Motorola and Armstrong
Assistant team leader Snoeijink can return to the classroom. He is once again a teacher. For Hennie, the uncertainty does not last long. A phone call from former cyclist and assistant team leader at Motorola, Noël Dejonckheere, brings a solution. Hennie is asked if he wants to talk to the American Jim Ochowicz. The topic: the (co)team leadership of the American Motorola team. It is the start of a new, exciting period. Jim Ochowicz, a former cyclist married to speed skater and former world champion Sheila Young, founded the purely American 7-Eleven team in 1981, which initially worked with amateurs but joined the ranks of professional cyclists from 1985 onwards. In 1991, Ochowicz gets a new sponsor: Motorola. Ochowicz is looking for a well-known name to lead the team with him and learns that Hennie Kuiper is available. He establishes contact through Dejonckheere.
A special rider
At the end of his first year with Motorola, 1992, Kuiper gets a special rider in the team: Lance Armstrong, who earlier that year had participated in the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Armstrong proves to be a personality from day one, knowing what he wants. His first race as a professional is the Clásica San Sebastián, a tough race in the Basque Country. Hennie Kuiper assigns typical support work to the debutant. ‘I told him: “You have to get water for the team leaders; if there are flat tires, you help the guys get back to the peloton and you have to finish the race at all costs.”’
It’s hot that day. So Armstrong has to fetch water for the team leaders often. It’s exhausting, draining work. The debutant is exhausted. He drops back to the team car and tells Kuiper: ‘I’m done. I’m getting off.’ Hennie shakes his head. ‘No, you’re not getting off. You can’t do that. We agreed that you would finish the race.’ Armstrong thinks for a second and then replies: ‘OK.’ He finds his place back in the peloton. The sky darkens. It starts thundering and windy. The rain lashes down on the road. It’s harsh and miserable. When Kuiper reaches the finish behind the peloton, the bikes are loaded onto the cars. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ shouts a mechanic. ‘No,’ says Hennie, ‘there’s still one rider coming.’ Two motorcycle police officers with flashing lights approach the finish line. Between them, in the middle of the road, one lone rider: Lance. ‘It was a beautiful day today,’ he says as he crosses the line as 111th and last. Winner Raúl Alcalá has already been in for 26 minutes and 56 seconds. ‘I had the whole road to myself and I even had escort too. What more could you ask for?’ Team manager Kuiper visits Armstrong afterwards in his hotel room. ‘How did your introduction to the pros go? That wasn’t easy, right?’ The rider looks at him with a piercing gaze and then says decisively: ‘I want to come back here again and win this race.’
Three years later, in 1995, he beats his Italian breakaway companion Stefano Della Santa in a sprint in the Clásica, fulfilling his promise. He had already attracted attention much earlier. A week after finishing last in his first race, the Clásica de San Sebastián, he is part of the trio of escapees coloring the Championship of Zürich. With Russian Vjatsjeslav Ekimov and Belgian Jan Nevens, he rides to the finish line where the Russian relegates him to second place.
Ruthless doping sinner?
Kuiper admires the Armstrong of those days. But isn’t Armstrong the rider who is largely responsible for the darkest chapters in cycling history? Wasn’t he the ruthless doping sinner who forced teammates to pump themselves full of stimulants?
Hennie Kuiper experienced him in the first five years of his professional cycling career. ‘I never noticed anything related to doping at that time. Of course, I condemn what he did afterwards. It is also right that his Tour victories were taken away from him. He brought it upon himself, but the cycling leaders should have also taken jerseys away from other riders, and that did not happen. As for Armstrong, we must not forget that he also has his good sides. He raised a lot of millions with his fund for cancer fighting. He gave cancer patients an unforgettable day by treating them with the team. And during my years as a team leader, he delivered great performances as a rider. That is on the other side of the balance.’
Were there no signs during Kuiper’s time as a team leader indicating that Armstrong was on the wrong path? ‘No. Lance was always very egocentric. Everything had to revolve around him. From the beginning, he always wanted to be the center,’ says Kuiper. Armstrong reminds him of his rival from 1977, Didi Thurau. But while the judgment on Thurau is negative - without the German, Kuiper would have won the 1977 Tour - Kuiper’s judgment on the Armstrong he experienced as a team leader is positive. ‘I had a fantastic time with Lance. He elevated the whole team to a higher level.’ By then, the team already included several names that captured the imagination. Riders like Australian Phil Anderson, Mexican Raúl Alcalá, Canadian Steve Bauer, and Americans Andy Hampsten, Franky Andreu, and George Hincapie.
Although American Jim Ochowicz may be the sporting director and Hennie Kuiper his direct assistant, the team revolves around one man: Lance Armstrong. ‘He was always very demanding,’ says Hennie. ‘From the first year he rode with us, he had demands. He would call Jim Ochowicz - whom he always called “Och” - and sometimes wanted a different handlebar, then different equipment, and another time different clothing. It was always in a commanding tone. It was also accepted because Lance not only behaved remarkably but was also remarkable.’
He shows in 1993 that there is a great rider in him. In the eighth stage of that year’s Tour de France, Hennie Kuiper has an important guest in his car, General Charles G. Boyd, a Vietnam veteran who emotionally follows Armstrong’s flight in the stage from Châlons-sur-Marne to Verdun, the place where a major and extremely bloody battle took place during World War I. In Verdun, Armstrong achieves his first stage victory in the Tour de France.
Four days later, as agreed beforehand, he leaves the Tour. Ochowicz and Kuiper do not want to burn out the young talent prematurely. He is still too young and inexperienced to handle this tough task already. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old Texan proves himself at the World Championships in Oslo. In the final, he outperforms recognized greats like renowned Spaniard Miguel Indurain and East German top rider Olaf Ludwig. Lance Armstrong’s name is definitively established.
In 1994, things don’t go smoothly between Armstrong and the Tour de France. His second Tour of France, now in the rainbow jersey, he leaves prematurely due to personal problems. In the fifteenth stage, the American does not show up at the start anymore. ‘He left secretly at night without saying goodbye,’ says Hennie. But that was Armstrong, always choosing his own stubborn path.
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On the day that Michael Boogerd wins his first Tour stage in the pouring rain of Aix-les-Bains, Lance Armstrong leaves La Grande Boucle. Team manager Hennie Kuiper puts a hand on Armstrong's shoulder. Three months later, Armstrong receives the devastating diagnosis of 'testicular cancer'...
After Motorola, Hennie Kuiper will carry out PR work for Rabobank, as seen here with his wife Marianne at the Tour of California, where he becomes friends with Ronald Blok, who very successfully rolls out the Rabo concept on the west coast of America.
In September 2007, Hennie Kuiper leads Rabobank guests in Jelenica Góra during the Tour of Poland, prior to the start of the final stage to Karpacz. On the far right are Rabo sprinter Graeme Brown and attacker Bram de Groot.