Roy Schuiten

Roy Schuiten (16 December 1950 – 19 September 2006) was a Dutch track and road racing cyclist. After retirement he became a team manager before starting a restaurant.

Background

Schuiten was a tall , stylish rider who shone as an amateur. He was the 1972 national pursuit champion, broke the amateur record for 4,000 m on an indoor track, and won numerous team time-trials. He finished in fifth place in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He came close to not turning professional because his father died in a traffic accident in 1973. He stopped cycling for a season to help his mother run the family wine and spirits business in Zandvoort. The following year Schuiten's younger brother, Fred, took over the business and on 17 July 1974 Schuiten turned professional for the TI–Raleighteam run by Peter Post. He was national champion six times.

In 1975 Post encouraged Schuiten to attempt Eddy Merckx's world hour record in Mexico. The frame-builder Jan Legrand made him a bicycle weighing only 5.7 kg. In 1975 he won the Rund um den Henninger-Turm. He won the Grand Prix des Nations in 1974 and 1975. He won the Trofeo Baracchi (1974 with Francesco Moser and in 1978 with Knut Knudsen), the GP Kanton Aargau Gippingen (1976) and the GP Forli (1979).

He changed teams frequently after leaving Raleigh in 1976, doing well in races up to a week long but best of all when riding against the clock.

Main road achievements 1968: 1e in de ronde van Hasselt, Zevenaar, Harderwijk en Delden en clubkampioen 1971: 1e in NK op de weg, Militair 1974: 1e in 9e etappe Milk Race, Whitley Bay (GBR) 1974: 1e in 10e etappe Milk Race, Carlisle (GBR) 1974: 1e in Eindklassement Milk Race (GBR) 1974: 1e in Proloog Milk Race, Brighton (GBR) 1974: 1e in Eindklassement Olympia's Tour (NED) 1974: 1e in 7e etappe deel b Olympia's Tour, Oss (NED) 1974: (FRA) 1974: 1e in 2e etappe deel b Étoile des Espoirs, Fougères (FRA) 1974: 1e in Eindklassement Étoile des Espoirs (FRA) 1974: 1e in GP des Nations (FRA) 1974: 1e in Trofeo Baracchi (ITA) 1975: 1e in Made (NED) 1975: 1e in 2e etappe deel b Tour d'Indre-et-Loire, Chanceaux (FRA) 1975: 1e in Eindklassement Tour d'Indre-et-Loire (FRA) 1975: 1e in Rund um den Henninger Turm (GER) 1975: 1e in Zele (b) (BEL) 1975: 1e in Köln (GER) 1975: 1e in Maldegem (b) (BEL) 1975: 1e in GP des Nations (FRA) 1975: 1e in 4e etappe Étoile des Espoirs, Caen (FRA) 1975: 1e in GP Lugano, Chrono (SUI) 1976: 1e in GP Aix-en-Provence (FRA) 1976: 1e in GP Kanton Aargau Gippingen (SUI) 1976: 1e in 1e etappe Tour Méditerranéen, Aubagne (FRA) 1976: 1e in 2e etappe deel b Tour Méditerranéen, Mont Faron (FRA) 1976: 1e in Eindklassement Tour Méditerranéen (FRA) 1976: 1e in Poiré-sur-Vie (FRA) 1976: 1e in 6e etappe deel b Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré, Carpentras (FRA) 1976: 1e in Bussières (FRA) 1977: 1e in 5e etappe deel a Paris – Nice, Plan de Campagne (FRA) 1977: 1e in 5e etappe deel b Quatre jours de Dunkerque, Dunkerque (FRA) 1978: 1e in 3e etappe Ruota d'Oro (ITA) 1978: 1e in Levanger (NOR) 1978: 1e in Trofeo Baracchi (ITA) 1979: 1e in Essen (BEL) 1979: 1e in Ulvenhout (NED) 1979: 1e in GP Forli (ITA) 1981: 1e in 5e etappe Tirreno – Adriatico, San Benedetto del Tronto (ITA) 1981: 1e in Acht van Chaam (NED) 1982: 1e in Eindklassement Costa del Azahar (ESP) 1982: 1e in Proloog Costa del Azahar (ESP)

Retirement and death After retirement in 1982 he became manager of PDM–Concorde in 1986 for a year. He then moved to Portugal and started his own restaurant. He died on 19 September 2006 in Praia de Carvoeiro, aged 55, from a stomach haemorrhage.