Zoetemelk’s two claims to fame were that he placed second in the Tour de France a record six times and that he started and finished the Tour de France a record sixteen times.

He did however, win the race in 1980 in front of Hennie Kuiper of Holland and Raymond Martin of France when Bernard Hinault was forced to abandon because of knee problems.

Zoetemelk was unfortunate in that he had to compete against two most dominant riders the sport has produced: Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

Zoetemelk was a rider who preferred to ride in the slip stream of these champions.

He was second to Merckx in the Tour de France in 1970 and 1971.

Zoetemelk was also second to Lucien Van Impe in the 1976 Tour de France.

In addition, Zoetemelk was second to Bernard Hinault in 1978, 1979, and 1982.

In addition to his record in the Tour de France, Zoetemelk won the Vuelta a Espana in 1979 in front of Francisco Galdos of Spain and Michel Pollentier of Belgium.

Zoetemelk also won the Mountains jersey in the 1971 Vuelta a Espana .

One of Zoetemelk’s gifts was his longevity.

Zoetemelk won the Paris-Tours race twice plus the Fleche Wallone and Amstel Gold each once, the latter at age 40.

His record in the World Championship Road Race included a fifth place on three occasions, a fourth place of two occasions, and a victory.

His victory in 1985 at age 38 over Greg Lemond of the USA and Moreno Argentin of Italy used team tactics that allowed him to attack in the closing stages of the race and get a huge gap on the remaining pack.

Zoetemelk suffered a fractured skull and went into a coma as the result of a horrible head-on collision with a car while training in 1974.

Nevertheless, he won the next stage race he entered, the Paris-Nice in March 1975, beating no less than Eddy Merckx in the process.

His career record in Paris-Nice included three overall titles.