Tour that year without much experience or a strong team yet I had prepared very well and was in great form during that final week.’
High-profile visit at the Tour de France with the Raleigh team. Between Henk Lubberding and Hennie Kuiper, Prime Minister Dries van Agt joins for a meal, and the KVP leader visibly enjoys it.
In the descent of the Granier, tragedy strikes mercilessly for Hennie Kuiper. Kuiper falls, lands in a ditch next to the road, and immediately feels that his collarbone is broken.
Tourarts Gérard Porte tries to stabilize Hennie Kuiper's left shoulder as much as possible. On the left, BRT reporter Jan Wauters sees the seriousness of the situation.
Hennie Kuiper is being brought into the hospital in Chambéry. The drama is omnipresent
In the operating room of the hospital in Chambéry, the X-rays of Hennie Kuiper's left collarbone are ready. Tour doctor Gérard Porte has removed the helmet and is trying to reassure Kuiper.
Always attentive to the interests of the sponsor. Even after the operation at the hospital in Chambéry, Hennie first puts on a Raleigh shirt in front of Cor Vos's camera.
The two partners of the BV Kuiper-De Cauwer side by side in the Tour de France of 1978
On Guadeloupe on a 'working holiday'. The spring cannot always be tense. That's what Peter Winnen and his wife Yvonne (who passed away in December 2013), Hennie Kuiper and his wife Ine, and Gerrie Knetemann (who passed away in November 2004) and his wife Gré also think from left to right.
The TV is on in the hotel room of Hennie Kuiper and José De Cauwer (Tour de France, 1977). But despite looking at the screen, they go over the day again.
Ine Kuiper and Jeanne De Cauwer take the place of their men in the 1977 Tour. Unfortunately, Jeanne De Cauwer will not grow old. She passes away prematurely.