Reimund Dietzen

Reimund Dietzen sometimes written Raimund Dietzen (born 29 May 1959 in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a retired road and cyclo-cross cyclist from Germany, who was a professional rider from 1982 to 1990.

Cycling career Dietzen was a successful amateur winning the German cyclo-cross championship in 1980 and 1981 as well as winning in road races. He turned professional with the Swiss team Puch in 1982. He won the cyclo-cross race the Grand Prix Jean Bausch-Pierre Kellner that year. The following year he joined a Spanish cycling team Teka with whom he would stay with for the rest of his career. In his first year with his new team he won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The following year he became the champion of Germany in the road race and cyclo-cross as well his first stage victory in the Vuelta a España. He won the stage to the Lagos de Covadonga which is a very steep climb and a prestigious stage to win. He would finish that year's edition of the Vuelta third overall. The following year he was again cyclo-cross champion as well as the winner of the Vuelta a Cantabria. In 1986 he was again German road champion and won a second stage in the 1986 Vuelta a España. In 1987 he wore the leader's jersey in the 1987 Vuelta a España for five days before losing it to Herrera and then finishing the race second overall to Luis Herrera of Colombia. Dietzen finished the 1988 Vuelta a España second overall, this time to Sean Kelly of Ireland. In the 1989 Vuelta a España, Dietzen won a stage but several days later he crashed. He had ridden into a tunnel which was not illuminated and crashed, suffering career-ending injuries. He was only 30 years of age when the following year he stopped as a professional after not recovering. Seventeen years later, the Supreme Court of Spain ordered the organisers of the Vuelta a España to pay damages to Dietzen. Dietzen obtained nearly all of his success in Spanish races with wins in Vuelta a La Rioja, Vuelta a Castilla y León, the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme and he finished in the top 10 of every Vuelta a España between 1984-1988, three of which were on the podium.

Post-cycling career From 2003, Dietzen was a directeur sportif with the now-defunct Team Gerolsteiner. He lives in Spain.

Career achievements Major results

Cyclo-cross 1981–1982 1st Grand Prix Jean Bausch-Pierre Kellner 2nd National Championships 1983–1984

1984–1985

Road 1981 Grand Prix Guillaume Tell 1st Stages 3 & 4 3rd Paris–Roubaix Espoirs 1982 1st Trofeo Luis Puig 7th Overall Tour de Luxembourg 1983

1st Stage 4 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1st Prologue 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián 1984

1st Stage 1 Vuelta Asturias 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 2nd Clásica de San Sebastián 3rd Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stage 12 3rd Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama 1985

1st Stage 2 2nd Overall Vuelta a Burgos 2nd Overall Vuelta Asturias 3rd Overall Tour of Galicia 7th Overall Vuelta a España 1986

1st Stage 3 1st Stage 4a Vuelta a Murcia 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Aragón 4th Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stage 12 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 7th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1987

1st Prologue 2nd Overall Vuelta a España 2nd Subida al Naranco 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1988

1st Stage 3 2nd Overall Vuelta a España 3rd Subida al Naranco 1989

1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish