RIP indeed, but even before his 'near death' experience (he 'died' on an operating table during a procedure to repair damage to his urether) Peter lived by 2 rules : 1) I'm right and 2) see answer (1) Ace 6 day performer, albeit propped up a bit by Patrick Sercu in later years. Road performances were selective, planned for the day. Tail hurricane and a slightly easier route helped with that Paris Roubaix ride. Paris Tours was also a strange classic - one year they banned gears, I remember. Had to use single freewheels.
He was so-o-o-o determined to have a really successful Dutch team with Dutch riders that anyone else was always going to be in for a hard time. If a Dutch guy punctured, 6 would be ordered to go and pace him back. If a 'furriner' - well, he's having a bad luck day, we can't drop off the bunch now, can we ? Dave Lloyd was also shipped out, with a very minor heart murmur - years later he was still setting British national records. Gerald o'Donovan (who was the 'powers that be') was browbeaten into accepting it, hence UK team as well. When National Panasonic came in with more funding after TI (Raleigh's owner) gave up, Post never gave many non-Dutch a second glance. But he got the results and the TV exposure in the Tour de France and that was what he was paid to get. Business, not sport, as these days. Jan le Grand was Peter's brother in law, nice chap and his frame building signature was a square tube rear brake bridge. John Purser Memory Lane, Sudbury, England.
Message: 7 Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:55:56 -0800 (PST) From: Colin Laing <colin_laing@yahoo.com> Subject: [CR] Peter Post To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Message-ID: <225507.90628.qm@web35601.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Oh ! well, here I go again,,,,,,,When Raleigh decided to put a team on the Continent with Peter Post in charge,,,The powers that be wanted a few Brit riders to be part of the team..I can only remember Dave Lloyd, Phil Bayton and Sid Barras....for some reason or other, Post didn't like this idea and thinking back, maybe there was something fishy with dope being involved ( I bet Barrie knows the score ),,anyway, I had made a bunch of bikes to look like the Raleigh team bikes and was given the same amount back to destroy ( which I did ). I had stamped Jan le Grand on the B'B He was the official builder. Sid, a buddy of mine, was always outspoken, was probably the cleanest rider in history , opened his big Middlesbro' mouth once too often and got a black eye from Post as payment..Sid was sent home to England, talked to the Raleigh chiefs, was told that Post was in charge and Sid would have to ride on the British stationed team. He did with great effect...and I think the other Brits were not far behind due to Peter Posts management.
I am not really bad-mouthing Peter,,I knew him fairly well,,,he was a great rider and an awesome manager,,,but He was not of the British mold,,,RIP Pete..
Colin ( glad to be back ) Laing,,CHANDLER, AZ. USA.
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